San Mateo del Mar Huave: “honor (Father God)” (source for this and three above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
In Dan a figurative expression for praising God is used: “push God’s horse.” “In the distant past people closely followed the horses ridden by chiefs, so ‘pushing’ them.” (Source: Don Slager)
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 ta (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential ta (祂) is used.”
In that system one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and one 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 in the following way: “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 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, but most translations, especially those published in the 21st century, do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In both 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. ).
In verse 7 the two lines are synonymous; the dust in line a represents either poverty (as in line b) or defeat. The ash heap in line b translates the Hebrew “garbage dump.” At that time poor people would live near the town’s garbage dump, searching through the refuse for items of food and shelter (see Job 2.8). The synonymous verbs raises and lifts are used figuratively here, and the translator should look for an equivalent figure in the receptor language. If there is no meaningful figure to use, it may be necessary to shift to nonfigurative terms to avoid being taken in a purely literal sense; for example, the translator may have to say “He improves the lives of poor people.” This one line will stand for the original two lines, if the repetition must be avoided.
Verses 7-8a are the same as 1 Samuel 2.8a-c. In verse 8a to make them sit means that Yahweh gives these people the same honor and dignity that princes enjoy. Just as in verse 7, the translator will have to decide if the metaphor sit with princes or to be “companions of princes” carries the meaning of being honored and given dignity. In many languages “to be a companion of a prince” would be translated as “to be a friend of a chief’s son,” which may not be associated with honor and dignity. Accordingly the translator may have to use a nonfigure and say sometimes “he makes them to be honored by the people,” or “he causes the people to respect them,” or “he gives them the kind of honor people give their leaders.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy avoids the use of “princes” and says “important people”; similarly Bible en français courant “to place him in the highest rank, with the nobles of his people.” In verse 8b his people means Yahweh’s people.
Verse 9 describes Yahweh’s care for the barren woman, who in Hebrew society at that time was regarded as a failure and as one whom God was punishing; by giving children to her the LORD brought her happiness and honor in her family. Revised Standard Version‘s translation of line a can be misunderstood; He gives the barren woman a home implies that such a woman has no home to live in. But the point is that Yahweh gives her happiness in her home. New English Bible is a good translation: “who makes the woman in a childless home a happy mother of children.” In many languages a clear understanding of verse 9 depends on the way in which the relation between lines is stated. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy does this by placing the giving of a home at the end, that is, “to the woman who has not had children he gives the joy of being a mother and of having her own home.”
The psalm closes with the same call to praise, Praise the LORD with which it begins. Since this phrase usually occurs at the beginning and not the end of a psalm, some, following the Septuagint, place it at the beginning of the following psalm (New English Bible, New American Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible).
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 .