Targumim (or: Targums) are translations of the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic. They were translated and used when Jewish congregations increasingly could not understand the biblical Hebrew anymore. Targum Onqelos (also: Onkelos) is the name of the Aramaic translation of the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) probably composed in Israel/Palestine in the 1st or 2nd century CE and later edited in Babylon in the 4th or 5th century, making it reflect Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. It is the most famous Aramaic translation and was widely used throughout the Jewish communities.
In many, but not all, cases the translation of Targum Onqelos avoids anthropomorphisms (attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions) as they relate in the original Hebrew text to God.
The Hebrew of these verses that is translated in English as “sweet savour” or “pleasing odor” and refers to God’s reaction to an offering. These cases are translated in Targum Onqelos as “a sacrifice which is being accepted.” (Source: Schochet 1966, p. 29ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 26:31:
Kupsabiny: “I shall make your cities become deserted and make where you pray become silent. I am not happy with those your sacrifices that smell sweet.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “I will destroy your cities, [I] will destroy, devastating your places of worship, and I will not accept the fragrance of the sacrifices that you offer.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “I will-destroy your (plur.) cities and places-of-worship, and I will- not -be-happy/be-pleased with the sweet-aroma/fragrance of your (plur.) offerings/sacrifices.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “I will cause your cities to become heaps of ruins, and I will cause the buildings that are dedicated to the worship of your gods to be smashed. And I will not be pleased at all with the aroma of your offerings that are burned on the altar.” (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.
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).
Lay your cities waste: or “I will completely destroy your cities.”
Make your sanctuaries desolate: some Hebrew manuscripts have the singular “sanctuary,” which would seem to refer to the Temple in Jerusalem. But no version consulted uses the singular. The plural refers to buildings dedicated to pagan worship within the confines of the cities. They will be destroyed along with the rest of the city and will therefore no longer be visited by worshipers.
I will not smell your pleasing odors: the idea here is not that God will be unable to smell the odor; rather it indicates the rejection of sacrifices offered to him. Compare 1.9. New International Version translates “I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings.”
Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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