Aari: “the day our Savior comes” (in Rom 13:11) (source: Loren Bliese)
in Mairasi its is translated as “life fruit” or “life fruit all mashed out.” Lloyd Peckham explains: “In secret stories, not knowable to women nor children, there was a magical fruit of life. If referred to vaguely, without specifying the specific ‘fruit,’ it can be an expression for eternity.” And for “all masked out” he explains: “Bark cloth required pounding. It got longer and wider as it got pounded. Similarly, life gets pounded or mashed to lengthen it into infinity. Tubers also get mashed into the standard way of serving the staple food, like the fufu of Uganda, or like poi of Hawaii. It spreads out into infinity.” (See also eternity / forever)
In Lisu a poetic construct is used for this term. Arrington (2020, p. 58f.) explains: “A four-word couplet uses Lisu poetic forms to bridge the abstract concrete divide, an essential divide to cross if Christian theology is to be understood by those with oral thought patterns. Each couplet uses three concrete nouns or verbs to express an abstract term. An example of this is the word for salvation, a quite abstract term essential to understanding Christian theology. To coin this new word, the missionary translators used a four-word couplet: ℲO., CYU. W: CYU (person … save … person … save). In this particular case, the word for person was not the ordinary word (ʁ) but rather the combination of ℲO., and W: used in oral poetry. The word for ‘save’ also had to be coined; in this case, it was borrowed from Chinese [from jiù / 救]. These aspects of Lisu poetry, originally based on animism, likely would have been lost as Lisu society encountered communism and modernization. Yet they are now codified in the Lisu Bible as well as the hymnbook.”
In the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) it is translated with chipulumutso which is used to refer to an act of helping someone who is in problems but cannot help him/herself come out of the problems because of weakness. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
In Garifuna the second person singular pronoun (“you” in English) has two forms. One is used in women’s speech and one in men’s speech. In the Garifuna Bible the form used in men’s speech is typically used, except when it’s clear that a woman is quoted or in Psalms where the women on the translation team insisted that the form used in women’s speech (buguya) would be used throughout the whole book.
Ronald Ross (in Omanson 2001, p. 375f.) tells the story: “Throughout most of the translation, [the distinctions between the different forms of the pronouns] presented no problem. Whenever the speaker in the text was perceived as a man, the male speech forms were used; and when a woman was speaking, the female speech forms were used. True, the women members of the translation team did object on occasion to the use of the male forms when the author (and narrator) of a book was unknown and the men translators had used the male speech forms as the default. Serious discord arose, however, during the translation of the Psalms because of their highly devotional nature and because throughout the book the psalmist is addressing God. The male translators had, predictably, used the male form to address God, and the male form to refer to the psalmist, even though women speakers of Garifuna never use those forms to address anyone. The women contended that they could not as women read the Psalms meaningfully if God and the psalmist were always addressed as if the readers were men. The men, of course, turned the argument around, claiming that neither could they read the Psalms comfortably if the reader was assumed to be a woman.
“Initially there seemed to be no way out of this impasse. However a solution was found in the ongoing evolution of the language. There is a strong propensity for male speech and female speech to merge in favor of the latter, so the few remaining male forms are gradually dying out. Moreover, male children learn female speech from their mothers and only shift to the male speech forms when they reach adolescence to avoid sounding effeminate. However they use the female form buguya when addressing their parents throughout life. So the women wielded two arguments: First, the general development of the language favored the increasing use of the female forms. Secondly, the female forms are less strange to the men than the male forms are to the women, because the men habitually use them during early childhood and continue to use them to address their parents even in adulthood. Therefore, the female pronominal forms prevailed and were adopted throughout the book of Psalms, though the male forms remained the default forms in the rest of the translation.”
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 118:21:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“I will thank you because You answered me;
you have been my salvation.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“O LORD, because You answered my prayer,
I give You thanks,
You caused me to win.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“I will-give- you (sing.) -thanks, LORD, for you (sing.) have-answered my prayer.
You (sing.) are-the-one (who) has-saved me.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“I will say to you (sing.), thanks, for you answered me,
you become my salvation.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Nitashukuru kwako kwa sababu umenijibu,
uko wokovu wangu.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“Yahweh, I thank you that you answered my prayer,
and you saved me from my enemies.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Following is a translation of Psalm 118 into dance and song in Kabiyè by Groupe Leleŋ. The video is followed by an English back-translation as well as the original Kabiyè text and a French back-translations. The leader (call) part is in standard type, the ensemble (response) is italicized.
His mercy endures forever! (2 times)
My dear ones, His mercy endures forever! (2 times)
I say that His mercy endures forever! (4 times)
Where are the Jews? His mercy endures forever!
Praise the Eternal, His mercy endures forever!
Where are Aaron’s sons? His mercy endures forever!
Where are the Kabiye people? His mercy endures forever!
My dear ones His mercy endures forever! (4 times)
The Eternal is with me, His mercy endures forever!
I am not afraid, His mercy endures forever!
The enemy can do nothing against me, His mercy endures forever!
The Eternal is my strength, His mercy endures forever!
My dear ones His mercy endures forever! (4 times)
Enemies have surrounded me, His mercy endures forever!
In the name of the Eternal, His mercy endures forever!
I cut them to pieces, His mercy endures forever!
The Eternal is the victor, His mercy endures forever!
My dear ones His mercy endures forever! (4 times)
Yuguyi, yuguyi, yuguyi, yuguyi, … [shouts of joy] His mercy endures forever! (4 times)
The enemy cannot push me, His mercy endures forever!
Shouts of joy go up, His mercy endures forever!
From the houses of the righteous, His mercy endures forever!
The Eternal is the victor, His mercy endures forever!
My dear ones His mercy endures forever! (4 times)
He saved me from death, His mercy endures forever!
Open the doors for me, His mercy endures forever!
That I may enter and praise him, His mercy endures forever!
Let us bow down before him, His mercy endures forever!
My dear ones His mercy endures forever! (4 times)
Yuguyi, yuguyi, yuguyi, yuguyi, … [shouts of joy] His mercy endures forever! (4 times)
Praise the Eternal, His mercy endures forever!
Praise be to the mighty God, His mercy endures forever!
Praise be to God, the victor, His mercy endures forever!
Let us rejoice, His mercy endures forever!
My dear ones His mercy endures forever! (4 times)
Click or tap here to see the the text in French back-translation
Sa miséricorde dure à toujours! (2 fois)
Mes chers, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours! (2 fois)
Je dis que Sa miséricorde dure à toujours! (4 fois)
Où sont les juifs? Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Louez l’Eternel, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Où sont les fils d’Aaron? Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Où est le peuple kabɩyɛ? Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Mes chers Sa miséricorde dure à toujours! (4 fois)
L’Eternel est avec moi, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Je n’ai pas peur, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
L’ennemi ne peut rien contre moi, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
L’Eternel est ma force, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Mes chers Sa miséricorde dure à toujours! (4 fois)
Les ennemis m’ont environné, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Au nom de l’Eternel, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Je les ai taillé en pièce, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
L’Eternel est le vainqueur, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Mes chers Sa miséricorde dure à toujours! (4 fois)
Yuguyi, yuguyi, yuguyi, yuguyi, … [cris d’allégresse] Sa miséricorde dure à toujours! (4 fois)
L’ennemi ne peut pas me pousser, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Les cris de joie montent, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Des maisons des justes, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
L’Eternel est le vainqueur, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Mes chers Sa miséricorde dure à toujours! (4 fois)
Il m’a sauvé de la mort, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Ouvrez-moi les portes, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Afin que j’entre le louer, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Prosternons-nous devant lui, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Mes chers Sa miséricorde dure à toujours! (4 fois)
Yuguyi, yuguyi, yuguyi, yuguyi, … [cris d’allégresse] Sa miséricorde dure à toujours! (4 fois)
Louer l’Eternel, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Que le Dieu puissant soit loué, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Que Dieu, le vainqueur soit loué, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Réjouissons-nous, Sa miséricorde dure à toujours!
Mes chers Sa miséricorde dure à toujours! (4 fois)
Kabiye transcription and translation to French was completed by Mawèdong Amana, checking of Kabiye orthography and French translation was done by Kpatcha Hemou and Essokilina Tchamie, English translation by Sarah Jane Capper. Groupe Leleŋ members: Mawèdong Amana, Amen Kantchiliba, Joeline Awi, Essokélinam Komla Pakou, Matchapatcholo Soki.
The artists in these videos composed these songs by studying Psalms 6, 150 and 118 as well as Kabiye music and dance styles. They participated in a two-week workshop organized by SIL Togo-Benin in Kara, Togo in partnership with the master’s thesis research of Sarah Jane Capper for Dallas International University; the Association pour la Promotion des Saintes-Écritures en Kabiye (APSEK); and Scriptura.
Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed. The first example is from a language where God is always addressed distinctly formal whereas the second is one where the opposite choice was made.
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight
Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.
As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.
In these verses, in which humans address God, the informal, familiar pronoun is used that communicates closeness.
Voinov notes that “in the Tuvan Bible, God is only addressed with the informal pronoun. No exceptions. An interesting thing about this is that I’ve heard new Tuvan believers praying with the formal form to God until they are corrected by other Christians who tell them that God is close to us so we should address him with the informal pronoun. As a result, the informal pronoun is the only one that is used in praying to God among the Tuvan church.”
In Gbaya, “a superior, whether father, uncle, or older brother, mother, aunt, or older sister, president, governor, or chief, is never addressed in the singular unless the speaker intends a deliberate insult. When addressing the superior face to face, the second person plural pronoun ɛ́nɛ́ or ‘you (pl.)’ is used, similar to the French usage of vous.
Accordingly, the translators of the current version of the Gbaya Bible chose to use the plural ɛ́nɛ́ to address God. There are a few exceptions. In Psalms 86:8, 97:9, and 138:1, God is addressed alongside other “gods,” and here the third person pronoun o is used to avoid confusion about who is being addressed. In several New Testament passages (Matthew 21:23, 26:68, 27:40, Mark 11:28, Luke 20:2, 23:37, as well as in Jesus’ interaction with Pilate and Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well) the less courteous form for Jesus is used to indicate ignorance of his position or mocking (source Philip Noss).
In Dutch and Western Frisian translations, however, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, na-rare-ru (なられる) or “become” is used.
As noted in the introduction, in these verses the speaker (presumably the king) stands in front of the Temple and requests admission (verse 19); a voice from inside (perhaps Levites, who were the gatekeepers) states the condition for entering the Temple (verse 20); the king is admitted and praises Yahweh for having given him victory (verse 21).
It is better to keep each of the three verses in a separate paragraph, as Good News Translation does. In Revised Standard Version verse 21 is joined to verses 22-25, but it should be noted that in verse 21 the speaker is one person (I), while in verses 22-25 several persons are speaking (“our … us … we”).
Good News Translation has taken the gates of righteousness in verse 19a to mean “the gates of the Temple” (also Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). Bible en français courant translates “the gates reserved for the faithful” and in a footnote identifies them as the Temple gates. See Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “Open to me the gate of the Temple, through which the faithful are allowed to enter.” As in the case of verse 15b, New Jerusalem Bible translates “the gates of victory” here and “the victorious” in verse 20b; New English Bible has “the gates of victory” and “the victors”; Dahood has “the gates of victory” and “the triumphant.” This may be the meaning of the phrase, but it seems better to follow either Good News Translation “the righteous” in verse 15b, or Bible en français courant and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “the faithful”; or, best of all, translate here as Good News Translation has done in verse 15a, “God’s people.”
The expression the gate of the LORD in verse 20a may be understood as synonymous with the gates in verse 19a, emphasizing here that the gates lead to the sanctuary of Yahweh, according to Anderson. In some languages gate of the LORD suggests a gate that has the purpose of keeping the LORD out. Therefore it may be necessary to say “This is the door you enter to go to the LORD.”
The same verb “to thank” is used in verses 19b and 21a. Answered me in verse 21a means, as very frequently in the Psalms, “you responded to my request,” “you did what I asked you to do.”
Verse 21b is like verse 14b; in both places the psalmist is talking about the victory that God has given him in his battle against his enemies.
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 .
The following are presentations by the Psalms: Layer by Layer project, run by Scriptura . The first is an overview and the second an introduction into the exegesis of Psalm 118.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.