complete verse (Psalm 143:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 143:2:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “Do not prosecute your servant,
    for there is no living person who is righteous before you.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “Do not render a verdict on Your servant,
    there is no one righteous before You.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “Do- not -judge me your (sing.) servant,
    for there-is-no one who (is) righteous before you (sing.).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “Don’t judge a matter against your servant,
    for there is nobody who is good who lives before you (sing.).” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Usinihukumu mimi mtumishi wako,
    kwa maana kwako hakuna aliye hai mnyofu.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “I am one who serves you;
    do not judge me,
    because you know that everyone has done things that are wrong.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Japanese benefactives (-naide)

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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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, -naide (ないで) or “do not (for their sake)” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”

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

addressing God

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 Translator 2002, 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 Dutch, Afrikaans, Gronings, and Western Frisian translations, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.

See also formal pronoun: disciples addressing Jesus, female second person singular pronoun in Psalms.

Translation commentary on Psalm 143:1 - 143:2

In these two verses the psalmist three times pleads for Yahweh’s help: Hear my prayer … give ear to my supplications … answer me. He bases his pleas on Yahweh’s faithfulness (see 36.5) and righteousness (see 5.8). Good News Translation reverses the two words, placing “righteousness” first. These are the characteristics of Yahweh as the one who is true to his promise to save his people. As used by the psalmists and other Old Testament writers, God’s righteousness is not a legal attitude that leads him to apply the law impartially to all, but it is his disposition always to save his people, to free them from their difficulties, to put them in the right relationship with himself. Both Biblia Dios Habla Hoy (“you are just and faithful”) and Bible en français courant (“you are faithful and just”) use adjectives, not abstract nouns, which makes for a better translation. In some languages In thy faithfulness and in thy righteousness may better be expressed as clauses; for example, “because you are good to your people and faithful to them, listen to my plea and help me.”

In verse 2 the psalmist confesses his own sinfulness. He asks Yahweh not to Enter … into judgment with him, for he knows that he, too, like everyone else, is guilty in God’s sight (see 14.3). The plea can be translated “Don’t put me … on trial” (Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible) or “Bring not … to trial” (New English Bible). Thy servant is, as often, the psalmist himself, who prays not for justice, but for mercy. Good News Translation has adjusted the Hebrew form to avoid the psalmist’s speaking of himself in the third person. The awkward phrase (no) man living translates the Hebrew “creature, living being.” In some languages in which apposition is not stylistically natural, it may be necessary to say, for example, “I am your servant; do not put me on trial.”

Verse 2b, as translated in the Septuagint, may be alluded to in Romans 3.20; Galatians 2.16.

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 .