Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 9:9:
Kupsabiny: “Should I not punish them for these matters? Should I desist from avenging these matters on a community that has done these matter? It is I God who has spoken.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “So, should I not punish them because of this? Should I not avenge a nation like this? I, the LORD, (am) the-(one) saying this.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Should I not punish them for doing that ? Yes, I should certainly get revenge on/give what they deserve to the people of a nation that does things like that!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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.
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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