complete verse (Psalm 101:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 101:8:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “Every morning I will calm people
    all the wicked in the land;
    I will remove everyone who does evils
    in the city of Jehovah.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “Every morning I will destroy the wicked who are in the land.
    I will expel from the city of the LORD all who do evil.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “Everyday I will-destroy my fellowmen who (are) wicked.
    They will-be-lost from the city of the LORD.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “Every morning I will stop all people
    who be bad in land,
    I will remove bad people
    from the town of the LORD.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Kila siku nitawangamiza,
    waliopotoka wote katika nchi,
    nitawafukuza katika mji wa BWANA,
    watenda mabaya wote.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “Every day I will try to get rid of all the wicked people in this land;
    I will do that by expelling them from this city, which is Yahweh’s city.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Psalm 101:7 - 101:8

The psalm closes with the king’s promise to expel from his service every liar and hypocrite. Good News Translation seems to make a sharper distinction between the two than the Hebrew allows: “one who does deceit” in line a and “speaker of falsehoods” in line c may be strictly synonymous. (See in 52.2, 3 “lies” and “falsehood” in Good News Translation; in that passage Revised Standard Version has “worker of treachery” and “lying.”) But it may be that the first one involves deceitful actions, the second one falsehoods (so Revised Standard Version, New International Version; also New Jerusalem Bible “deals deceitfully” and “speaks untruth”). For translation suggestions on “hypocrite” see 26.4.

Finally the king promises to put to death (literally “to silence” as in verse 5a) all the wicked in Israel and to “cut off” from Jerusalem (“the city of Yahweh”) all the evildoers. He will do this “in the mornings,” that is, every morning, the usual time of day when cases were tried and judgment administered. The king himself would normally judge cases of greater importance. The promise seems exaggerated; as Anderson remarks, “The destruction of all the wicked in the land is an ideal rather than a fact.” And Weiser says “he expresses the lofty ideal principles whereby the conduct of a ruler shall be guided.” The expression Morning by morning or Good News Translation‘s “Day after day” may suggest that the same people are daily destroyed. If this is a serious problem, it may be necessary to say something like “Each day I will destroy those who do evil things,” it being assumed that evil never ceases to flourish.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .