“In working as a Bible translator in Tibetan, the overriding aesthetic value that guided the translation was the sonic quality of the oral-aural transmission and reception. The primary quality control measure of almost everything that was translated, regardless of genre, whether it was a genealogy, a list of vices, a hymn, narrative, prophecy, poetry or didactic teaching, was all measured through the lens of ‘does this verse or section sound melodious and pleasing to the ears?’ The concern of our mother tongue translators was that a holy and sacred text must inherently be melodious and sweet sounding to the ear, or no one would consider it to be sacred, nor would they want to read it or listen to it being read aloud. Furthermore, if the text is melodious and sweet to the ears (snyan po) and has an appealing ‘flavor’ (bro ba), then it will also be kho bde po — easy to comprehend (literally ‘smooth to the ear’) and kha deb po — easy to read (literally ‘smooth to the mouth’). It would also more easily lend itself to memorization, recitation and being sung-all highly important aspects in a Tibetan context. (…) More typically, poetry is versified with an uneven number of syllables in lines of seven and nine syllables, a form of synalepha [suppression of a vowel at the end of word when it is followed by another word beginning with a vowel] grouped as 1-0-1-0-1-0-0. Though lines of 11, 13, 15 syllables (and so on) are possible, the pattern of 7 or 9 is by far the most prevalent in Tibetan literature.
“Given the structure of the Beatitudes in Matthew’s Gospel, with rhythmic parallel patterns (see Translation commentary on Matthew 5:3) (…), the team decided to render this section in poetic form to not only promote ease of memorization and recitation, but to enhance the euphonic appeal [having a pleasant sound]. The text follows a typical nine syllable synalepha structure.” (Quoted in Watters / de Blois 2023)
The Greek that is typically translated as “Blessed” in English is translated in the French 1985 translation by Chouraqui as En marche or “Rise up / Forward / Let’s get going.”
The Jewish scholar and inter-religious translator A. Chouraqui explains: “The first word of the Sermon on the Mount is, in most translations, the main obstacle to understanding Yeshua‘s message. Makarioi, the Greek says — “Blessed” — and this word immediately sends commentators off on the wrong track. The ‘Beatitudes’ are assumed to be something that should be possessed from the outset, whereas they will only be fully realized in the kingdom of Adonai. And Jesus did not say makarioi, but ashrei (see Psalm 1:1), an exclamation…from the root ashar which implies, not the idea of a vague and essentially hedonistic happiness, but the idea of uprightness, yashar — the uprightness of the person who is walking on a path clear of obstacles — the path that leads toward Adonai.” (Source: Watson 2023, p. 58)
Note that Psalm 1:1a is translated by Chouraqui as En marche, l’homme qui ne va pas au conseil des criminels — “En marche (see above), the man who doesn’t attend the council of criminals.”
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin terms that are typically translated as “mercy” (or “compassion” or “kindness”) in English are translated in various ways. Bratcher / Nida classify them in (1) those based on the quality of heart, or other psychological center, (2) those which introduce the concept of weeping or extreme sorrow, (3) those which involve willingness to look upon and recognize the condition of others, or (4) those which involve a variety of intense feelings.
While the Englishmercy originates from the Latinmerces, originally “price paid,” Romance languages (Italian, Spanish, Corsican, Catalan, Friulian) and other Germanic languages (German, Swedish, Danish — Barmherzigkeit, barmhärtighet and barmhjertighed, respectively) tend to follow the Latin misericordia, lit. “misery-heart.”
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 5:7:
Uma: “Blessed are the people who are loving to others, for God also will love them.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “‘Better off are the people who pity/have mercy on their companions, because they will be pitied/shown mercy by God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Far better off are those who are merciful to their companions because God will be merciful to them in the future.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “‘Fortunate are the people who are characteristically-merciful, because God will also have-mercy-on them.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “(The people) can be happy who are merciful/generous, because they will be shown-mercy/generosity by God.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “The good fortune will be met by the people who do the favor of helping their fellowmen. Because these are the people for whom God will do the favor of helping them.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Matthew 5:2-12:
Trust God absolutely — though you have nothing to offer —
God is the Great Rewarder!
Hurt with those who hurt — God is the Gracious Comforter!
Humility is the pathway to victory – God is the Generous Giver!
And the earth will be given to those who are humble.
Above all else, hunger and thirst to obey God — you will be satisfied.
Mercy for mercy — Show mercy, and God will be merciful to you.
Purity of heart and mind opens eyes to see God —
and this perfect vision can be yours.
Do you want to become a child of God? Make peace, not war!
Don’t give up, even if you’ve been mistreated for doing right!
God remains the Great Rewarder!
When others insult you or mistreat you or tell evil lies about you,
because you belong to God, don’t worry or whimper!
In heaven God will reward you greatly — after all, don’t you recall
this was the fate of prophets long ago?
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
This beatitude is best interpreted in light of a passage such as the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer (“forgive us the wrongs that we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done us”) or of Jesus’ prayer on the cross in Luke 23.34 (“Forgive them, Father! They don’t know what they are doing”). The same teaching is also reflected in other New Testament passages, as well as in a familiar rabbinic saying: “as God is merciful, so you must be merciful.” This beatitude is in contradiction to traditional Pharisaic theology, which would have affirmed “Happy are those who are righteous, for God will be merciful to them.” For Matthew the point is that a person who does not show mercy cannot count on God’s mercy. Occasionally this verse has been wrongly understood to mean that the believer is to be merciful towards others so that they will treat him in the same way. This is not the meaning, and no Jew of Jesus’ day would have understood it in this way; it is imperative for the translator to make the meaning explicit, as Good News Translation has done (“God will be merciful to them!”).
Mercy is defined as having a feeling of sorrow over someone’s bad situation and trying to do something about it. People who are merciful can be said to be “kind” or “forgiving,” or to be “people who take pity on others,” “people who show mercy to others.”
Similarly, then, “God will take pity on them,” “will forgive them,” or “will show mercy to them.” Some translators may have to specify when people will obtain this mercy from God; for example, “on the Judgment Day.” In that case the translation can be “on the Day when he judges the world, God will show mercy to them.”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.