Drawing by Ismar David from Charles L. Allen, 1961. For other images of Ismar David drawings, see here.

The Hebrew that is translated as “your rod and your staff – they comfort me” in English was translated in Tuvan as “your rod and your staff protect me and calm me down.” Andrei S. Desnitsky explains (in: The Bible Translator 2018, p. 233ff. ): “This may sound rather negative when translated literally into Tuvan (a Turkic language spoken on the Russian–Mongolian border). The most probable scenario that would be evoked for readers/hearers involves a serious beating after which the speaker keeps silent. So we had to introduce the word ‘protection’ dajangyyžyŋ bile šykpyyžyŋ meni kamgalap, oožurgadyr (your rod and your staff protect me and calm me down).”