The term that is transliterated as “Joseph” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that relates to a) the coat he wore (see Gen 37:3), b) the holding of his clothes by Potiphar’s wife (see Gen 39:12), and c) the many times Joseph experienced grief. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Joseph” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign that signifies “dream,” referring to Jacob’s dream at Bethel (see Genesis 28:10 and the following verses). (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “sell” in English is translated in Noongar as wort-bangal or “away-barter.” Note that “buy” is translated as bangal-barranga or “get-barter.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 105:17:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“He sent a person in front of them,
Joseph was sold like a slave.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“He sent one person ahead of them,
That person, who was sold as a slave, was Joseph.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“But he had- already -sent- Jose -ahead to Egipto to help them.
Jose was-sold there as slave.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“and he sent somebody called Joseph to go ahead of them,
who was sold by his brothers as a slave.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Alimtuma mtu kuwatangulia,
Yusufu ambaye aliuzwa akawa mtumwa.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“So his people went to Egypt, but first he sent someone there.
He sent Joseph, who had been sold to be a slave.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).
Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.
In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.
While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”
In that system, one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and others for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.
Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”
In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)
Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”
In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )
In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)
The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.
Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are Twents as well as the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In the latter two languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).
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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, oku-rare-ru (送られる) or “send” is used.
In this strophe (verses 16-22) the psalmist tells the story of Joseph (see Gen 37 and 39–50). In verse 16 Good News Translation “their country” (Revised Standard Versionthe land) is Canaan, where the Hebrews (Jacob and his descendants) were living. It is better to be specific: “The LORD sent a famine on the land of Canaan” or “… caused a famine in the land of Canaan” (see Gen 41.53-57). The expression summoned a famine or Good News Translation‘s “sent famine” must often be recast in other languages to say, for example, “God caused the people to be hungry.”
In verse 16b the Hebrew is literally he … broke every staff of bread; some take staff here to refer to the small wooden stake on which loaves were carried (Oesterley, Toombs; see Bible en français courant footnote, and K-B mateh 2), but it seems more probable that the word is used figuratively (McCullough, Cohen, Anderson). So New English Bible “cut short their daily bread,” New Jerusalem Bible “took away their supply of food,” and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “he cut short all their food.” Some take staff in the sense of a stalk (of wheat); New American Bible has “ruined the crop that sustained them”; Dahood has “broke every stalk of grain.”
Joseph, sold by his brothers into slavery, was taken to Egypt and there was made a prisoner when his master’s wife falsely accused him of trying to rape her (Gen 39.7-20). Verse 17 is none too explicit, and only a reader who knows the Genesis story will understand what he had sent a man ahead of them means; so it may be necessary to be explicit:
• But in order to save his people
he had sent a man ahead of them to Egypt;
that man was Joseph,
who had been sold as a slave.
The account in Genesis does not mention fetters or a collar of iron. In translating verse 18a it must not be implied that Joseph was placed in chains in order to hurt his feet, as Revised Standard Version seems to imply; the text means “His feet were bound (or, tied up) in chains.” New Jerusalem Bible has “his feet were subjected to fetters.” In verse 18b neck translates nefesh (see 3.2), which in places means neck or throat (see 69.1). Since readers may not find the information in verse 18 familiar, it may be helpful to make explicit in the text that this refers to his being put in prison; for example, “When he was put in prison….”
Verse 19a in Hebrew is “until his word came,” which could refer to Yahweh’s promise (Briggs, Kirkpatrick, Oesterley). Most, however, take it to refer to Joseph’s prediction of the famine in his interpretation of the king’s dream (Gen 41.1-36). New Jerusalem Bible translates “Until his prediction came true.”
In verse 19b the word of the LORD is taken to refer to Yahweh’s message to Joseph in the dreams he had had while still at home (Gen 37.5-10). And the verb in Hebrew for tested is “refine” (see 12.6), which is here taken to mean “proved him right” (also New American Bible, New International Version, Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible); others (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New English Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) take it as Revised Standard Version has done, tested him or “purged him” (New Jerusalem Bible); see Anderson. Kirkpatrick comments: “purified and refined his character.” A translator should feel free to choose either possibility.
The relation between verse 19a and verse 18b and possibly verse 19b is variously understood. In what follows it should be remembered that the verb in verse 19b is translated in several different ways, and the verb tense in verse 19a is also variously understood. (1) Verse 19 is a complete sentence: Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible; New English Bible reverses the two lines, achieving thereby a clear, coherent statement. (2) Verse 19a goes with verse 18, and verse 19b is a separate statement: Good News Translation. (3) The two lines of verse 19 are parallel and depend on verse 18: “till … till” (New International Version). Everything considered, it seems best to follow New Jerusalem Bible or New English Bible:
In due time his prophecy was fulfilled,
the word of Yahweh proved him true. (New Jerusalem Bible)
He was tested by the LORD’s command
until what he foretold came true. (New English Bible)
If the translator follows Good News Translation‘s “The word of the LORD proved him right,” this expression may have to be recast to say, for example, “What the LORD had told Joseph….”
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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