sound of the millstone

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated in English as “sound of the millstone” is translated in Baki, Lamenu and Lewo as “the noise of grating food” (especially coconuts). (Source: Ross McKerras)

millstone (illustration)

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “millstone” in English is illustrated for use in Bible translations in East Africa by Pioneer Bible Translators like this:

Image owned by PBT and Jonathan McDaniel and licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

See also a mill or an upper millstone.

happiness / joy

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “joy” or “happiness” is translated in the Hausa Common Language Bible idiomatically as farin ciki or “white stomach.” In some cases, such as in Genesis 29:11, it is also added for emphatic purposes.

Other languages that use the same expression include Southern Birifor (pʋpɛl), Dera (popolok awo), Reshe (ɾipo ɾipuhã). (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

See also Seat of the Mind / Seat of Emotions, rejoiced greatly / celebrated, the Mossi translation of “righteous”, and joy.

joy

Click here to view graphically

The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated with “joy” or “gladness” in English is translated with various strategies:

  • Baoulé: “a song in the stomach” (see also peace (inner peace))
  • Bambara: “the spirit is made sweet”
  • Kpelle: “sweet heart”
  • Tzeltal: “the good taste of one’s heart”
  • Uduk: “good to the stomach”
  • Mískito: “the liver is wide open” (“happily letting the pleasures flooding in upon it”) (source for this and above: Nida 1952)
  • Mairasi: “good liver” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Noongar: koort-kwabba-djil or “heart very good” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “refreshed heart” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.).

See also Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling,” happiness / joy, and exceeding joy.

complete verse (Jeremiah 25:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 25:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “And again, a bride will no longer laugh/giggle nor will the bridegroom shout for joy. Food will come to an end and (they) cannot even find oil for their lamps.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) will- no longer -rejoice or be-happy. (It) will- no longer -be-heard the rejoicing of the newlyweds. No one will-grind wheat or will-light the light at night-time.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I will cause happy singing and laughing to cease in your land. There will no longer be brides and bridegrooms talking joyfully. There will not be the sound of people grinding grain with millstones. There will be no lamps lit in your houses.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 25:10

I will banish from means the same as “I will make to cease from” in 7.34.

Here the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp are added to the other indicators of a happy community life. The millstones were used to grind flour for making the daily supply of bread, and were commonly used in the morning. Translators may have to use a descriptive phrase such as “no one will be grinding the grain [between stones] to make flour” or “you won’t hear any sounds of people making bread.” As for the light of the lamp, translators can say something like “no one will be there to light lamps in the evening.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch renders this part of the verse “The noise of handmills in the morning will be silenced, and in the evening lamps will no longer burn in the houses.” The meaning, of course, is that the daily activities of life will be brought to an end.

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 .