OET interlinear ZEP 3:5

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / doublenegatives

לֹ֥א יַעֲשֶׂ֖ה עַוְלָ֑ה

not he/it_made/did wrong

If it would be clearer in your language, you could use a positive expression to translate this double negative that consists of the negative particle not and the negative word unrighteousness. Alternate translation: “He always does what is right”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

בַּ⁠בֹּ֨קֶר בַּ⁠בֹּ֜קֶר מִשְׁפָּט֨⁠וֹ יִתֵּ֤ן לָ⁠אוֹר֙ לֹ֣א נֶעְדָּ֔ר

in/on/at/with,morning in/on/at/with,morning justice_of,his he/it_gave to_the=light not fail

The word light could mean: (1) the light of dawn. In that case, Zephaniah would be saying the same thing twice in slightly different ways for emphasis. Hebrew poetry was based on this kind of repetition. To reflect this, you may wish to include both phrases in your translation rather than combining them. If you do that, it may be helpful to add a connecting word in order to show that the second clause is repeating the first one, not saying something additional. Alternate translation: “In the morning, in the morning he gives his justice; indeed, at dawn he is not left out” (2) visibility, representing how Yahweh makes justice evident. In that case, the phrase at light would apply to the first clause rather than to the second one. Alternate translation: “In the morning, in the morning he brings his justice to light; he is not left out” or “In the morning, in the morning he makes his justice evident; indeed, he does not fail to do that”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / reduplication

בַּ⁠בֹּ֨קֶר בַּ⁠בֹּ֜קֶר

in/on/at/with,morning in/on/at/with,morning

Zephaniah is repeating the phrase In the morning in order to intensify the idea that it expresses. If your language can repeat phrases for intensification, you may find it appropriate to do that here in your translation. Your language may also have another way of expressing the emphasis. Alternate translation: “Morning by morning” or “Every morning”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

בַּ⁠בֹּ֨קֶר בַּ⁠בֹּ֜קֶר

in/on/at/with,morning in/on/at/with,morning

Zephaniah is using the term morning to mean a day, by association with the way that each day begins with a morning. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “Day by day” or “Every day”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

מִשְׁפָּט֨⁠וֹ יִתֵּ֤ן

justice_of,his he/it_gave

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of justice, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: “he tells people how to act justly” or “he declares what would be the just thing to do”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

לֹ֣א נֶעְדָּ֔ר

not fail

If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: “he is not missing” or “he does not fail to appear”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / doublenegatives

לֹ֣א נֶעְדָּ֔ר

not fail

If it would be clearer in your language, you could use a positive expression to translate this double negative that consists of the negative particle not and the negative verb left out. The double negative expresses emphasis, and you may choose to express that emphasis in a different way. Alternate translation: “he diligently appears”

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj

וְ⁠לֹֽא־יוֹדֵ֥עַ עַוָּ֖ל בֹּֽשֶׁת

and=not knows unjust shame

Zephaniah is using the adjective unrighteous as a noun to mean a certain kind of person. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you can translate this adjective with an equivalent phrase. Alternate translation: “Yet people who are unrighteous do not know shame”

Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

וְ⁠לֹֽא־יוֹדֵ֥עַ עַוָּ֖ל בֹּֽשֶׁת

and=not knows unjust shame

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of shame, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: “Yet people who are unrighteous are not ashamed of what they do, even though they should be”