5My covenant with him was a covenant of life and well-being, which I gave him; this called for reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.
The Hebrew and Greek that is usually translated into English as “peace,” when referring to one’s inner peace, is (back-) translated with a variety of idioms and phrases:
“rest the heart” (Central Mazahua) / “rest within” (Lacandon) (source: Nida 1952, p. 40 and 128ff.) / “wait well in your heart” (Yatzachi Zapotec) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Natügu: nzesz’tikr drtwr: “oneness of mind” (source: Brenda Boerger in Beerle-Moor / Voinov, p. 164)
Tagalog: tipan: mutual promising on the part of two persons agreeing to do something (also has a romantic touch and denotes something secretive) (source: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
Tagbanwa: “initiated-agreement” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Guhu-Samane: “The concept [in Mark 14:24 and Matthew 16:28] is not easy, but the ritual freeing of a fruit and nut preserve does afford some reference. Thus, ‘As they were drinking he said to them, ‘On behalf of many this poro provision [poro is the traditional religion] of my blood is released.’ (…) God is here seen as the great benefactor and man the grateful recipient.” (Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. )
Chichewa: pangano. This word can also be translated as a contract, agreement, or a treaty between two parties. In Chewa culture, two people or groups enter into an agreement to help each other in times of need. When entering into an agreement, parties look at the mutual benefits which will be gained. The agreement terms are mostly kept as a secret between the parties and the witnesses involved. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Law (2013, p. 95) writes about how the Ancient GreekSeptuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew berith was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments (click or tap here to read more):
“Right from the start we witness the influence of the Septuagint on the earliest expressions of the Christian faith. In the New Testament, Jesus speaks of his blood being a kaine diatheke, a ‘new covenant.’ The covenant is elucidated in Hebrews 8:8-12 and other texts, but it was preserved in the words of Jesus with this language in Luke 22:20 when at the Last Supper Jesus said, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Jesus’s blood was to provide the grounds for the ‘new covenant,’ in contrast to the old one his disciples knew from the Jewish scriptures (e.g., Jeremiah 31:31-34). Thus, the earliest Christians accepted the Jewish Scriptures as prophecies about Jesus and in time began to call the collection the ‘Old Testament’ and the writings about Jesus and early Christianity the ‘New Testament,’ since ‘testament’ was another word for ‘covenant.’ The covenant promises of God (berith in Hebrew) were translated in the Septuagint with the word diatheke. In classical Greek diatheke had meant ‘last will, testament,’ but in the Septuagint it is the chosen equivalent for God’s covenant with his people. The author of Hebrews plays on the double meaning, and when Luke records Jesus’ announcement at the Last Supper that his blood was instituting a ‘new covenant,’ or a ‘new testament,’ he is using the language in an explicit contrast with the old covenant, found in the Jewish scriptures. Soon, the writings that would eventually be chosen to make up the texts about the life and teachings of Jesus and the earliest expression of the Christian faith would be called the New Testament. This very distinction between the Old and New Testaments is based on the Septuagint’s language.”
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Malachi 2:5:
Kupsabiny: “I promised those people of Levi life and peace in my covenant. I gave (them) laws that they had to be following. They obeyed me and feared me.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The covenant I made with the Levites was a covenant for life and peace. I gave it to them so that they would revere me. And they did revere me, and they glorified my name. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “In my covenant to Levi, I have-promised him life and peace, as-long-as he honors me. And he honored me indeed.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “The agreement- I -presented was that I would give them a good and long life if they esteemed and feared me and that’s what they did.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
English: “My agreement with your ancestor Levi was because I wanted the priests to live prosperously and peacefully. And that is what I have done for them. I required that they greatly respect me and revere me.” (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.
My covenant with him was a covenant of life and peace: With him refers to Levi (verse 4) and the reference continues to be not to Levi as an individual, but to his descendants. Thus Good News Translation renders “them” (compare New Living Translation, Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1. Edition actually uses the term “descendants.” A covenant of life and peace is best taken to mean “a covenant that brought them life and peace.” This expression does not occur anywhere else in the Old Testament. Life means more than just physical existence, and peace means more than just the absence of war. Peace is rendered as “well-being” in New Revised Standard Version and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, and as “prosperity” in New English Bible (compare Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). In some languages the two nouns life and peace may be best combined into a single phrase, such as “a full life” (Contemporary English Version) or “a prosperous life,” and the whole clause may be translated as “In my agreement I promised to give them a full life.”
And I gave them to him, that he might fear: The Hebrew underlying these words is awkward. As it stands, them refers back to the life and peace in the previous clause and the words that he might fear translate a single Hebrew noun “fear.” Most scholars take this noun to be parallel with life and peace, and to be a third object of the verb gave. This is how the ancient Latin translation took it, and the Septuagint Greek is somewhat similar. Both of these versions however omit the Hebrew suffix translated them and thus simplify the sentence structure. The thought seems to be that the LORD fulfilled his covenant promise to give life and peace with a view to causing the descendants of Levi to fear (or, “respect”) him in return. It is this understanding that leads to the addition of the words that he might in Revised Standard Version (compare “so that they might” in Good News Translation). It is also possible to follow the Hebrew grammatical structure more closely, as New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh does with “I had with him a covenant of life and well-being, which I gave to him, and of reverence, which he showed me.” New Revised Standard Version expresses the cause and effect sequence in a different way with “… life and well-being, which I gave him; this called for reverence, and he revered Me….” The statement as a whole indicates that in the earlier times that the prophet is referring to, just as the LORD kept his obligations under the covenant, so did the Levites. This is reinforced by the emphatic position of the pronoun he at the end of the verse in Hebrew. The first part of this verse may then be alternatively rendered as “In my agreement I promised to give them a full life, so that they might respect [or, honor] me.”
And he feared me, he stood in awe of my name: Feared means “respect” (Beck) or “revered” (New English Bible/Revised English Bible). The Hebrew verbs here translated as feared and stood in awe are often used together in the Old Testament (Deut 1.21; Josh 8.1; 10.25; Jer 23.4; 30.10; Ezek 2.6; note that Revised Standard Version has “dismayed” for the second verb in these verses). My name is virtually the same as “me” (see 1.6), and some versions translate it as “me” (Good News Translation, Moffatt, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1. Edition). Others render it as “my power” (Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) or “My nearness” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 2. Edition). In some languages my name is used naturally in the same sense as in Hebrew and in such situations a literal translation will be in order. A possible alternative translation is “and they did respect and fear [or, stand in awe of] me.”
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Malachi. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
The Hebrew text uses singular pronouns in 2:5–7 which refer back to Levi. However the reference here is not to Levi himself. It refers to his descendants, the priests of earlier days, who obeyed the LORD. Good News Translation uses the plural form in this paragraph and in the following verses to indicate that the verses refer to more than one person. Similarly, the New Century Version translates this reference to Levi in 2:5 as:
My agreement for priests was with the tribe of Levi. (New Century Version)
You should consider if you should do the same in your translation. Make sure that you are consistent in your use of singular or plural pronouns in this section.
2:5a
one of life and peace: That is, a covenant through which Levi’s descendants would receive life and live in peace/security.
peace: The Hebrew word shalom which the Berean Standard Bible translates as peace means much more than the English word “peace.” It can refer to the state of blessing that results from someone living according to the LORD’s will. This peace included feeling well and whole. See also 2:6c.
2:5b
which I gave to him: That is, I did as I had promised him.
which: That is, life and peace.
him: That is, Levi (and his descendants).
2:5c
it called for reverence: Scholars disagree about the way this clause relates to 2:5b. There are at least three views:
(1) It expresses purpose. The LORD gave Levi and his descendants a covenant of life and peace so that they might respect the LORD. For example:
and this is what I gave them, so that they might respect me. (Good News Translation)
(Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version, New Century Version, NET Bible, God’s Word)
(2) It expresses the covenant’s requirements. In other words, the LORD’s covenant of life and peace gave them the responsibility to revere the LORD and his covenant. For example:
This called for reverence from them. (New Living Translation (2004))
(3) It expresses the type of covenant, just as “life and peace” do. In other words, it was a covenant of reverence towards him, as well as life and peace. For example:
My covenant was with him—a covenant of life and peace, and these were what I gave him—a covenant of respect… (New Jerusalem Bible)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).
reverence: The purpose of the covenant (2:5a) was to cause Levi and his descendants to respect and revere the LORD.
See the note on 1:6c–d. The same Hebrew word is translated as “reverence” here. If possible, use the same expression in both verses.
2:5d
he revered Me: The Hebrew verb which the Berean Standard Bible translates as revered is a different form of the same verb which was used in 2:5c. This repetition of the verb emphasizes it. In some languages it may be necessary to change the second expression in some way to make it natural. For example:
and of reverence, which he showed Me. (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)
2:5e
stood in awe of My name: That is, he respected/feared me greatly. Here again, the subject of the verb is singular, but it refers to both Levi and his descendants.
My name: In the Hebrew Bible, the phrase “the LORD’s name” or My name refers to God himself or his authority. It was also used in this way in 1:6. See the note on 1:6f. Good News Translation uses “me” instead of My name to make this clear.
General Comment on 2:5d–e
These two verse parts are parallel and have similar meanings:
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