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What One Can Do in Fear – A Symptomatic Escape into Literalness

Summary/Abstract: Proper interpretation of the expression used in Ezekiel 7:17; 21:12 is difficult, as the variety of meanings expressed the translations indicates. One of the obstacles to understanding these verses is a euphemism used by the prophet, namely mayim, literally “water”, here “urine”. Polish translators, in their desire to hide the coarse sense of the source text from a reader, replace the original non-verbal sign (involuntary urination as a symptom of terror) with milder symptoms of fear, or render the Hebrew euphemism literally as “water” what makes their translation incomprehensible. Translations into English and German clearly convey the coarse sense of the Hebrew expression, but not all of them seem to be acceptable in terms of a style. I suggest the expression zmoczą się ze strachu “they will wet themselves in fear” as the best Polish equivalent of the Hebrew euphemism.

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