Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 107:40:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“He who pours insult on honorables
he caused them to wander in dry places without paths.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“He looks at the ruler, having disgraced them,
and He makes them to wander in places
that have no useable roads.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“God treats-badly those (who) oppress them
and (he) makes- (them) -wander in the desert that has-no roads/paths/ways.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“the Lord became angry to their leaders,
and made them to wander in a ways that were difficult.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“anawaaibisha wakuu ambao wanawaonea,
na kuwazungusha katika jangwa lisilo na njia,” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“Yahweh shows contempt for the leaders who oppress them,
and causes them to wander in deserts where there are no roads.” (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. ).
It is not certain how verses 39-40 relate to what precedes or to what follows. Good News Translation, An American Translation, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy join the two verses and connect them with what follows. New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, and Dahood connect verse 39 with verse 38, and verse 40 with verse 41; New Jerusalem Bible makes the action of verse 40 come before that of verse 39. New American Bible and Bible en français courant make a full stop at the end of verse 39, and connect verse 40 with verse 41. Bible de Jérusalem and New Jerusalem Bible take verses 39-40 as a quatrain, describing how Yahweh dealt with his people. Some commentators believe that the two verses 39-40 should be reversed, and verse 39 joined to verse 41. Verse 40 is an exact replica of Job 12.21a, 24b, and Zürcher Bibel here puts the verse in quotation marks and refers in a footnote to the Job passage (see Kirkpatrick).
Everything considered, it seems best to follow the example of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation in the division of the strophes, using the present tense of the verbs, as Revised Standard Version does.
Good News Translation begins verse 39 by making the subject explicit, “God’s people.” Bible en français courant has “But others….” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has the subject of verse 38 as the subject of verse 39. New English Bible, by conjecture, supplies the noun “Tyrants” as the subject (parallel to “princes” in verse 40a). It is recommended that the subject be made explicit, as Good News Translation has done.
In verse 39a diminished translates the verb used in verse 38b; Bible en français courant takes it to mean the same: “But others see their number decrease.” But in connection with brought low, this describes the shameful condition of the Israelites when they are under foreign oppression. In many languages it will not be possible for “cruel oppression and suffering” to serve as the agents which bring about defeat. Accordingly verse 39 may have to be recast to say, for example, “When the enemies of God’s people defeated them, the people were humiliated; they were oppressed and made to suffer.”
In verse 40a Good News Translation “their oppressors” translates the word princes. It is uncertain whether this refers to the leaders of the Israelites (so Anderson, who thinks the psalmist is alluding to the fate of Judah’s last two kings, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah) or to foreign leaders who oppressed Israel (so Kirkpatrick, Cohen, Dahood, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). It is possible that no particular historical events are alluded to, but that in general terms the psalmist is speaking of how the LORD reverses human conditions, bringing down the mighty and exalting the lowly (a common theme in Wisdom literature). This being so, the present tense of the verbs is much more appropriate.
Verse 40b is similar in thought to verse 4a.
In verse 41a the verb raises up means to restore to well-being and prosperity; God comes to their aid and delivers them from their miserable situation (see 113.7-9). The needy are the Israelites who are poor and in want.
In verse 41b makes their families like flocks is a figure of a high birth rate and a rapid increase in numbers. Although Good News Translation has made it clear that the analogy makes their families like flocks refers to population increase, this will not help where people do not raise flocks of animals. In such cases it will be better to say “he made their families have many children” or “he made their families become very numerous.”
In verse 42a the verb see does not imply that The upright are actual spectators of all the events described; it is rather that they know what Yahweh has done, they perceive the meaning of the events reported. In some languages it will be necessary to say, for example, “good people understand these things and are glad.” It is important in line b to avoid the abstract all wickedness, and say “all wicked people,” “all wrongdoers.” In Good News Translation the last verb phrase “are put to silence” implies an external agent that silences the people; something like New Jerusalem Bible “have nothing to say” or “the wicked can say nothing against it.”
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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