he has set a tent for the sun

The Hebrew in Psalm 19:4 that is translated as “he has set a tent for the sun” or similar in English is translated in Makonde as “God has made for the sun a tent/shelter to sleep in at night there in the sky.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Psalm 19:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 19:4:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “But their message goes to the entire earth,
    the words reach up to
    the ends of the earth.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “Their message is being spread throughout the world,
    and it is being heard in every corner of the world.
    God has prepared a place in the heavens for the sun to stay.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “but their message reaches to every part of the earth;
    it is-spreading in any place.
    God made a dwelling-place for the sun in the heavens.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Eastern Bru:
    “but what it communicates spreads all over the earth. And others hear that communication to the ends of the earth. In the sky, God created a place for the sun to be.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “But instead, his message goes all over the world.
    and people hear all over the world.
    God built the sun a home in heaven.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Habari yao imeenea duniani pote,
    kufika mwisho wa dunia.
    Mungu ameliwekea mahali jua katika anga.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “But what they declare about God goes throughout the world,
    and even people who live in the most distant/ remote places on earth can know it.
    The sun is in the skies where God placed it;” (Source: Translation for Translators)

heaven

Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Aramaic all have one term only that refers to what can be expressed in English as “sky” or “heaven(s)” (as a physical and spiritual entity). While there is a slight overlap between the meaning of the two English terms, “sky” (from Old Norse sky meaning “cloud”) typically refers to the physical entity, and “heaven” (from Old English heofon meaning “home of God”) typically refers to the spiritual entity. While this enriches the English lexicon, it also forces English Bible translators to make decisions that can be found only in the context in the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic texts. Most versions tend to use “heaven(s)” even if the meaning is likely “sky,” but the Contemporary English Version (NT: 1991, OT: 1995, DC: 1999) is an English translation that attempted to be more specific in the separation of the two meanings and was used as the basis for the links to verses used for this and this record (“sky”).

Norm Mundhenk (in The Bible Translator 2006, p. 92ff. ) describes the difficulty that English translations face (click or tap here to see more):

“A number of years ago an old lady asked me a question. What did Jesus mean when he said, ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away’? I do not remember what answer I gave, but I was surprised at how concerned she seemed to be about the verse. It was only later, after I had left her, that I suddenly realized what it was that she was so concerned about. She knew that death could not be far away, and all her life she had looked forward to being with God in heaven. But this verse said that ‘heaven will pass away’! What did that mean for her hopes? In fact, of course, in this verse Jesus was talking about the skies or the heavens, not about Heaven as the place of God’s presence. If I had realized the problem in time, I could easily have set the lady’s mind at rest on this question that was troubling her so much. However, I suspect that she is not the only person to be misled by the wording of this verse. Therefore, it is very surprising to find that even today many English versions (including the New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Good News Translation) still say ‘heaven and earth’ in verses like Matt 24:35 and its parallels (Mark 13:31 and Luke 21:33). The Contemporary English Version (CEV) and Phillips’ translation seem to be aware of the problem, and in Mark 13:31 both of these have ‘earth and sky’ instead of ‘heaven and earth.’ But in some other passages (such as Matt 5:18) the traditional wording is still found in both of those translations. The New Century Version (NCV) does have ‘earth and sky’ more consistently, and the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has ‘sky and earth’ in these passages. (Although ‘sky and earth’ is closer to the Greek, it seems more natural in English to say ‘earth and sky’; but either way, at least the meaning is correct.)

“Louw and Nida’s Lexical Semantics of the Greek New Testament (publ. 1992) suggests that the Greek expression being translated here, ho ouranos kai he ge is ‘a more or less fixed phrase equivalent to a single lexical unit’ and that it means everything that God created, that is, the universe. They then quote Mark 13:31 as an example, using ‘heaven and earth’ in their translation of it. However, they go on to say that there ‘may be certain complications involved in rendering ho ouranos kai he ge as ‘heaven and earth,’ since ‘heaven’ might be interpreted in some languages as referring only to the dwelling place of God himself. The referents in this passage are ‘the sky and the earth,’ in other words, all of physical existence, but not the dwelling place of God, for the latter would not be included in what is destined to pass away.’ In my opinion, English itself is one of the languages where the word ‘heaven’ will be interpreted as referring only to the dwelling place of God himself, and translations into English should not use ‘heaven’ in these passages. It is probably because these passages are so very familiar that translators do not realize the meaning they are giving their readers when they use the expression ‘heaven and earth’ here. In modern English we might talk about a rocket ‘soaring into the heavens,’ but we would certainly not describe it as ‘soaring into heaven,’ because ‘heaven’ is not another way of referring to the sky or to outer space.

“In fact, it is surely important in all languages to have some way of distinguishing the concept of ‘sky’ from the concept of ‘dwelling place of God.’ In these passages translators should never use a term meaning ‘the dwelling place of God.’ It may not be necessary to use a term meaning ‘sky’ either, if there is some other expression in the language which gives the correct meaning of ‘everything that has been created’ or ‘the universe.’ There are of course places in the New Testament where Heaven, as the place where God lives, is contrasted with the earth. In these passages, translators should be careful to give the correct meaning. A good example of this is in the Lord’s Prayer, in Matt 6:10: ‘Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ Similarly, 1 Cor 15:47 says that ‘the first man [a reference to Adam] was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.’ Passages like these are referring to Heaven, not to the sky. Other NT passages where heaven refers to God’s dwelling place, in contrast with earth, are Matt 5:34-35, 16:19, 18:18, Acts 7:49, James 5:12, and Rev 5:3.

“Sometimes in the New Testament, the word ‘heaven’ is used because of the Jewish reluctance to use the name of God. ‘Heaven’ in these cases is used in place of ‘God’ and refers to God himself. This is the case in the many references in Matthew to ‘the kingdom of heaven’ where other gospels have ‘the kingdom of God’ (e.g., compare Matt 4:17 with its parallels in Mark 1:15 and Luke 10:9). It is also most likely the case in references like Matt 16:1, Luke 20:4, 5, John 3:27, and even perhaps Col 1:5.

“There are some places, such as Matt 11:25, where God is called ‘Lord of heaven and earth.’ Since God is of course the Lord of Heaven as well as of the universe, it may not matter so much which interpretation is given in these passages (others are Luke 10:21 and Acts 17:24). Nevertheless, the intended meaning here is likely to be ‘the universe.’ This is because this expression in Greek, as Louw and Nida say, is a set expression referring to everything that has been created. Acts 17:24 in fact combines the idea of the creation of the universe with the idea of God as Master or Lord of the universe. (…)

“Old Testament background The use of ‘heaven and earth’ in the New Testament is very similar to what we find in the Old Testament, because it is largely based on the Old Testament.

“The Old Testament begins with the story of creation, which is presented as the creation of the heavens and the earth, with lights to shine in the heavens and give light to the earth. Birds are created to live in the heavens, animals to live on earth, and fish to live in the sea (Gen 1:1-2:4).

“As we can see from the way the creation story is told, it is meant to be understood as the creation of the universe. Although in English the regions above the earth have traditionally been called ‘the heavens’ in the story of creation, they cannot be called ‘Heaven,’ in the sense of the place where God dwells. In terms of modern English, it would probably be better to say ‘the sky and the earth’ or ‘the earth and the sky.’ The story of creation then becomes an important theme throughout the Old Testament. (…)

“In most passages, whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament, when ‘heaven and earth’ or ‘the heavens and the earth’ are mentioned, the meaning is the created universe. It is not a reference to Heaven, as the dwelling place of God. In English, translators have not been careful to keep this distinction clear, and this is probably true in many other languages as well. However, as we have seen, this can lead to real confusion for ordinary Bible readers. It is better if translators find ways to make the meaning clear in these passages. ‘Heaven’ should be mentioned only in passages which clearly mean the dwelling place of God. In other passages, an expression should be used which means only ‘sky.’ Or else, the whole expression ‘heaven and earth’ can be translated in a way to show that the whole universe is meant.”

Other languages that have a semantic distinction similar to English include (click or tap here to see more):

  • Hungarian: ég — “sky”; menny — “heaven”
  • Tagalog: kalawakan — “sky”; langit/kalangitan — “heaven”
  • Swedish: sky — “sky”; Himmel — “heaven”
  • Loma: “up” — “sky”; “God’s place” — heaven”
  • Mossi: saase — “sky”; nyingeri — “the up above”(source for Loma and Mossi: Bratcher/Nida)
  • Roviana: mamaṉa — “sly”; maṉauru — “heaven” (an old word, meaning “empty, open space of the sky”) (source: Carl Gross)
  • Kayaw: mô̄la or “canopy-under”/mô̄khû̄la or “canopy-above-under” — “sky” (atmosphere where there is just air); mô̄khû̄ or “canopy-on/above” — “heaven” (invisible abode of God and angels)
  • Burmese: မိုး ကောင်း ကင်/moe kaungg kain — “sky”; ကောင်း ကင်/kaungg kain — “sky” or “heaven”; ကောင်း ကင်ဗုံ/kaungg kain bone — “heaven”
  • Mairasi: Sinyavi — an indigenous term that is used for both “sky” and heaven”; Surga — loanword from Sanskrit via Indonesian referring to “heaven” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Noongar: worl — “sky”; Boolanga-Yirakang Boodjer — “Country of God” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Kupsabiny: “up” for “sky” vs. “God’s Homestead” for “heaven” (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)

In some languages, such as Yagaria, a term that was originally used as “sky” (gokudana) was adopted by the Christian community as “heaven.” This resulted in a language shift so that now all communities uses “empty space / air” (galogina or hakalogina) as “sky” and gokudana is exclusively used for the Christian concept of heaven. (Source: Renck 1990, p. 133)

Many languages follow the original biblical languages in not making that distinction, such as (click or tap here to see more):

In some languages, such as Wandala, the vocabulary for terms for either “heaven” or “sky” is much richer than just to include those two distinction. While zhegela, the term that is specifically used for the physical sky was only used in early translations of the New Testament for “sky,” other terms such as samaya (used for both “sky” and “heaven”), zlanna (specifically used for the perfect abode of God and the goal of the faithful, as in Matthew 8:11), kwárá (a locational term used to speak of a chief’s rule [lit., “voice”] such as Matthew 3:2), or sleksire (“chieftaincy,” “kingship,” or “royalty” [originally from slekse “chief”] and used where there are no locational overtones, such as in Matthew 16:28) are used. (Source: Mona Perrin in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 51ff.)

Under the auspices of the Dhama Mate Swe Association , a new Burmese translation of the New Testament was published in 2024 which uses terminology that attempts to overcome “insurmountable barriers to the Buddhist world.” One term that this version uses is ရွှေမြို့တော် (shway myahoettaw) or “Golden City” for “heaven,” referring it to the golden city described in Revelation 21 but at the same time using a Buddhist term for a desired destination that does not have the Buddhist connotation of ကောင်း ကင် (kaungg kain) as being the Trāyastriṃśa (တာဝတိံသာ) heaven, home of Śakra/Indra. This Burmese translation formed the basis of translations of parts of the New Testament into other languages spoken in Burma, including Sumtu Chin, Ekai Chin, Songlai Chin, Danau, Kadu, Kanan, Khün, Lahta Karen, Rakhine, Marma (Northern Rakhine), Riang Lai, Samtao, Shwe Palaung, Tai Laing, Taungyo, and Chak (Thet). (Source: Jay Pratt)

The English translation by Sarah Ruden (2021) uses “sky” throughout. Ruden explains (p. li): “The Greek word ouranos refers evenhandedly to the physical sky and the place—often pictured as a royal court — where supreme divinity resides. ‘Sky’ seems generally better, first of all in avoiding the wackier modern imagery that comes with the English ‘heaven.’ And even when a supernatural realm is meant, ‘sky’ will often do, because the divine realm was thought to be located there, in addition to the weather and the heavenly bodies, whereas ‘heaven’ to us is fundamentally a religious term, and the ancients did not tend to separate linguistic domains in this way. I have retained the plural ‘skies’ where I see it in the Greek, because it is a Hebraism familiar in English translations of scripture and (I hope) not too archaic or jarring.”

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("set up")

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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, mōke-rare-ru (設けられる) or “set up” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Psalm 19:3 - 19:5

The statement in verse 3 is emphatic: without any speech or words or audible voice, the report about God’s glory continues to be made. Their in verses 3b and 4a-b refers to “the heavens” and “the firmament” of verse 1. In verse 3b the meaning can be that they did speak but were not heard, as Revised Standard Version‘s literal translation implies. It seems preferable, however, to understand the line to mean “they uttered no audible voice.” Weiser translates the verse differently: “There is no language nor are there words in which their voice is not heard.” This is possible but does not seem very likely.

Speech should not be rendered as a speech given in the form of a public address but as the generic event, the act of speaking. In some languages it will be necessary to shift to a clause saying, for example, “they do not talk using words,” or using a simile, “they do not make words like people who talk with their mouths.”

In line a of verse 4 the Hebrew text has “their line”; following ancient versions, many commentaries and translations understand the text to say “their voice.” Dahood and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, however, maintain that the Hebrew word means “their call.” New English Bible interprets “line” as the string of a musical instrument and translates “their music” (so Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Since the report is soundless, something like “message, report” is better than voice (some may have “their testimony”).

Yet their voice goes out must often be rendered “yet what they say can be heard everywhere.” If one keeps the parallelism, all the earth may be rendered as “everywhere,” and the end of the world as “wherever people live on the earth.”

As translated by the Septuagint, verse 4a-b is quoted by Paul in Romans 10.18 and applied to the spread of the Christian message.

The psalmist concentrates on the sun (verses 4c-6) as the greatest of all created things. In contrast with the tendency of many ancient peoples to worship the sun as a god, Hebrew faith held firmly to the unique position that Yahweh alone was the sole ruler of the universe. It is God who “pitched a tent” in the sky for the sun, where it spends the night before coming out in the morning. Tent in modern English is a temporary dwelling place, which is not necessarily implied by the Hebrew word; so Good News Translation has “home.”

In them means “In the heavens”; so Good News Translation “in the sky.” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, however, takes it to refer to the ends of the earth.4c- Instead of “in them” of the Masoretic text, some prefer to follow a text meaning “in the sea” (see Weiser). It will sometimes be necessary to indicate that the house in the sky is “for the sun to live in.”

The sun is pictured as a bridegroom and as a strong man, figures which are intended to convey a sense of vitality, strength, joy, endurance. Like a bridegroom is sometimes expressed “like a happy man who leads his bride to his village” or “like a man who has married a woman.”

The word translated chamber is found only here and in Isaiah 4.5 (“canopy”) and Joel 2.16. In connection with bridegroom, this chamber refers to a temporary pavilion, or canopy, provided for newlyweds and set up in the groom’s home. To avoid unnecessary cultural difficulties, the translation can be “it leaves its room in the morning….”

In this context the strong man is most probably an athlete rather than a warrior or a fighter (see New American Bible footnote). Good News Translation “athlete” must sometimes be rendered “runner,” or simply “like a man who runs a race.”

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 .

Psalm 19: Layer by Layer

The following are presentations by the Psalms: Layer by Layer project, run by Scriptura . The first is an overview, the second an introduction into the poetry, and the third an introduction into the exegesis of Psalm 19.


Copyright © Scriptura


Copyright © Scriptura


Copyright © Scriptura

Psalm 19 as classical Chinese poetry

John Wu Ching-hsiung (1899-1986) was a native of Ningbo, Zhejiang, a renowned jurist who studied in Europe and the United States, and served as a professor of law at Soochow University, as a judge and the Acting President of the Shanghai Provisional Court, and as the Vice President of the Commission for the Drafting of the Constitution of the Republic of China, before becoming the Minister of the Republic of China to the Holy See. Wu has written extensively, not only on law but also on Chinese philosophy, and has also written his autobiography, Beyond East and West, in English. Wu was a devout Catholic and had a personal relationship with Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975). Wu began translating the the Psalms in 1938, and was encouraged by Chiang to translate the entire New Testament, which he corrected in his own handwriting. (…) John Wu Ching-hsiung’s translation of the Psalms (first draft in 1946, revised in 1975) was translated into Literary Chinese in the form of poetic rhyme, with attention paid to the style of writing. According to the content and mood of the different chapters of the original psalm, Wu chose Chinese poetic forms such as tetrameter, pentameter, heptameter [4, 5 or 7 syllables/Chinese characters per stanza], and the [less formal] Sao style, and sometimes more than two poetic forms were used in a single poem. (Source: Simon Wong)

John Wu Ching-hsiung himself talks about his celebrated and much-admired (though difficult-to-understand) translation in his aforementioned autobiography: (Click or tap here to see)

“Nothing could have been farther from my mind than to translate the Bible or any parts of it with a view to publishing it as an authorized version. I had rendered some of the Psalms into Chinese verse, but that was done as a part of my private devotion and as a literary hobby. When I was in Hongkong in 1938, I had come to know Madame H. H. Kung [Soong Ai-ling], and as she was deeply interested in the Bible, I gave her about a dozen pieces of my amateurish work just for her own enjoyment. What was my surprise when, the next time I saw her, she told me, “My sister [Soong Mei-ling] has written to say that the Generalissimo [Chiang Kai-shek] likes your translation of the Psalms very much, especially the first, the fifteenth, and the twenty-third, the Psalm of the Good Shepherd!”

“In the Autumn of 1940, when I was in Chungking, the Generalissimo invited me several times to lunch with him and expressed his appreciation of the few pieces that he had read. So I sent him some more. A few days later I received a letter from Madame Chiang [Soong Mei-ling], dated September 21, 1940, in which she said that they both liked my translation of the few Psalms I had sent them. ‘For many years,’ she wrote, ‘the Generalissimo has been wanting to have a really adequate and readable Wen-li (literary) translation of the Bible. He has never been able to find anyone who could undertake the matter.’ The letter ends up by saying that I should take up the job and that ‘the Generalissimo would gladly finance the undertaking of this work.’

“After some preliminary study of the commentaries, I started my work with the Psalms on January 6, 1943, the Feast of the Epiphany.

“I had three thousand years of Chinese literature to draw upon. The Chinese vocabulary for describing the beauties of nature is so rich that I seldom failed to find a word, a phrase, and sometimes even a whole line to fit the scene. But what makes such Psalms so unique is that they bring an intimate knowledge of the Creator to bear upon a loving observation of things of nature. I think one of the reasons why my translation is so well received by the Chinese scholars is that I have made the Psalms read like native poems written by a Chinese, who happens to be a Christian. Thus to my countrymen they are at once familiar and new — not so familiar as to be jejune, and not so new as to be bizarre. I did not publish it as a literal translation, but only as a paraphrase.

“To my greatest surprise, [my translation of the Psalms] sold like hot dogs. The popularity of that work was beyond my fondest dreams. Numberless papers and periodicals, irrespective of religion, published reviews too good to be true. I was very much tickled when I saw the opening verse of the first Psalm used as a headline on the front page of one of the non-religious dailies.”

A contemporary researcher (Lindblom 2021) mentions this about Wu’s translation: “Wu created a unique and personal work of sacred art that bears the imprint of his own admitted love and devotion, a landmark achievement comparable to Antoni Gaudi’s Basilica of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain. Although its use is still somewhat limited today, it continues to attract readers for the aforementioned qualities, and continues to be used in prayers and music by those who desire beauty and an authentic Chinese-sounding text that draws from China’s ancient traditions.”

The translation of Psalm 19 from the 1946 edition is in pentameter and the rhyme schemes are -ong, -ang, and -i and (the 1946 edition did not have verse numbers either):

乾坤與妙法

乾坤揭主榮。碧穹布化工。 朝朝宣宏旨。夜夜傳微衷。 默默無一語。教在不言中。 周行遍大地。妙音送長風。
晨曦發帝鄉。丰采似玉郎。洋洋溢喜氣。逍遙出洞房。 天行一何健。六合任翱翔。普照無私曲。萬物被其光。
妙法洵全美。我魂得歸依。靈證洵萬確。童蒙識玄機。 玉律豈有瑕。祇守心自怡。聖典何皎潔。悅目驚新奇。 天威分明在。萬古永不移。神斷剖黑白。陰隲定是非。 價值邁金石。滋味勝蜜飴。 小子知趨避。福祿盡在茲。 誰能悟其愆。惟主濯其疵。 但願遠罪戾。庶免染塵緇。或可無大過。心口莫睽違。 我是遊蕩子。願父贖我歸。永不離膝下。朝暮相追隨。

Transcription into Roman alphabet with the rhyme schemes highlighted:

qián kūn yǔ miào fǎ

qián kūn jiē zhǔ róng 。 bì qióng bù huà gōng 。 zhāo zhāo xuān hóng zhǐ 。 yè yè chuán wēi zhōng 。 mò mò wú yī yǔ 。 jiào zài bù yán zhōng 。 zhōu xíng biàn dà dì 。 miào yīn sòng cháng fēng 。
chén xī fā dì xiāng 。 fēng cǎi sì yù láng 。 yáng yáng yì xǐ qì 。 xiāo yáo chū dòng fáng 。 tiān xíng yī hé jiàn 。 liù hé rèn áo xiáng 。 pǔ zhào wú sī qū 。 wàn wù bèi qí guāng 。
miào fǎ xún quán měi 。 wǒ hún dé guī yī 。 líng zhèng xún wàn què 。 tóng mēng shí xuán jī 。 yù lǜ qǐ yǒu xiá 。 qí shǒu xīn zì yí 。 shèng diǎn hé jiǎo jié 。 yuè mù jīng xīn qí 。 tiān wēi fēn míng zài 。 wàn gǔ yǒng bù yí 。 shén duàn pōu hēi bái 。 yīn cí dìng shì fēi 。 jià zhí mài jīn shí 。 zī wèi shèng mì yí 。 xiǎo zǐ zhī qū bì 。 fú lù jìn zài zī 。 shuí néng wù qí qiān 。 wéi zhǔ zhuó qí cī 。 dàn yuàn yuǎn zuì lì 。 shù miǎn rǎn chén zī 。 huò kě wú dà guò 。 xīn kǒu mò kuí wéi 。 wǒ shì yóu dàng zǐ 。 yuàn fù shú wǒ guī 。 yǒng bù lí xī xià 。 zhāo mù xiāng zhuī suí 。

With thanks to Simon Wong.