OET interlinear EZRA 9:6

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / quotemarks

וָ⁠אֹמְרָ֗⁠ה

and,said,

After this phrase Ezra begins to quote what he said out loud in prayer on this occasion. The quotation continues through 9:15. It may be helpful to your readers to indicate this with an opening quotation mark or with whatever other punctuation or convention your language uses to indicate the beginning of a quotation.

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

אֱלֹהַ⁠י֙ & אֱלֹהַ֛⁠י

God,my & God,my

Here, My God means that Ezra belongs to God, not that God belongs to Ezra. If that is not clear in your language, then use a different phrase. Alternate translation: “O God, to whom I belong” or “God, whom I worship”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet

בֹּ֣שְׁתִּי וְ⁠נִכְלַ֔מְתִּי

ashamed and,embarrassed

Ashamed and humiliated mean very similar things. Ezra uses them together to emphasize how disgraced he feels by what the Israelites have done. If it would be helpful in your language, you could combine these terms into a single expression. Alternate translation: “I am deeply disgraced”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

לְ⁠הָרִ֧ים & פָּנַ֖⁠י אֵלֶ֑י⁠ךָ

to,lift & face,my to,you

This means “to look at you directly” or “to look at you face to face,” and since Ezra could not do that literally with God, it is a figurative way of saying “*to address you.” Alternate translation: “even to speak to you.”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

כִּ֣י עֲוֺנֹתֵ֤י⁠נוּ רָבוּ֙ לְ⁠מַ֣עְלָ⁠ה רֹּ֔אשׁ וְ⁠אַשְׁמָתֵ֥⁠נוּ גָדְלָ֖ה עַ֥ד לַ⁠שָּׁמָֽיִם

that/for/because/then/when iniquities,our risen to,than, heads and,guilt,our grown until to_the,heavens

These two phrases mean similar things. Ezra uses the repetition to emphasize how guilty the people of Israel are. If repeating the same thing twice would be confusing for your readers, you could combine the phrases into one and show the emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: “We have committed such great sins that our guilt because of them is completely overwhelming us” However, there is a slight difference in meaning, and you could also choose to bring that out in your translation. The first phrase speaks of the effects of these sins on the Israelites, while the second phrase speaks of their effects on their standing with God. Alternate translation: “We have committed such great sins that they are overwhelming us, and we know that they are making us guilty before you”

Note 6 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

כִּ֣י עֲוֺנֹתֵ֤י⁠נוּ רָבוּ֙ לְ⁠מַ֣עְלָ⁠ה רֹּ֔אשׁ וְ⁠אַשְׁמָתֵ֥⁠נוּ גָדְלָ֖ה עַ֥ד לַ⁠שָּׁמָֽיִם

that/for/because/then/when iniquities,our risen to,than, heads and,guilt,our grown until to_the,heavens

If it would be helpful in your language, you could put this sentence first in the prayer (after My God), since it gives the reason for the result of Ezra feeling ashamed. You could show the connection by using a word like “so” after this phrase. Alternate translation: “we have committed such great sins that we are completely guilty, and we know that we are very guilty before you. And so”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

עֲוֺנֹתֵ֤י⁠נוּ רָבוּ֙ לְ⁠מַ֣עְלָ⁠ה רֹּ֔אשׁ

iniquities,our risen to,than, heads

Here, multiplied means to become much greater in number. Ezra uses that expression to describe how serious the sins of the Israelites are. Alternate translation: “we have committed so many sins that it is like they have piled up higher than our heads”

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

עֲוֺנֹתֵ֤י⁠נוּ רָבוּ֙

iniquities,our risen

If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea behind the abstract noun iniquities with a phrase such as “sins that we have committed.” Alternate translation: “the great sins that we have committed”

Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

לְ⁠מַ֣עְלָ⁠ה רֹּ֔אשׁ

to,than, heads

Ezra uses a spatial metaphor to describe the degree to which the sins have become greater in number. Alternate translation: “to the point that they are obvious to everyone”

Note 10 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

וְ⁠אַשְׁמָתֵ֥⁠נוּ גָדְלָ֖ה

and,guilt,our grown

If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea behind the abstract noun guilt with a phrase such as “make guilty.” Alternate translation: “and our sins are making us guilty”

Note 11 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

וְ⁠אַשְׁמָתֵ֥⁠נוּ גָדְלָ֖ה עַ֥ד לַ⁠שָּׁמָֽיִם

and,guilt,our grown until to_the,heavens

Here, Ezra speaks of God by reference to something associated with him, the heavens, which was considered to be the place where God lived. The expression and our guilt has grown up as far as to the heavens means that the sins have become so numerous that the pile of them has reached to God in heaven. In other words, their sin is against God himself. Alternate translation: “and our many sins have made us very guilty before you”