“Sheep are known throughout most of the world, even though, as in Central Africa, they are a far cry from the fleecy wool-producing animals of colder climates. Where such animals are known, even by seemingly strange names, e.g. ‘cotton deer’ (Yucateco) or ‘woolly goat’ (Inupiaq), such names should be used. In some instances, one may wish to borrow a name and use a classifier, e.g. ‘an animal called sheep’. In still other instances translators have used ‘animal which produces wool’, for though people are not acquainted with the animals they are familiar with wool.” (Source: Bratcher / Nida)
In Dëne Súline, it is usually translated as “an evil little caribou.” To avoid the negative connotation, a loan word from the neighboring South Slavey was used. (Source: NCEM, p. 70)
Note that the often-alleged Inuktitut translation of “sheep” with “seal” is an urban myth (source Nida 1947, p. 136).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Micah 2:12:
Kupsabiny: “It is true that I shall gather you all, oh, stomach of Israel. I shall gather the remnant of the stomach of Jacob. I shall gather you to one place like sheep who have been closed up in the pen. You will be many in the land like sheep who are in the grazing area.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Oh Jacob, surely, I will gather all of you. The remnant of the Israelites I will most certainly gather. I will gather them like sheep in a sheep pen. There will be a multitude of people. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The LORD said, ‘You (plur.) people of Israel and Juda who (are) remaining alive, I will- surely -gather you (plur.) like sheep in a pen or like a large-group/(herd) of animals/livestock in the pasture/grazing-field. Your (plur.) land will-be-filled with people.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
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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.
Verses 12 and 13 form a marked contrast in theme with those that precede and follow. They speak of the restoration of the nation from its place of exile. The contrast has led many scholars to consider them a later addition to the text, but this problem does not really affect the translation. Verse 12 is in the first person, and for this reason is included within quotation marks in Good News Translation as being a continuing part of the Lord’s words beginning in verse 8. Good News Translation ends this quotation at the end of verse 12, because verse 13 is in the third person and is taken as the prophet’s comment on or expansion of verse 12. Such changes of person are quite common in prophetic writings and are not necessarily a conclusive guide to a change of speaker, though it does seem the most probable interpretation in this case. Most English translations do not use quotation marks here and therefore do not commit themselves on this point. However, New International Version places all of verses 12 and 13 within quotes and thus seems to regard them as the words of the Lord in a prophecy separate from verses 6-11. Another view is that these two verses are spoken by Micah’s opponents, the false prophets. If this is the case, then they are a response to the threat of exile in verse 10 and offer the people of Israel only a false sense of security. This is the view of de Waard.
Verse 12 is addressed to “Jacob” and “the remnant of Israel” (Revised Standard Version). (For a discussion of the term “remnant,” see comments on 4.7.) These two terms together signify the entire nation, or at least all those members of it that are left. The you (plural) of this verse does not refer to the same group of people who were addressed in verses 8-10. Here the whole nation is addressed, though it is not likely that the oppressors of verses 8-10 will be included in those that are left (see verse 5). Note that Good News Translation has felt that it is clearer to use only the single name Israel to refer to the people.
The Lord’s promise is that he will gather them all together. This is then repeated in synonymous terms, I will bring you together, and expanded with a lengthy simile. The second verb used in the Hebrew, translated bring … together in Good News Translation, is the verb most commonly associated in the writings of the prophets with the restoration of Israel from exile. See for instance Isa 43.5; Jer 23.3; 31.8. As in verse 5, it is assumed that the whole nation will be going into exile. This has not really been stated in the preceding verses, and a reader may have thought that only the oppressors will be punished, although verse 10 may imply the whole country being destroyed. It may be necessary for some translators to make this explicit in verse 12 and say “I will bring you together from the places where you have been exiled.” (Good News Translation has made the exile explicit in verse 13.)
The simile used in the latter part of the verse is that of sheep returning to the fold. The sheep of course stand for the Lord’s people, and the fold for the land of Israel. Just as a pasture is full of sheep, so the land will once again be filled with many people. The Hebrew implies a scene of “noisy” (Revised Standard Version) and bustling activity, as of a thriving community. A fold is an area enclosed by walls where the sheep may be taken for protection at night. A pasture is an area with plenty of grass, where the sheep spend most of their time. It is not enclosed by walls. In Revised Standard Version the two comparisons with “sheep in a fold” and “a flock in its pasture” seem to be a parallelism, which a translator will not necessarily have to translate twice. But Good News Translation has understood these to be two separate comparisons. The people being brought back from exile are like sheep returning to the fold. The land … filled with many people is compared to a pasture full of sheep. The Hebrew text again has some uncertainties of detail, but the overall meaning is plain.
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on Micah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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