Ham

In the Tuvan Bible translation project, the official policy (…) was to keep the spelling of names of major characters the same as in the Russian Synodal translation. However, the translation team and representatives of local Tuvan churches agreed that deviation in proper name spelling from the RST would be allowed on a case-by-case basis if there was a concrete need to do so.

Such a need arose with the name of Noah’s son Ham (חָ֥ם) in Genesis and elsewhere in the Old Testament.

In Russian, as in English, this is transliterated with three letters — Хам (Kham). In Russian, the name of this character has entered the language with the meaning of “boorish lout, impudent person” because of how Ham treated his father; in Tuvan, however, the word Хам (Kham) already means “shaman.” Since the Tuvan people continue to practice their traditional religion in which shamans play a major role, the translation team felt that leaving the transliteration of this name with the exact spelling as in Russian might cause needless offense to Tuvan sensibilities by unwittingly causing the text of Gen. 9:20-27 to portray shamans as the targets of Noah’s curse. Therefore, the translation team chose to avoid this potential stumbling block while continuing to maintain a close sound correspondence with the name of the biblical character as Tuvan Christians already knew it from the RST text. This was done by doubling the vowel — Хаам. Tuvan has long vowel phonemes that are written with a double vowel, so this is perfectly acceptable from the point of view of Tuvan orthographic conventions.

The correspondence of the Tuvan version of the name to the Russian Synodal spelling is still recognizable, but hopefully, the wrath of Tuvan shamans and their supporters has been averted by this small disliteration.

The rationale behind such an approach to spelling changes in names is concisely described in the foreword to the Tuvan Bible for the sake of transparency

Apparently, the similarity of the English version of this name to the food item (as in “I’ll have a ham and cheese sandwich”) is not deemed offensive enough to the meat-packing industry for a similar disliteration to be performed in English Bible translations.

Source: Vitaly Voinov in The Bible Translator 2012, p. 17ff.

In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign that signifies “African,” referring to passages like Psalm 105:23. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Ham” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also Shem and Japheth.

More information on Ham (son of Noah)

complete verse (Psalm 105:27)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 105:27:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “They did miraculous signs among them,
    his wonders in the land of Ham.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “They did amazing works in Egypt
    and His amazing signs before them.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “They showed there in the land of the descendants of Ham the marvelous/amazing deeds of God.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “And then, they went and did matters
    that people were amazed among them in the land of Ham.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Wakafanya miujiza ya Mungu katikati yao,
    na miujiza kwa watoto wa Hamu.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “Those two performed amazing miracles among the people of Egypt,
    in that land where the descendants of Ham lived.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Psalm 105:26 - 105:27

In verses 26-36 the psalmist recounts the plagues that Moses and Aaron inflicted on the Egyptians (Exo 7–12); see the similar account in Psalm 78.44-51.

In verse 26 it may be well to introduce “Egypt” as the place to which Yahweh sent Moses and Aaron, as follows:

• Then the LORD sent to Egypt his servant Moses,
together with Aaron, whom he had chosen.

The meaning of verse 27a is disputed. An American Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New International Version, Weiser are like Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. The Hebrew phrase translated “God’s mighty acts” (Good News Translation) and his signs (Revised Standard Version) is literally “words (or, matters) of his signs,” which is taken by some to be the predictions of Moses and Aaron concerning the plagues (New English Bible “They were his mouthpiece to announce his signs”); by others it is taken to refer to God’s commands to Moses and Aaron for them to inflict the plagues (Bible de Jérusalem “they performed among them the plagues he had spoken of”; Bible en français courant “Among the Egyptians the two performed the prodigies that God had commanded them to do”; see New Jerusalem Bible). Traduction œcuménique de la Bible translates “Their command brought down signs on Egypt.” The Hebrew phrase is unusual, but see the similar phrase in 143.5b, literally “the words of your wonderful deeds.” It appears that the rendering of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation is defensible.

The verb in verse 27a in Hebrew is plural “They did”; the Septuagint and Syriac have the singular “He did,” a reference to God (so Briggs, Weiser); most follow the Masoretic text. For land of Ham in verse 27b, see verse 23.

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 .