hardened / stubborn

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The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated in English as “hardened” or “stubborn” is translated in the Hausa Common Language Bible idiomatically as taurin kai or “tough head.”

Other languages spoken in Nigeria translate similarly: Abua uses oḅom ẹmhu or “strong head,” Bura-Pabir kəra ɓəɓal or “hard head,” Gokana agẹ̀ togó or “hard/strong head,” Igede egbeju-ọngịrị or “hard head,” Dera gɨddɨng koi or “strong head,” Reshe ɾiʃitə ɾigbaŋgba or “strong head,” and in Chadian Arabic raas gawi (رَاسْكُو قَوِي) or “hard head” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

Other translation approaches include Western Bukidnon Manobo with “breath is very hard” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation) or Ixil with “callous heart” (source: Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 40).

See also hardness of heart.

complete verse (Zechariah 7:11)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Zechariah 7:11:

  • Kupsabiny: “I also said like that to your (plur.) forefathers but they refused to listen to me and shut the ears.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “’But my people became stubborn and they did not listen to my word. They closed their ears. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘But they did- not -pay attention of what I said. They rejected this and did- not -listen-to-(it).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But the people refused to pay attention to what Yahweh said. They turned their backs to him, and put their hands over their ears in order to not hear what he said.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Zechariah 7:11

At this point, Zechariah’s summary of earlier prophetic teaching ends, and his summary of the people’s reactions to it begins. In Hebrew, verses 11-12 are in the third person (referring to the LORD), but Good News Translation has put the whole paragraph in the first person to avoid changes of person which do not sound good in English. Translators should do whatever is most natural in their own language, but should try to avoid distorting the structure of the Hebrew. See the comments in the introduction to this paragraph.

But they refused to hearken is a general statement in plain language. It is developed by three more statements (two in this verse and one in the next), each using a different metaphor or picture to illustrate the people’s rejection of God’s message. The first metaphor is drawn from the situation of an ox struggling to avoid having a yoke put on it. As the ox resists the yoke, so the people turned a stubborn shoulder (compare Jer 2.20; Jer 5.5; Hos 4.16). In cultures where the use of cattle in plowing or drawing carts is rare or unknown, it may not be possible to keep this picture. Good News Translation has run it in with the previous general statement and translates both clauses by one English clause: “But my people stubbornly refused to listen.” Other versions say “they turned their backs” (New English Bible/ Revised English Bible, New International Version).

The second metaphor says that the people stopped their ears that they might not hear. The picture is of people putting something into their ears so that they would no longer even hear the message of the prophets (compare Isa 6.10; Acts 7.57). This picture is not limited to Hebrew culture, and many translators will be able to retain it. Good News Translation uses a somewhat different picture that sounds more natural in English, and says, “They closed their minds.”

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 .