fear (of God)

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that are translated as “fear (of God)” (or: “honor,” “worship,” or “respect”) is translated as “to have respect/reverence for” (Southern Subanen, Western Highland Purepecha, Navajo (Dinė), Javanese, Tboli), “to make great before oneself” (Ngäbere), “fear-devotion” (Kannada — currently used as a description of the life of piety), “those-with-whom he-is-holy” (those who fear God) (Western Apache) (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel), “revere God” (Lalana Chinantec), “worship God” (Palantla Chinantec) (source for this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), “obey” (Chichewa) (source: Ernst Wendland), “having/showing respect (for God)” (Makonde) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext), or with a term that communicates awe (rather than fear of an evil source) (Chol) (source: Robert Bascom).

Bullard / Hatton (2008, p. 8) say the following about this concept: “As the writer of Proverbs states in 1:7, ‘The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.’ (…) ‘The fear of the Lord,’ that is, human fear of God, is an exceptionally difficult concept to express, at least in English. Other languages may have more appropriate terms. The idea probably is rooted in the most ancient days when people were indeed afraid of any deity. But in Israel the concept of fearing God was transformed by God’s revelation into a much fuller idea. Basically, as used in the Bible, the fear of God refers to the proper attitude of reverence and awe before the Holy One. To fear God is to recognize one’s own place as a mere mortal before the Creator, one’s place as a sinner before the Judge, one’s place as a child before the Father, one’s place as the recipient of God’s love. It thus involves submission, repentance, trust, and grateful love toward the One who is fearsome in holiness, in justice, in power that both protects and punishes, and in love. Using the word “fear” is sometimes as good as we can do, but often we will alternate that word with terms like ‘reverence’ or ‘awe.’”

See also fear of the LORD (Isa 11:2) and complete verse (Genesis 22:12) et al.

midwife

The Hebrew that is translated as “midwife” in English is translated in Kwere as “old woman.” (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In the Thai Common Language version it is “a woman who helps the womb.” (See Translation commentary on Exod 1:15.)

complete verse (Exodus 1:17)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 1:17:

  • Kupsabiny: “But as those midwives/women obeyed/feared God, they did not strangle/kill the boys as the king had told them.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “[But] the midwives were the God-fearing, so they did not even kill the sons that were born as the Pharaoh of Egypt commanded them.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But because the midwives were-afraid of God, they did- not -obey what the king said, instead they allowed the newly-born males/(boys) to-live.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “But those two women feared God and so didn’t follow the talk of the great chief of the Isip people. They left the male children so that they stayed [well].” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “But, women those two, they fear God. That which king of Egypt said to them, they not it did. They leave male children of Hebrew that they might live.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “But the midwives feared/revered God. So they did not do what the king told them to do. They allowed the baby boys to live.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 1:17

Feared God suggests they feared the Israelite God more than they feared the king. In the Old Testament the expression “to fear God” or “to fear the LORD” is sometimes used to describe the feeling of reverence or respect in the worship of God, as in Psa 34.11 and Pro 1.7. Quite often it is used to describe the combined experience of fear and awe in the presence of God, especially when God reveals himself in an unusual way, as in Exo 14.31. (See also Exo 3.6.)

Therefore the translator must guard against weakening the element of fear unless the context warrants it. Since no more is known of these midwives than what is found in verses 15-21, it is better to assume the meaning of fear. It may be necessary to specify that “they feared what God would do to them if they obeyed the king.” In some languages there will be expressions meaning “to be in awe of,” suggesting both “reverence” and “fear” combined. Translators should use such an expression in this context.

The clause beginning with and did not do is a result clause based on the midwives’ fear of God. Good News Translation‘s “and so” makes this clear. But let the male children live is literally “but they kept alive the male children.” It means they allowed the boys to live. It is possible to restructure this verse as follows: “But the two women had great reverence for God. So they let the boys live, even though the king had ordered them to kill them.”

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .