Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 147:15:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“He gives a law on earth;
his words travel with speed.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“He gives His orders to the earth,
and in this way His orders are obeyed.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“He commands the earth, and it obeys without-delay/right-away.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“He sends his command to come on the earth,
and people obey his command quickly.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Analeta amri yake duniani,
neno lake linafika mara moja ambako amelituma.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“He commands what he wants to be done on the earth,
and his words quickly come to the place to which he sends them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).
Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.
In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.
While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”
In that system, one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and others for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.
Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”
In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)
Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”
In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )
In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)
The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.
Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are Twents as well as the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In the latter two languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).
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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. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-kotoba (みことば) or “word (of God)” in the referenced verses.
In these verses the psalmist dwells on natural phenomena, which occur in obedience to Yahweh’s commands. Verse 15 speaks of Yahweh’s power to control the world by means of his command, which is quickly obeyed. In verse 15b his word runs swiftly represents Yahweh’s command as a swift messenger, taking Yahweh’s order quickly to its destination (so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “his word quickly reaches its destination”). Good News Translation “and what he says is quickly done” may go beyond the meaning of the text, and it is recommended that Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch serve as model. In verse 15b his word is the same as his command in verse 15a. If the passive must be avoided, one may say, for example, “He commands the earth and the earth obeys.”
In verse 16 snow is compared to wool; this may be a figure for the whiteness of snow (so Briggs; New English Bible), or else, as Good News Translation has it, “like a blanket”; frost is compared to “dust” (or, ashes). The word may have been chosen because of the wordplay in Hebrew: kepor kaʾeper for hoarfrost like ashes. In languages where snow and hoarfrost are unknown, it is possible to substitute other forms of precipitation such as “rain, drizzle, fog, dew.” The similarity of frost to ashes and “dust” may not be clear without saying, for example, “he scatters dew on the ground the way the wind blows dust.”
In verse 17 the word ice probably means hail; the figure is that of hailstones as large as pieces of bread, morsels (New Jerusalem Bible “breadcrumbs,” New Jerusalem Bible “crumbs”; see the word in Gen 18.5; Ruth 2.14). Good News Translation has used “gravel” as being more in keeping with the size and consistency of hailstones; New International Version “pebbles” may even be better.
In verse 17b instead of the Hebrew “in the presence of his cold, who can stand?” many commentators propose emending the text to read “in the presence of his cold the waters stand,” that is, they freeze solid (New English Bible, New American Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). The Hebrew text as it is makes sense; the emended text makes even better sense and prepares the way for the next verse. This is not to say, however, that the emended text should be used.
The reverse process is described in verse 18: at Yahweh’s command the ice melts, and moved (or, melted) by his wind (or, breath) the water flows once more. Here God’s wind (or, breath) is parallel with his word; both are the means whereby his will is done in the world. In languages where ice is unknown, verse 18 will have to be modified by saying, for example, “He gives a command and the dew disappears” or “… dries up.”
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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