Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 139:14:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“I thank you because I was made fearfully and wonderfully;
your works are wonderful,
this I know very well.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“I give thanks to You,
for I have been so amazingly made by You,
Your work is utterly amazing,
I know this quite well.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“I praise you (sing.) for your (sing.) making me (is) really amazing.
Your deeds (are) amazing, and I know that certainly/[emphasis marker].” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“I praise you because you made me in a way that was very amazing,
all things that you do are very beautiful,
this matter I know very well.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Nakusifu kwa sababu umeniumba,
kwa njia ya kushangaza tukufu.
Matendo yako ni ya kushangaza,
wewe unanijua sana mimi.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“I praise you because you made my body in a very awesome and wonderful way.
Everything that you do is amazing!
I know that very well.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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.
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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.
This verse in Hebrew is hard to understand; after considering three different textual problems in this verse, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project proposes the following translation: “I praise you that I am so dread-fully distinguished, marvelous are your works, and I know that with all my being/I (lit. my soul) know it perfectly well.”
The first line (following the Revised Standard Version division of the verse) seems to mean “I praise you because fearful things (or, fearfully) I am wonderful.” With a great degree of probability Anderson says the Hebrew can be rendered “I thank you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (so New Jerusalem Bible “I praise You, for I am awesomely, wondrously made”). Revised Standard Version has more or less followed the versions.
The second line (see Revised Standard Version) in Hebrew is “your works are wonderful”; there is no difficulty here.
The third line in Hebrew is “my nefesh knows it well.” Revised Standard Version arrives at its translation by changing the vowels in the verb, thus making God the subject: “You know my nefesh well.”
The Good News Translation translation of the first two lines follows the Qumran manuscript: “I thank you because you are fearful (or, awesome); wondrously wonderful are your works.” In the third line Good News Translation follows the Hebrew text (also Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Bible en français courant, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). It must be admitted that in this line the assignment of other vowels to the Hebrew (Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible, Dahood) makes for a better statement in the context, since the psalmist is talking about Yahweh’s complete knowledge of him. The following translation of verse 14 may be commended: “I thank you because I am so wonderfully and mysteriously made, and because all your works are so wonderful; you know me completely” or, in languages which will not use the passive, “I thank you because you have so wondrously and mysteriously made me….”
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 .
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 to do this is through the usage of lexical honorific forms, i.e., completely different words, as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
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