NJV. When they had eaten all the grass in the land, I said, ‘Lord Yahweh, forgive, I beg you. How can Jacob survive, being so small?’
Wardaman. Wolon girdibun laglaña wurrŋuñga ŋayanarri: “Jinjiyujba Ñanayi murug yirrgan, waray ŋaŋgan. Yiŋgiyayi jandarrma bula Yiljoŋ yajiŋiyan?”
when they had eaten all the grass in the land, I said = wolon girdibun laglaña wurrŋuñga ŋayanarri
wolon = grass
girdibun = finished…all…of it
laglaña = in the land
wurrŋuñga = when they had eaten
ŋayanarri = I said
My translation of forgive (us) is murug yirrgan. It has four components:
1. murug = hide.
…
2. yirr- = we (not including you).
3. ga = take.
4. -n = [Present Tense].
Thus, murug yirrgan means we hide from you, or in context let us hide from you.
“forgive” comes from the Hebrew sawlakh’ (סלח), which means forgive, pardon or spare.
I could not find a forgive, so I drew from spare.
murug is similar to the words murrurna and muruŋenŋen.
murrurna means desert goanna.
He is asking to return to the simpler days of wandering in the desert, when their only concern was when the next meal was coming – when God fed them directly with manna from heaven.
muruŋenŋen means small tree.
He longs for the days when they lived in the Garden of Eden, before they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good an Evil.
Furthermore, this noun contains twice the sound ŋe, a verb meaning sing and call to.
Lord Yahweh, forgive, I pray to you = Jinjiyujba Ñanayi murug yirrgan, waray ŋaŋgan
Jinjiyujba = Lord
Ñanayi = Yahweh
murug = hide
yirrgan = let us take
waray = ask
ŋaŋgan = I take you
My translation of I pray to you is waray ŋaŋgan. It has four components:
1. waray = ask.
…
2. ŋaŋ- = I do to you.
3. ga = take.
4. -n = [Present Tense].
There is one word similar to waray.
This is warawad, which means travel around.
On the one hand, many Jews at this time want to go somewhere outside of God’s gaze.
On the other, the Assyrian Empire will soon invade, and many Jews will never make their way home. Their descendants will never come home.
who will help Jacob stand, when he is small = yiŋgiyayi jandarrma bula Yiljoŋ yajiŋiyan
yiŋgiyayi = who will do
jandarrma = erect
bula = small boy
Yiljoŋ = Jacob
yajiŋiyan = will sit him
I shall discuss this verse when I explore Amos 7:5.
KJV. And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
Wardaman. Wolon girdibun laglaña wurrŋuñga ŋayanarri: “Jinjiyujba Ñanayi murug yirrgan, waray ŋaŋgan. Yiŋgiyayi jandarrma bula Yiljoŋ yajiŋiyan?”