salvation

The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated with “salvation” (or “deliverance”) in English is translated in the following ways:

  • San Blas Kuna: “receive help for bad deeds” (“this help is not just any kind of help but help for the soul which has sinned)
  • Northwestern Dinka: “help as to his soul” (“or literally, ‘his breath'”) (source for this and the one above: Nida 1952, p. 140)
  • Central Mazahua: “healing the heart” (source: Nida 1952, p. 40)
  • Tzeltal: col: “get loose,” “go free,” “get well” (source: Marianna C. Slocum in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 49f. )
  • Aari: “the day our Savior comes” (in Rom 13:11) (source: Loren Bliese)

in Mairasi its is translated as “life fruit” or “life fruit all mashed out.” Lloyd Peckham explains: “In secret stories, not knowable to women nor children, there was a magical fruit of life. If referred to vaguely, without specifying the specific ‘fruit,’ it can be an expression for eternity.” And for “all masked out” he explains: “Bark cloth required pounding. It got longer and wider as it got pounded. Similarly, life gets pounded or mashed to lengthen it into infinity. Tubers also get mashed into the standard way of serving the staple food, like the fufu of Uganda, or like poi of Hawaii. It spreads out into infinity.” (See also eternity / forever)

In Lisu a poetic construct is used for this term. Arrington (2020, p. 58f.) explains: “A four-word couplet uses Lisu poetic forms to bridge the abstract concrete divide, an essential divide to cross if Christian theology is to be understood by those with oral thought patterns. Each couplet uses three concrete nouns or verbs to express an abstract term. An example of this is the word for salvation, a quite abstract term essential to understanding Christian theology. To coin this new word, the missionary translators used a four-word couplet: ℲO., CYU. W: CYU (person … save … person … save). In this particular case, the word for person was not the ordinary word (ʁ) but rather the combination of ℲO., and W: used in oral poetry. The word for ‘save’ also had to be coined; in this case, it was borrowed from Chinese [from jiù / 救]. These aspects of Lisu poetry, originally based on animism, likely would have been lost as Lisu society encountered communism and modernization. Yet they are now codified in the Lisu Bible as well as the hymnbook.”

In the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) it is translated with chipulumutso which is used to refer to an act of helping someone who is in problems but cannot help him/herself come out of the problems because of weakness. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

See also save and save (Japanese honorifics) / salvation (of God) (Japanese honorifics).

joy

The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated with “joy” or “gladness” in English is translated with various strategies:

  • Baoulé: “a song in the stomach” (see also peace (inner peace))
  • Bambara: “the spirit is made sweet”
  • Kpelle: “sweet heart”
  • Tzeltal: “the good taste of one’s heart”
  • Uduk: “good to the stomach”
  • Mískito: “the liver is wide open” (“happily letting the pleasures flooding in upon it”) (source for this and above: Nida 1952)
  • Mairasi: “good liver” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Noongar: koort-kwabba-djil or “heart very good” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “refreshed heart” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.).

See also Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling,” happiness / joy, and exceeding joy.

complete verse (Psalm 21:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 21:6:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “Indeed You have given him eternal blessings,
    You have given him happiness and joy that is before you.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “Your blessing will always rest on him.
    He will rejoice greatly to be in your presence.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “You (sing.) gave him blessings which will-continue forever/[lit. until whenever].
    You (sing.) made- him very -glad in your (sing.) presence,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Eastern Bru:
    “Surely you give continual blessing to him every day and every evening. He feels very happy to be able to stand before you (lit. before your eyes).” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “And it be true, you gave him blessing that remains forever,
    and you gave him to rejoice in your happiness in the place where you stay.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Unampa baraka za milele na milele,
    amefurahi kwa sababu uko pamoja naye.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “You will bless me/him forever, and you have caused me/him to be joyful in your presence.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

addressing God

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 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 Dutch and Western Frisian translations, however, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.

See also female second person singular pronoun in Psalms.

Japanese benefactives (-sete)

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, -sete (せて) or “let/allow (for me)” 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. )

Translation commentary on Psalm 21:5 - 21:6

Yahweh has given the king glory (honor, fame; see 3.3; 7.5), splendor (fame, majesty; see 8.1 the “majesty” of Yahweh’s name), and majesty (dignity, splendor; see 8.5), three attributes of a powerful and prosperous king. The king of Israel has these qualities because Yahweh has given him victory over the enemy (see New International Version “the victories you gave”). Thy help in line a means the same as it does in verse 1a.

In languages which show a strong preference for placing the reason clause before the consequence, it will be necessary in verse 5a to reverse the Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version clause order; for example, “because you have helped him his glory is great.” In many languages it is not natural to possess an abstract such as glory, since this is something others attribute to a person or recognize in a ruler. Therefore it is sometimes necessary to say, for example, “Because you help him the people say that he is great” or “Because of your help they say he is a big chief.”

It should be noticed that in line b Revised Standard Version has the present tense; the Good News Translation past tense is preferred. Majesty is not used in some languages as an object to be given to someone. It is more common for it to be treated as a quality of an object; for example, “you have made him a great king” or “you have given him great power to rule the people.”

Yea in verse 6a is Revised Standard Version‘s way of representing a Hebrew particle that shows emphasis, but which here may not have that much force. New International Version has “Surely,” and New English Bible “for”; most translations do not represent it formally.

Thou dost make him most blessed for ever (that is, “You are always blessing him”) means that God blesses the king. Some (see New American Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) take the words to mean “You make him a blessing,” that is, for his people (see Weiser, Anderson). It seems better to follow the interpretation of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation.

Make him most blessed cannot in some languages be expressed as a possessed object, as in Good News Translation “Your blessings are with him.” One must often speak of “good things” or “good gifts.” Therefore “Your blessings” must often be rendered, for example, “you give him good gifts forever” or “you give him good things forever.” If the alternative interpretation is followed, it may be necessary to say, for example, “you cause him to give good things to his people.”

The thought in verse 6b is the same as found in 16.11b. As God’s “son” (see 2.7) the king enjoyed the presence of God with him, and this brought him great joy. The Hebrew is emphatic and somewhat redundant; this emphasis may be expressed by “make him extremely glad.” In some languages a noun such as presence cannot perform an event such as make him glad. Therefore it is often necessary to recast this type of expression to say “because you are with him he is joyful” or “he is happy because you are near 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 .

before / in the sight of / presence of (God) (Japanese honorifics)

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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-mae (御前) or “before (God)” in the referenced verses. In some cases in can also be used in reference to being before a king, such as in 1 Samuel 16:16.

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

See also presence (Japanese honorifics) and before you / to you.