The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated “boat” or “ship” in English is translated in Chichimeca-Jonaz as “that with which we can walk on water” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.), in Chitonga as a term in combination with bwato or “dugout canoe” (source: Wendland 1987, p. 72), and in Tangale as inj am or “canoe-of water” (inj — “canoe” — on its own typically refers to a traditional type of carved-out log for sleeping) (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
In Kouya it is translated as ‘glʋ ‘kadʋ — “big canoe.”
Philip Saunders (p. 231) explains how the Kouya team arrived at that conclusion:
“Acts chapter 27 was a challenge! It describes Paul’s sea voyage to Italy, and finally Rome. There is a storm at sea and a shipwreck on Malta, and the chapter includes much detailed nautical vocabulary. How do you translate this for a landlocked people group, most of whom have never seen the ocean? All they know are small rivers and dugout canoes.
“We knew that we could later insert some illustrations during the final paging process which would help the Kouya readers to picture what was happening, but meanwhile we struggled to find or invent meaningful terms. The ‘ship’ was a ‘big canoe’ and the ‘passengers’ were ‘the people in the big canoe’; the ‘crew’ were the ‘workers in the big canoe’; the ‘pilot’ was the ‘driver of the big canoe’; the ‘big canoe stopping place’ was the ‘harbour’, and the ‘big canoe stopping metal’ was the ‘anchor’!”
In Lokạạ it is translated as ukalangkwaa, lit. “English canoe.” “The term was not coined for the Bible translation, but rather originated in colonial times when the English arrived in Nigeria on ships. The indigenous term for a canoe was modified to represent the large, ocean-going ship of the English.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 104:26:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“There the ships move there and there,
and Leviathan whom you created to play there.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“So the ships are sailing along
and Leviathan, the sea animal which You created is playing there.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“The ships go-to-and-fro there,
and the dragon Leviatan which you (sing.) created also swim-around there.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“And in that sea, the boat are moving much,
and very big fish swim,
which you created them.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Humo zinapita meli,
ndimo ambamo limo na joka,
ambalo umeliumba ili licheze humo.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“We see the ships which sail along!
We see the huge sea monster, which you made to splash around/play in the sea.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed. The first example is from a language where God is always addressed distinctly formal whereas the second is one where the opposite choice was made.
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Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.
As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.
In these verses, in which humans address God, the informal, familiar pronoun is used that communicates closeness.
Voinov notes that “in the Tuvan Bible, God is only addressed with the informal pronoun. No exceptions. An interesting thing about this is that I’ve heard new Tuvan believers praying with the formal form to God until they are corrected by other Christians who tell them that God is close to us so we should address him with the informal pronoun. As a result, the informal pronoun is the only one that is used in praying to God among the Tuvan church.”
In Gbaya, “a superior, whether father, uncle, or older brother, mother, aunt, or older sister, president, governor, or chief, is never addressed in the singular unless the speaker intends a deliberate insult. When addressing the superior face to face, the second person plural pronoun ɛ́nɛ́ or ‘you (pl.)’ is used, similar to the French usage of vous.
Accordingly, the translators of the current version of the Gbaya Bible chose to use the plural ɛ́nɛ́ to address God. There are a few exceptions. In Psalms 86:8, 97:9, and 138:1, God is addressed alongside other “gods,” and here the third person pronoun o is used to avoid confusion about who is being addressed. In several New Testament passages (Matthew 21:23, 26:68, 27:40, Mark 11:28, Luke 20:2, 23:37, as well as in Jesus’ interaction with Pilate and Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well) the less courteous form for Jesus is used to indicate ignorance of his position or mocking (source Philip Noss).
In Dutch and Western Frisian translations, however, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.
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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, tsuku-rare-ru (造られる) or “create” is used.
Now the psalmist (verse 24) breaks into praise of Yahweh’s wisdom in creating so many different things. The expression In wisdom and Good News Translation‘s “How wisely” will have to be recast in some languages to say, for example, “You were very wise when you made…” or “Because you are very wise, you made….” In line c the word creatures translates a Hebrew word which occurs in Psalms only here and in 105.21; it seems to mean possessions, property. Most translations have creatures or “creations.” The verb related to creatures can mean either “acquire” or “create” (see 139.13a); and in Genesis 14.22 the verb is used to speak of God as the Creator. In some languages creatures will have to be rendered as “the animals which you created” or “the things you gave life to.”
In verse 25 the sea, great and wide, is singled out, emphasizing the fact that, like the moon and the sun in verse 19, it too is a part of God’s creation and is entirely subordinate to him. Likewise all living beings in the seas are God’s creation.
The mention of ships in verse 26a is rather strange, since they can hardly be counted as Yahweh’s creation; some (see Weiser) have proposed to change to a word meaning “monsters,” but this has not been widely accepted. Briggs attributes the line to a later unimaginative editor. These are, of course, sailing ships.
For Leviathan see 74.14; this huge sea monster is also God’s creation. The Hebrew text may mean either (1) “Leviathan, that one you made to play in it (that is, in the ocean)” (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New International Version, New English Bible footnote); or (2) “Leviathan, that one you made to play with” (Weiser, New English Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Good News Translation footnote, Dahood; see Job 41.5). The majority favor (2), and the translator may prefer it.
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 .
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