die

The Hebrew that is translated as “they die” in English is emphasized in Sar with the ideophone (a word that expresses what is perceived by the five senses) mak (or elsewhere mámák) (“they die mak“). Mak “means leaving nothing, without restriction, completely (positive or negative). Examples: a fire that is completely extinguished, a paralyzed arm/leg, having eaten without leaving anything, to be really dead. In the figurative sense: to die of fear, to believe with all one’s strength, to be really the child of a person.” (Source: Ngarbolnan Riminan in Le Sycomore 2000, p. 20ff. ).

See also terrors have destroyed me and set their hope in God.

complete verse (Psalm 104:29)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 104:29:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “When you hide your face,
    they have great fear;
    when you remove their breath,
    they die and return to dust.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “When You turn Your face away they become afraid,
    When You take their breath away they die
    and return to dust.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “But when you (sing.) neglect/abandon them, they are-terrified/afraid;
    when you (sing.) take-(away) their breath, they die and they return to the soil which is their place-of-coming-from.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “But instead when you hide your face,
    they tremble,
    when you take away their breath,
    they die and go to the soil.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Wakati umevipa kisogo, vinaogopa.
    Wakati unachukua pumzi yao, vinakufa,
    vinarudi katika vumbi ambamo vilitoka.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “But if you refuse to give food to them, they become terrified.
    And when you cause them to stop breathing, they die;
    their bodies decay and become soil again.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

addressing God

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 Translator 2002, 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.

See also female second person singular pronoun in Psalms.

face (of God) (Japanese honorifics)

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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-kao (御顔) or “face (of God)” in the referenced verses.

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

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God (“leave/disappear”)

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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, sa-rare-ru (去られる) or “leave/disappear” is used.

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

Honorary "are" construct denoting God (“hide”)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 are (され) 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, kakus-are-ru (隠される) or “hide” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Psalm 104:29 - 104:30

In verse 29a When thou hidest thy face means to withdraw, to leave, to turn away from. Bible en français courant translates “But if you refuse (to give them their food), they are terrified.” God’s presence is essential to the animals’ continued existence. When the animals sense that Yahweh is abandoning them, they become terrified.

In verse 29b the Masoretic text has their breath (or “their spirit,” or “their life”); it is God who gives ruach (breath, spirit) to all living beings, and should God withhold it, they die, and their ruach returns to God (Gen 2.7; Eccl 12.7). See R. G. Bratcher, “Breath, life, spirit,” and D. C. Arichea, “Translating breath and spirit,” in The Bible Translator 34, no. 2 (April 1983), pages 201-213. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Bible en français courant, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translate “When you withhold from them the life-giving breath, they die.” Dahood argues that the Masoretic text is identical in meaning with the parallel thy face in verse 29a, though here the word has the pronoun suffix for their instead of thy. But it should be noted that the Qumran manuscript of the Psalms has “your breath.” So the meaning may be “when you hold back your life-giving breath, they die” (see Good News Translation). This seems preferable and better parallels the thought of verse 30a.

For verse 29c see the parallel in 90.3. New English Bible and others consider this line to be a later gloss. The Hebrew their dust means “the dust they were made of.”

In verse 30a the translation of “your ruach” should use the same word as in verse 29b, “your life-giving breath.” Good News Translation here should be “your breath.” Revised Standard Version and New International Version have thy Spirit, which introduces a nuance that is lacking in the Hebrew; see New Jerusalem Bible “send back Your breath, they are created.” They are created means that the successive generations of animals are all acts of divine creation; God is the one who brings them into being and thus continually renews life on earth (literally “you renew the face of the earth”). Bible en français courant has “everything on the surface of the earth becomes new.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “you give the earth a new appearance” (similarly Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). Care must be taken in translation not to lead the reader to think that verses 29b and 30a speak of the death and resurrection of the same animals; it is rather the successive generations of living beings, each new generation replacing the old one that has died. The expression thou renewest the face of the ground or Good News Translation‘s “you give new life to the earth” must often be recast to say, for example, “you cause new life to be born on the earth,” or “you make new creatures to be born…,” or “you make everything on the earth new.”

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 .