The Hebrew, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “soul” in English is translated in Chol with a term that refers to the invisible aspects of human beings (source: Robert Bascom), in Yagaria with oune or “shadow, reflection” (source: Renck, p. 81), and in Elhomwe as “heart” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext).
The Mandarin Chineselínghún (靈魂 / 灵魂), literally “spirit-soul,” is often used for “soul” (along with xīn [心] or “heart”). This is a term that was adopted from Buddhist sources into early Catholic writings and later also by Protestant translators. (Source: Zetzsche 1996, p. 32, see also Clara Ho-yan Chan in this article )
In Chichewa, moyo means both “soul” and “life.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 19:7:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“The law of Jehovah is perfect,
reviving my life.
Jehovah’s testimonies are trustworthy,
they give wisdom to the unwise.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“The teachings of the LORD are right,
they give us new strength.
His law is trustworthy,
it gives insight to those who are ignorant.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“The law of the LORD has-no mistake.
It strengthens our (incl.) lives.
The teachings of the LORD (are) trustworthy
and give wisdom/knowledge to the ones (who) have-no wisdom/knowledge.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Eastern Bru:
“The law of God is surely very true. The law is able to allow people to live anew. Instruction from God people can believe with confidence. That instruction is able to make unknowledgeable people wise.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
Laarim:
“The ways of the Lord are very good,
he makes spirit to be renewed.
People put their hearts on commands of LORD,
he gives wisdom to people who are not wise.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Amri ya BWANA ni kamilifu,
inampa mtu uzima mpya.
Utaratibu wa Mungu ni wa kutumainiwa,
unawapa hekima ambao hawako nayo.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“The instructions that Yahweh has given us are perfect;
they revive us/give us new strength.
We can be sure that the things that Yahweh has told us will never change,
and by learning them people who have not been previously taught/instructed will become wise.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
In this poem (verses 7-14) the psalmist first describes the Law of Yahweh in six different ways (verses 7-9), praises its attractiveness and worth (verses 10-11), and prays for help from the LORD in obeying it (verses 12-14).
In verses 7-9 six words are used for the Law, the sacred record of Yahweh’s instructions to his people (see Psa 119, where eight words are used). The first one, torah (law), is used in 1.2 (see comments); the sixth one, ordinances (the plural of mishpat), was seen as “judgment” in 7.6. The other words are: verse 7c testimony, a word meaning reminder, instruction; verse 8a precepts, a word always used in the plural, meaning orders, legal directives; verse 8c commandment, meaning law, command. All five of these words are nearly synonymous in this context, since the psalmist was searching for words that emphasize different aspects of the same thing, God’s Law. The translator will have to determine whether to use a single term for all, or a similar set of terms.
In many languages law means only orders and regulations sent out from local bureaucrats. In order to avoid such a restricted meaning, it will often be necessary to render law as “the teaching given by God” or “the instructions God gave the people.” Although the Hebrew term torah is used in verse 8, translators working in languages strongly influenced by Islamic terminology should not use towarat, because this term is applied to the Hebrew Scriptures generally.
The testimony of the LORD may often be rendered as “what the LORD tells you to do” or “all that the LORD says.”
The only difficulty arises with the fear of the LORD in verse 9a. As Dahood points out, all other possessive phrases of the LORD have the LORD as subject, not object; here, however, the traditional understanding of “fear” as reverence or awe makes the LORD the object. Bible en français courant, however, translates “The respect that the Lord inspires is pure.” Several commentators prefer to emend the Hebrew to say “the word of Yahweh” (as in 119.38), and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “His word.” Some wish to translate the Hebrew text as “religion,” explaining in a footnote that this represents what the LORD requires of his people. Although it does not sound very natural, the translation “Reverence (or, Respect) for the LORD” is probably the best one. Fear of the LORD must often be recast as a verbal phrase; for example, “it is good for people to worship the LORD.” Line b of verse 9 may then be rendered “they will worship him forever.”
The ordinances of the LORD (Good News Translation “judgments”) must be expressed in some languages as “what the LORD decides is fair and true,” or idiomatically, “when the LORD cuts the words he cuts them fairly.”
The six adjectives used are not all entirely synonymous, but there is overlapping in meaning: perfect (see “blameless” in 18.23); sure (see in 12.1 the verb “to be sure, reliable, faithful”); right (with much the same meaning; see “upright” in 11.2); pure (see 18.26; a “pure commandment” is one that is right, fair, just); clean (synonym of pure; see 12.6); and righteous (fair, just). Translations of these six adjectives vary: New Jerusalem Bible “perfect, enduring, just, lucid, pure, true”; New Jerusalem Bible “perfect, trustworthy, honest, pure, pure, true.” In translation the most important thing is to use adjectives that will naturally apply to the subject. In some languages perfect is rendered as “the best,” “without any fault,” “could not be better.” Good News Translation‘s “trustworthy” is sometimes rendered “you can depend on it,” or idiomatically, “you can put your heart on it.”
The four effects of the Law on those who obey it are described in verses 7-8: verse 7b reviving the soul (“turning the nefesh”; see 3.2), that is, giving renewed vitality and strength to one’s whole being; verse 7d making wise the simple, in which simple means an inexperienced, uninstructed, naïve person; verse 8b rejoicing the heart, that is, bringing joy to the person; and verse 8d enlightening the eyes, which probably means bringing understanding, wisdom (see 119.105, 130), or else, as in 13.3b, restoring strength (as New Jerusalem Bible renders it).
In verse 9 the secondary lines b and d, instead of stating the effects of the Law and commandments on those who obey them, further describe them: enduring for ever (see verb in 18.3) and righteous altogether, or “are always right” (Good News Translation “always fair”; see the adjective “right” in 4.1).
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 .
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.
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):
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