complete verse (Psalm 106:20)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 106:20:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “They exchanged their glory
    with an idol of a male cow that eats grass.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “The exaltation which they should have given to God
    they gave instead to an image of a grass-eating bull.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “They exchanged their honorable God with the image of a bull/[lit. bull cow] that grazes on grass.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “They exchanged the glory of God,
    because of the calf that ate the grass.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Waliubadiri utukufu wa Mungu,
    wakaabudu kwa sanamu ya ngʼombe ambaye anakula majani.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “Instead of worshiping our glorious God,
    they started to worship a statue of a bull that eats grass!” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Psalm 106:19 - 106:20

For the events referred to in verses 19-23, see Exodus 32.1-14. Horeb in Hebrew is another name for Mount Sinai, where the people asked Aaron to make a molten image in the form of a calf (or Good News Translation “bull-calf,” or New International Version “bull”) The usual translation of ʿegel is “calf,” but since “calf” can be either a male or a female, it does not serve here, since it must be clear that the animal was a male; nor is “bull” quite right, since it is a fully-grown animal. For this reason Good News Translation has “bull-calf,” although no standard dictionary recognizes the existence of this word. from the gold jewelry they took to him; then they worshiped that idol. See Exodus 32.4 for the way in which the people’s gold jewelry was melted and used to make the gold idol.

It remains to be noticed that nearly all translations consulted translate verse 19a quite literally, They made a calf; and in line b, Revised Standard Version, at least, can be read as referring to something quite separate from line a. Of the translations consulted only Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (besides Good News Translation) avoids the ridiculous implication that the Israelites made a live animal.

In verse 20 the glory of God translates the Hebrew text “his glory”; the Hebrew copyists made a deliberate change in the text, changing “his glory” to “their glory” (that is, of the Israelites), which is what the Masoretic text has. The change was made presumably on the ground that the original text was offensive to God (see Cohen, McCullough). Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible translate the Masoretic text; Bible en français courant translates the Masoretic text “They replaced God, who was their glory, for the statue of a bull”; New International Version and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible have “their Glory,” a reference to God. The recommendation here is that a translation follow Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. Exchanged the glory of God for is a difficult expression which must be recast in many languages to say “they stopped worshiping God, who is great, and began to worship….”

Revised Standard Version calf in verse 19 and ox in verse 20 translate two different Hebrew words; but in the nature of the case, it was one and the same animal, and in English at least, a calf and an ox are two different animals altogether. Good News Translation has avoided saying “a bull that eats grass” in verse 20b, since the phrase implies that this is one particular species of bulls, different from others that do not eat grass. The Hebrew word here is shor, which Holladay defines as “a fully-grown male bovine, whether castrated or not: bull, ox, steer….” New Jerusalem Bible is like Revised Standard Version: “… for the image of a bull that feeds on grass.”

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 .