Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 114:5:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“Why did you run away?
you river of Jordan why did you turn back?” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“O sea, what happened,
why did you run away?
O Jordan River, why did you flow backwards?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“Why did- the Red Sea -split and as-if the water of the River Jordan took-a-step-back?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“You sea, why did you run?
You the River of Jordan, why did you not flow?” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Ee bahari, kwa nini umekimbia?
Ee mto Yordani, mbona unarudi nyuma?” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“If someone asks, ‘What happened at the Red Sea that caused the water to run away?
What happened that caused the water in the Jordan River to stop flowing?” (Source: Translation for Translators)
The Hebrew, Greek and Ge’ez that is translated as “Jordan” means “descending (rapidly),” “flowing down.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with the sign for the river bordering Jordan and Israel, along with the general sign for river. (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)
“Jordan river” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.
In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
The various Greek, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
In Hebrew these two verses form one sentence, with the initial “What happened…?” carrying over into the next three lines. The Hebrew is simply “What to you?” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translates it as “What happened to you?” New Jerusalem Bible “What alarmed you?” New English Bible “What was it?” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “Why…?” The psalmist mocks them for their fear of Yahweh. Revised Standard Version and some others use the present tense (New American Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), as though the psalmist were present and seeing the events; this is a superb poetic device, but in translation it may convey the idea that the events are still taking place. So it is better to use the past tense, as Good News Translation and others do. In languages in which the asking of questions to inanimate objects is not a familiar poetic device, it may be necessary to say “Why did the sea dry up, and why did the River Jordan stop flowing?”
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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