Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 142:3:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“When my spirit is weary inside me,
you are the one who knows my path.
The path that I walk in
people have laid a trap against me secretly.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“I know that when I become dejected,
You are showing me the way.
Our enemies have cast a net for me
in the way I am about to go.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“When I lose hope, you (sing.) (are) there watching-over what is-happening to me.
On my way/path there-is a trap/snare placed for me by my enemies.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“When my spirit is weak in my body,
you are there watching me.
People set a trap for me
on the way which I walk.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Moyo wangu wakati umeishiwa nguvu,
wewe unazijua njia zangu.
Katika njia ambayo natembea,
maadui wametega mitego.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“When I am very discouraged, you know what I should do.
Wherever I walk, itis as though my enemies have hidden traps for me to fall into.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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 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, shitteo-rare-ru (知っておられる) or “knowing” is used.
Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed.
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Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or modern 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 the most recent Manchu translation of 1835 (a revision of an earlier edition from 1822), God is never addressed with a pronoun but with “father” (ama /ᠠᠮᠠ) instead. Chengcheng Liu (in this post on the Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology blog ) explains: “In Manchu tradition, as in Chinese etiquette, second-person pronouns could be considered disrespectful when speaking to superiors or spiritual beings. Manchu Shamanist prayers avoided si [‘you’] and sini [‘your’] for this very reason. To use them for God would be, in Lipovzoff’s [one of the two translators] words, ‘the most uncouth and indecent way to speak to the Almighty — as if He were a servant or slave.’ There was also a grammatical problem. In Manchu, si and sini could refer to both singular and plural subjects. For a faith that insisted on the singularity of God, this was potentially confusing. By contrast, repeating ama removed any ambiguity.”
In verse 3a When my spirit is faint uses language similar to that used in 77.3; Bible en français courant translates “When I lose courage,” and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “Completely discouraged.” For spirit see comments on 76.12. When my spirit is faint is rendered idiomatically in some languages as “When my heart falls down,” “… my heart shrinks,” or “… my stomach leaves me.” In verse 3b the Hebrew “you know my path” may have a moral or ethical sense: “you know my behavior,” that is, what the psalmist actually does (and not, what he should do, as Good News Translation has it); or it can mean the psalmist’s destiny, his fate (so Oesterley, Weiser). New English Bible and New Jerusalem Bible take “know” here in the sense of “watch over”; New English Bible has “thou art there to watch over my steps,” and New Jerusalem Bible “you are watching over my path.” This makes excellent sense in the context and is probably to be preferred (see similar language in 1.6).
Some translations (see Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, New Jerusalem Bible) connect verse 3a with verse 2b and make verse 3b begin a new sentence, connecting it with what follows. Dahood, who thinks the psalmist is on his deathbed, takes “my spirit grows weak” to represent the last moments of life, and “the path” of verse 3b to be the way to the next life.
In verses 3c-4 the psalmist complains to Yahweh about the danger he is in; for the figure of a trap in verse 3d, see 140.4-5; 141.9.
The psalmist feels completely abandoned (verse 4); he has no friends, no protector. The Hebrew form of the two verbs in verse 4a is imperative, second person singular: “Look … and see” (so Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible, Dahood). This is to be understood as a command addressed to Yahweh, for him to take notice of the psalmist’s desperate situation. But the Qumran manuscript, the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and Targum have the first person singular indicative, “I look … I see” (so Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, New American Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Weiser). Hebrew Old Testament Text Project says both interpretations are possible: “look to the right and watch!” or “I looked to the right and watched.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project expresses no preference. The right side is the place where the defender, the protector, would be (so Good News Translation “to help me … to protect me”). There is none who takes notice of me is rendered in some languages idiomatically as “no one knows my name.”
The thought of verse 4c is that there is no one who will protect the psalmist, there is no place he can go where he will be safe (see 2.12; 14.6).
In verse 4d no man cares for me translates “no one seeks for my nefesh” (see 3.2), in the sense that no one is trying to find out how the psalmist is getting along. New Jerusalem Bible‘s rendering is good: “no one cares whether I live or die.”
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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