complete verse (Proverbs 8:26)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 8:26:

  • Kupsabiny: “I was there before God created the earth, all fields or/and ground/soil.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Before God created the world, the ground
    or the earth, I was born.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “He willed that I am here already since in the beginning.
    I was/am already there even the world is/was not (here) yet: the sea, the springs, the mountains, the fields/farms, and even the dusts.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “the earth, paddy-fields and even the dust.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Proverbs 8:26

“Before he had made the earth with its fields”: The word rendered “fields” is the plural of the word used in 1.20, where it refers to the areas in a town outside the buildings. Here it means the areas outside the town, that is, the open countryside, usually translated as in Revised Standard Version. In some heavily forested areas the only open areas are the cultivated plots.

“Or the first of the dust of the world” is literally “the head of the dust. . ..” “Head” in this context seems to mean “the first bit” or, as Good News Translation says, “the first handful.” “Dust” in the plural form as here is to be taken as “soil.” “World” renders a word meaning the entire expanse of the earth. The word is equivalent here to the earth. In any event there was no thought of the earth as a ball spinning in space.

This verse is a place where some languages repeat the main clause that is found in verses 24 and 25. In one translation, for example, a new sentence begins, “When I arrived [was born] the Lord had not yet made the earth and there were no food gardens.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("making")

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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 Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, tsukutteo-rare-ru (造っておられる) or “making” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 8:26

8:26

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

26a before He made the land or fields,

26b or any of the dust of the earth.

8:26a–b

before He made the land or fields, or any of the dust of the earth: All three of the terms used in this verse refer to the ground in some way.

8:26a

the land: The word land refers to the dry land, as opposed to the oceans and rivers.

fields: The word fields (literally “its outsides”) refers to open country outside towns and cities. For example:

the countryside (New Jerusalem Bible)

8:26b

any of the dust of the earth: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “the head of the dusts of the world.” Most scholars agree that this refers to the soil in some way, but the exact meaning is not clear. Most versions understand “head” to mean “first.” For example:

even the first dust of the earth (New Century Version)
-or-
the world’s first bits of soil (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
the first handfuls of soil (New Living Translation (2004))

Notice that the New Living Translation (2004) leaves implied the phrase “of the earth.” Consider whether it is natural to make this phrase implicit in your language.

In some languages, it may be better to use a general phrase such as:

even the dust/soil

This may avoid a wrong implied comparison between the first dust and later dust.

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