Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 21:4:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“He asked you for life, and you gave him
many days forever.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“He asked You for life, and You gave him life,
You gave him a long life and life which will never end.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“He asked-for long/[lit. increased linker] life-span from you (sing.),
and you (sing.) gave him a very long life-span.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Eastern Bru:
“He has already asked you to allow him to live. Surely you allowed him to have that, including many years and health.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
Laarim:
“He asked you to keep his life,
then you gave him life that remains for a long time.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Alikuomba uzima, ulikubali.
Ulimpa uzima wa milele na milele.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“I/He asked you to enable me/him to live for a long time,
and that is what you gave me/him, a very long life.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed. The first example is from a language where God is always addressed distinctly formal whereas the second is one where the opposite choice was made.
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Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or 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 Dutch and Western Frisian translations, however, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.
It is not certain precisely what thou dost meet him refers to; some take it to mean at the time of the king’s return from battle. More than likely it is a way of saying that, in answer to the king’s prayer, Yahweh gave him goodly blessings, that is, fine or special blessings, not only for him personally but for his people as well. In the sense that God gives blessings to the king, line a may be rendered “You, God, received the king and gave him good gifts” or “You, God, welcomed the king and gave him good things.”
Line b of verse 3 refers clearly to the day the king was crowned; some, however, take the words to mean a new proclamation of the king’s sovereignty (see 1 Sam 11.13-15). Revised Standard Version (also Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) translates verse 3 with the English present tense of the verbs, and Good News Translation (also New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible) with the past tense. The past tense in English seems better here, referring to a specific event. The present tense implies continuous or repeated action.
In verse 4 life means not just longevity as such, but a long and prosperous reign; and what the LORD gave the king was not immortality, but “a long and lasting life” (see also Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). Some, however, like Dahood, think this means eternal life, or else it means children, through whom the king would continue to live. Anderson refers to the language of the royal court, in which petition was made that the king live “forever” (see 1 Kgs 1.31; Neh 2.3; Dan 2.4); see also Psalm 23.6. Life must often be recast as a verb phrase. Furthermore the expression He asked life of thee must often be rendered as a causative; for example, “He asked that you make him to live,” or idiomatically, “He asked that you make his eyes see well for many many years.”
The heightening which is evident in verse 4 can be rendered, for example, “He asked you for life, and you gave it to him, indeed, you gave him a very long and lasting life” or “He asked for life…, you gave him even more than that, you gave him….”
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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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.
In these verses, the verb that is translated as “give” in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-atae (お与え), combining “to give” (atae) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
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