Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 7:7:
Kupsabiny: “If you do what I have said to you, I shall allow you to live for years and years in this land that I gave to your forefathers.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “If you (plur.) will-obey this, I will-cause- you (plur.) to continue -to-stay in this land, in the land I gave to your (plur.) ancestors forever/[lit. until whenever].” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “If you do what I have told you, I will allow you to stay in this land that I promised to your ancestors that it would belong to them and their descendants forever.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
Then I will let you dwell in this place: See the comment at verse 3. Here in this place clearly refers to the land. But since in the land that I gave itself follows this expression, translators can say “in this land which I gave” or “here, in this land which I gave.”
Of old … for ever is given the meaning “as a permanent possession” by Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch. The expression means essentially that God gave the land long ago to the people of Israel to be theirs forever. Yet now he says they must reform their behavior to keep it! Translators can say something like “[If you do these things] I will let you stay in this land which I gave to your ancestors long ago to be yours forever.” For fathers as “ancestors” (Good News Translation), see 2.5.
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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