The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “love” in English is typically translated in Hakka Chinese as thung-siak / 痛惜 or “pain-love” when it refers to God’s love.
The same term is used for a variety of Hebrew terms that cover a range of English translations that refer to God as the agent, including “love,” “compassion,” and “mercy.”
Paul McLean explains: “[Thung-siak / 痛惜] has been used for many years in a popular Hakka-Christian mountain song based on John 3:16. The translation team decided that for this and other reasons it would be a good rendering here. It helps point to the fact that God’s ‘love’ is a compassionate (cum passio, with suffering) love.”
The Hebrew that is translated in English as “zealous” or “jealous” referring to God as the one who has the emotion has to be translated in Kwere with a different term, a Swahili loan word (wivu) than the one that is used for human jealousy or zeal (migongo). (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Apali: “God’s one with talk from the head” (“basically God’s messenger since head refers to any leader’s talk”) (source: Martha Wade)
Michoacán Nahuatl: “clean helper of God” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
Noongar: Hdjin-djin-kwabba or “spirit good” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Wè Northern (Wɛɛ): Kea ‘a “sooa or “the Lord’s soldier” (also: “God’s soldier” or “his soldier”) (source: Drew Maust)
Iwaidja: “a man sent with a message” (Sam Freney explains the genesis of this term [in this article ): “For example, in Darwin last year, as we were working on a new translation of Luke 2:6–12 in Iwaidja, a Northern Territory language, the translators had written ‘angel’ as ‘a man with eagle wings’. Even before getting to the question of whether this was an accurate term (or one that imported some other information in), the word for ‘eagle’ started getting discussed. One of the translators had her teenage granddaughter with her, and this word didn’t mean anything to her at all. She’d never heard of it, as it was an archaic term that younger people didn’t use anymore. They ended up changing the translation of ‘angel’ to something like ‘a man sent with a message’, which is both more accurate and clear.”)
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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) is used as in mi-tsukai (御使い) or “messenger (of God).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Zechariah 1:14:
Kupsabiny: “Then, the angel said to me, ‘Say this word/message: The God of authority is saying, ‘I have great love for Jerusalem and Zion.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Then the angel who had been talking with me said, "Announce this with a loud voice to everyone: this is what LORD Almighty says. ‘ I love Jerusalem and Zion with a passion.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “This angel told me that I-will tell/proclaim this which the LORD Almighty had-said: ‘I have-a-deep-concern for Jerusalem which is- also -called Zion,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Then the angel who had been talking with me said to me, ‘Proclaim this to the people of Jerusalem: The Commander of the armies of angels says that he is very concerned about the people who live on Zion Hill and in the other parts of Jerusalem.” (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.
In Hebrew this verse has four degrees of direct quotation. It is translated literally in Revised Standard Version and many other English versions, but sounds very unnatural in English. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version have restructured so as to have only one degree of direct quotation, and this is better English style. In other languages various amounts of restructuring may be necessary. Few languages will naturally use four degrees of direct quotation as the Hebrew does, but two degrees may be acceptable in some. Many translators will find that one degree, as in Good News Translation, is best, while others may prefer not to use direct speech at all, but to turn the entire verse into indirect speech. In cases like this translators need to be very sensitive to the requirements of good style in their own language.
So the angel who talked with me: The link word So is translated as “then” in several versions, such as Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, and New Living Translation. Since no change of participant is involved, “the angel” or “this angel” will be an adequate translation in most languages, as it will naturally refer to the angel mentioned last.
Said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the LORD of hosts: Perhaps Zechariah himself did not hear what the LORD said to the angel, or else could not understand it fully, though he had at least grasped that the LORD’s message was favorable. Here the angel explains and perhaps summarizes the LORD’s words, and orders Zechariah to tell them to the people. Good News Translation simplifies this to “told me to proclaim what the LORD Almighty had said.” For LORD of hosts, see Hag 1.2.
I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion: In modern spoken English, jealous is normally used in a bad sense meaning wrongfully desiring what belongs to someone else. This meaning is of course out of place with respect to God. When used of him, jealous means justly concerned over that which is rightly his. In this context Jerusalem is the city God had chosen, and his interest in it did not cease when it was captured by the Babylonians (see verse 17). The LORD still cares what happens to the city, and Good News Translation expresses this well with “I have a deep love and concern for Jerusalem.” Contemporary English Version has “I … am very protective of Jerusalem.”
The two names Jerusalem and Zion both refer to the same city, but Zion refers especially to the area that included the Temple. Zion is therefore often used to emphasize the religious importance of Jerusalem as the city where the LORD’s Temple stood. This is why Good News Translation translates it as “Jerusalem, my holy city.” It may also be possible to say “Jerusalem and its Temple district, Zion.” In some languages it may be appropriate to use two names like Jerusalem and Zion to refer to the same place, but in many others this would simply confuse the reader. In such cases it would be better to do the same sort of thing as Good News Translation has done, and explain what the name Zion means. In some languages “my holy city” will be expressed as “my own city Jerusalem” or “Jerusalem, the city that belongs to me.” See also the notes on verse 17.
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Zechariah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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