complete verse (Psalm 140:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 140:4:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “Protect me You Jehovah, from wicked people;
    defend me from cruel people
    who plan on trapping my feet.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “O LORD, save me from the hands of the wicked.
    Protect me from dangerous people.
    They are planning to trip up my feet.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “Protect me, LORD, from the hand of the wicked and violent/cruel people, who plan to destroy me.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “LORD protect me from cruel people
    and from the enemies who beat people anyhow,
    who want to destroy me.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Ee BWANA, unilinde kutoka mikono ya watu wabaya,
    unihifadhi kwa watu wakatili ambao wanataka kuniangusha.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “Yahweh, protect me from the power of wicked people.
    Keep me safe from violent men who plan to destroy me.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

protect (Japanese honorifics)

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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, the Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “protect” in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-mamori (お守り), combining “protect” (mamori) with the respectful prefix o-. In these cases, kudasaru (くださる) is also attached, a respectful form of a benefactive, emphasizing the respectful notion.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also protected.

Translation commentary on Psalm 140:4 - 140:5

In these verses the psalmist prays that Yahweh will save him from his enemies, whom he calls the wicked … violent men … Arrogant men. In verse 4a Guard me is synonymous with preserve me in verse 4b; verse 4b is the same as verse 1b. Verse 4c states that the psalmist’s enemies are planning to bring about his ruin (trip up my feet). And in verse 5, in language that appears quite often in the psalms, the writer uses hunting metaphors to describe his enemies’ attempts to bring about his downfall: a trap … a net … snares (see 9.15; 31.4; 35.7; 64.5; 119.110). Hands of the wicked and Good News Translation‘s “power of the wicked” may have to be recast in translation as “wicked people who can harm me.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch calls these persons “people who disregard you and your commands.”

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 .