לָ֤מָּה צַּ֨מְנוּ֙ וְלֹ֣א רָאִ֔יתָ עִנִּ֥ינוּ נַפְשֵׁ֖נוּ וְלֹ֣א תֵדָ֑ע הֵ֣ן בְּי֤וֹם צֹֽמְכֶם֙ תִּמְצְאוּ־חֵ֔פֶץ וְכָל־עַצְּבֵיכֶ֖ם תִּנְגֹּֽשׂוּ׃
3“Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day
and oppress all your workers.
The Aramaic, Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “fast” in English is translated in Isthmus Mixe as “going without food to worship God” and in Lacandon as “leaving eating in order to talk to God.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
In Vidunda it is translated as “resting to eat.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the exclusive pronoun, excluding the Lord.
Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed. The first example is from a language where God is always addressed distinctly formal whereas the second is one where the opposite choice was made.
Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.
As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff.), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.
In these verses, in which humans address God, the informal, familiar pronoun is used that communicates closeness.
Voinov notes that “in the Tuvan Bible, God is only addressed with the informal pronoun. No exceptions. An interesting thing about this is that I’ve heard new Tuvan believers praying with the formal form to God until they are corrected by other Christians who tell them that God is close to us so we should address him with the informal pronoun. As a result, the informal pronoun is the only one that is used in praying to God among the Tuvan church.”
In Gbaya, “a superior, whether father, uncle, or older brother, mother, aunt, or older sister, president, governor, or chief, is never addressed in the singular unless the speaker intends a deliberate insult. When addressing the superior face to face, the second person plural pronoun ɛ́nɛ́ or ‘you (pl.)’ is used, similar to the French usage of vous.
Accordingly, the translators of the current version of the Gbaya Bible chose to use the plural ɛ́nɛ́ to address God. There are a few exceptions. In Psalms 86:8, 97:9, and 138:1, God is addressed alongside other “gods,” and here the third person pronoun o is used to avoid confusion about who is being addressed. In several New Testament passages (Matthew 21:23, 26:68, 27:40, Mark 11:28, Luke 20:2, 23:37, as well as in Jesus’ interaction with Pilate and Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well) the less courteous form for Jesus is used to indicate ignorance of his position or mocking (source Philip Noss).
In Dutch and Western Frisian translations, however, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.
Good News Translation marks this verse as a dialogue by introducing it with “The people ask,” and by placing “The LORD says to them” in the middle of it where God’s response begins. The opening words indicate clearly that there is a change of speaker from the previous verses. Marking this change will help readers and listeners alike. Bible en français courant (1997) handles the dialogue differently by keeping the LORD as the main speaker throughout the verse: “But they tell me: ‘What good…?’ Then I respond: ‘See for yourselves…’” (similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).
Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not?: God’s people make a bitter complaint by asking this rhetorical question. They complain that their religious devotion has not produced any positive results. Even though they fasted, they believe that God does not see or take notice of it. To “fast” means to abstain from food, usually for a religious purpose. The practice of fasting was an important one in Israelite religion (see, for example, 2 Sam 12.16, 22), but the books of the Law do not require it. Fasting as a form of self-denial was used for various reasons: to express repentance, to express sorrow for a tragedy or death, or to ask God for help during suffering. Here the purpose of the people’s fasting is not clear. Languages may not have a single term for the verb fasted that adequately gives its meaning, so translators may need to use an expression such as “remain without food” or “not eat anything at all.” It may be possible to use a figure of speech, such as “leave the stomach empty.” For this whole question Bible en français courant has “What good is it to fast, if you do not see us?” and Good News Translation says “Why should we fast if the LORD never notices?” In Good News Translation‘s rendering the people do not complain to the LORD directly, since it changes the second person reference to him to third person. It is better to keep the direct address to the LORD by saying “Why should we fast if you never notice?”
Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no knowledge of it?: This second rhetorical question is parallel to the first one. Even though the people humbled themselves, they believe God does not know about it. In this context we humbled ourselves does not mean the people made themselves humble. Rather, it means they deprived themselves of food. Bible en français courant expresses this question clearly with “What good is it to deprive ourselves, if you do not notice anything?” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh is also very clear with “When we starved our bodies, [why] did You pay no heed?” Good News Translation has “Why should we go without food if he pays no attention?”
Both the questions in the first two lines of this verse are actually accusations made by the people against God. They claim that he fails to notice how religious they have been. In the rest of this section God responds to their charge against him. For languages that do not favor the use of rhetorical questions, they may use strong statements (see the second example below).
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure indicates that the people have abused the purpose of fasting. When they fast, they do it for their own benefit (compare Zech 7.5-6). The word Behold draws attention to the LORD’s response. It should be rendered naturally in some way. New Jerusalem Bible has “Look,” Good News Translation uses “The truth is,” and Bible en français courant says “See for yourselves.” The day of your fast refers to the time or period of their fasting, not that it lasted only one day. “When you fast” would be a suitable equivalent. The Hebrew verb rendered seek means “attain/achieve” in this context. The Hebrew noun for pleasure comes from the same root as the verb rendered “delight” in verse 2 (see the comments there). It may be rendered “interest[s]” (New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Revised English Bible) or “business” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, RSV footnote). For this whole line New International Version has “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please,” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “Because on your fast day You see to your business,” and Revised English Bible translates “In fact you serve your own interests on your fast-day.”
And oppress all your workers: The people who fast mistreat those who work for them. Fasting should demonstrate self-denial, but in fact personal gain and taking advantage of others is what these people have in mind. Their ethics and their religion are kept in separate compartments. For oppress see the comments on 3.5. This line may be rendered “and you make all your workers suffer” or “and you treat all your workers unfairly.”
For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:
• The people say, “Why is it that we fast but you take no notice?
Why have we denied ourselves and you seem not to know?”
The LORD replies, “Look, you fast, but you are looking out for your own interests,
and you exploit your workers!
• The people say, “We fast, but you do not take any notice at all!
We deny ourselves, but you do not care at all!”
The LORD responds, “Look! You may fast but it is for your own personal interests,
and you take advantage of your workers!
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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