staggered

In Gbaya, the notion of staggering is emphasized in Psalm 107:27 with giɗi-giɗi, an ideophone that refers to an oscillating movement, something that staggers.

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)

See also stagger and stagger with strong drink.

wisdom

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “wisdom” in English is rendered in various ways:

  • Amganad Ifugao / Tabasco Chontal: “(big) mind”
  • Bulu / Yamba: “heart-thinking”
  • Tae’: “cleverness of heart” (source for this and all above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Palauan: “bright spirit (innermost)” (source: Bratcher / Hatton)
  • Ixcatlán Mazatec: “with your best/biggest thinking” (source: Robert Bascom)
  • Noongar: dwangka-boola, lit. “ear much” (source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018 — see also remember)
  • Kwere “to know how to live well” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Dobel: “their ear holes are long-lasting” (in Acts 6:3) (source: Jock Hughes)
  • Gbaya: iŋa-mgbara-mɔ or “knowing-about-things” (note that in comparison to that, “knowledge” is translated as iŋa-mɔ or “knowing things”) (source: Philip Noss in The Bible Translator 2001, p. 114ff. )
  • Chichewa: nzeru, meaning both “knowledge” and “wisdom” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Uma: “clearness” (source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Kako: “heart thinking” (source: Reyburn 2002, p. 190)

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with a hand gesture referring to God to indicate a human quality to communicate that wisdom does not originate from man but is linked to and connected with the fear of God (source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group):


“Wisdom” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

See also wisdom (Proverbs) and knowledge.

at one's wit's end

The now commonly-used English idiom “at one’s wit’s end” (meaning at the limits of one’s mental resources) was first coined in 1535 in the English translation by Miles Coverdale. (Source: Crystal 2010, p. 300)

For other idioms in English that were coined by Bible translation, see here.

complete verse (Psalm 107:27)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 107:27:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “They became dizzy and staggered like drunken people;
    they were at the end of their life.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “They staggered and fell like drunkards,
    and their minds were destroyed.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “They staggered like a drunk
    and they no-longer knew what they were-going-to-do.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “They walked like drunkards,
    there was not anything they thought that they could do.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Wakapepesuka huku na huku,
    kama vile watu ambao wamelewa,
    yalipotea ya kufanya.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “They stumbled about and staggered like drunken men,
    and they did not know what to do.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Psalm 107:26 - 107:28

Verse 26 describes the effects of the furious storm, as the ships wildly tossed and pitched. The subject is not formally expressed in Hebrew, but it is understood to be the sailors, not the waves; but since the sailors are in ships, it is better to make “The ships” the subject (so Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

In verse 26a Good News Translation “high in the air” translates what is literally to heaven. If the translator follows the pattern of Good News Translation, and the passive cannot be used, the waves can serve as the agent of the action; for example, “the waves lifted the ship into the air and….” Here the term for the primeval depths is used, probably for poetic effect and variety. The language used does not mean the ships were sunk, but that they plunged down into the trough between the mountainous waves.

In verse 26b Good News Translation “lost their courage” translates “their nefesh melted,” which most take to mean a loss of courage (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation; see New American Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, New International Version, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy); New Jerusalem Bible, however, understands the Hebrew to mean seasickness, “disgorging in their misery” (also Bible en français courant). New Jerusalem Bible has “Their stomachs were turned to water.” The situation was so dangerous that the sailors lost all hope.

In verse 27b the Hebrew is “and all their wisdom was swallowed up”; the word “wisdom” here means their skill as sailors. See New Jerusalem Bible “all their skill to no avail”; New English Bible “their seamanship was all in vain” (see Bible en français courant, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). Good News Translation “all their skill was useless” may have to be recast to say, for example, “although they were good sailors, they didn’t know what to do next.”

Verse 28 is like verse 6, except that the Hebrew verb “to save” is different (and different also from the verb used in verses 13 and 19).

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 .