Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 31:2:
Kupsabiny: “But God is wise and is able to send them disaster. God does not turn himself back from the words/things that he wants to do. He shall punish the sinners and those who come to the sinners aid.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Yet, as for him, [he] has great wisdom and he is able to bring destruction, and he will not take back his word. He will rise against clans that do evil work and those who help those who do unrighteous work.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “In the wisdom of the LORD he will-send destruction; he will- never -take-back what he has-said. He will-punish the household of the wicked people and the ones-(who)-help them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).
Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.
In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.
While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”
In that system, one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and others for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.
Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”
In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)
Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”
In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )
In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)
The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.
Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are Twents as well as Indonesian and Malay. In the latter two languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-kotoba (みことば) or “word (of God)” in the referenced verses.
And yet he is wise refers to Yahweh. This statement is full of irony. Yahweh’s people do not rely on him even though he has great political wisdom and knows what the best course of action is. In Hebrew this clause begins with a particle that is often rendered “also.” Here it could introduce two things that are true about Yahweh, so the first line may be rendered “He is wise and also brings disaster.” But most translations see the particle as expressing contrast with the previous verse, as in Revised Standard Version; for example, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch renders this clause and the previous line as follows: “1 … You [plural] do not ask the LORD whether he agrees. 2 You think you are acting cleverly, but he too is wise in what he does.” Good News Translation expresses the meaning of this clause in the context with “He knows what he is doing.”
And brings disaster indicates that trouble and calamity come from God. He both blesses and punishes. There is blessing for obedience, and punishment for disobedience (see, for example, Amos 3.6). The prophet reminds the people of Judah that there will be terrible consequences if they ignore Yahweh’s warning not to seek help from Egypt. New International Version and New Jerusalem Bible soften the statement somewhat by saying “and can bring disaster” (similarly Revised English Bible).
He does not call back his words means that Yahweh will accomplish what he says he will do. This line is literally “and he does not turn away from his words.” It emphasizes that Yahweh will not take back his threats. Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, and Bible en français courant render his words as “his threats.” This line may be rendered “he does not revoke what he has threatened to do.”
But will arise against the house of the evildoers details Yahweh’s immovable threat. As in 14.22, arise against refers to punishing people. The house of the evildoers is a figure of speech referring to “evil people” (Good News Translation; similarly Revised English Bible “wrongdoers”), not the building in which they live (compare “the house of Israel” in 5.7). This line states the general principle that Yahweh will always be opposed to those who do evil, but here its implied target is those in Judah who seek an alliance with Egypt.
And against the helpers of those who work iniquity: This line is parallel to the previous one. It also gives a general principle, but since those who work iniquity is synonymous with the house of the evildoers, their helpers imply the Egyptians here. Like Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible uses the idea of “protect” for helpers, but these people are actually helping those who do wrong rather than just protecting them. For iniquity see the comments on 1.13.
For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:
• But Yahweh is wise and one who brings disaster;
he will not go back on his word,
but will act against those who do evil,
and against those who help the wicked.
• But Yahweh is wise;
he brings disaster and does not turn back from his threats,
but will deal with any who do evil,
and with those who assist those who are wicked.
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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