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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.
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “teach” in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-oshie (お教え), combining the verb “teach” (oshie) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
The Hebrew text of Psalms 9/10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, and 145 uses acrostics, a literary form in which each verse is started with one of the successive 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. According to Brenda Boerger (in Open Theology 2016, p. 179ff. ) there are three different reasons for acrostics in the Hebrew text: “for ease of memorization,” the representation “of the full breadth and depth of a topic, all the way from aleph to taw (tav),” and the perception of “the acrostic form as aesthetically attractive.” (p. 191)
While most translations mention the existence of an acrostic in a note or a comment, few implement it in their translation. The Natügu translation is one such exception. Boerger (see above) cites a strong tradition in singing the psalms and the fact that Natügu, like Hebrew, also has 22 possible initial letters as motivating factors to maintain the acrostics in that language.
Click or tap here for the complete psalm in Natügu
The English Bible translation by Ronald Knox (publ. 1950) maintains most Hebrew acrostics (even though Knox’s translation itself is based on the Latin text of the Vulgate rather than the Hebrew). Due to the higher number of letters in the English alphabet, it skips the letter V, X, Y, and Z.
1 (Of David.) All my heart goes out to thee, O Lord my God.
2 Belie not the trust I have in thee, let not my enemies boast of my downfall.
3 Can any that trust in thee be disappointed, as they are disappointed who lightly break their troth?
4 Direct my way, Lord, as thou wilt, teach me thy own paths.
5 Ever let thy truth guide and teach me, O God my deliverer, my abiding hope.
6 Forget not, Lord, thy pity, thy mercies of long ago.
7 Give heed no more to the sins and frailties of my youth, but think mercifully of me, as thou, Lord, art ever gracious.
8 How gracious is the Lord, how faithful, guiding our strayed feet back to the path!
9 In his own laws he will train the humble, in his own paths the humble he will guide.
10 Jealous be thy keeping of covenant and ordinance, and the Lord’s dealings will be ever gracious, ever faithful with thee.
11 Kindly be thy judgement of my sin, for thy own honour’s sake, my grievous sin.
12 Let a man but fear the Lord, what path to choose he doubts no longer.
13 Much joy he shall have of his lands and to his heirs leave them.
14 No stranger the Lord is, no secret his covenant, to his true worshippers.
15 On the Lord I fix my eyes continually, trusting him to save my feet from the snare.
16 Pity me, Lord, as thou seest me friendless and forlorn.
17 Quit my heart of its burden, deliver me from my distress.
18 Restless and forlorn, I claim thy pity, to my sins be merciful.
19 See how many are my foes, and how bitter is the grudge they bear me.
20 Take my soul into thy keeping; come to my rescue, do not let me be disappointed of my trust in thee.
21 Uprightness and purity be my shield, as I wait patiently, Lord, for thy help.
22 When wilt thou deliver Israel, my God, from all his troubles? (Source )
The English New Jerusalem Bible (publ. 1985) also translated this Psalm as an acrostic:
1 [Of David] ADORATION I offer, Yahweh,
2 to you, my God. BUT in my trust in you do not put me to shame, let not my enemies gloat over me.
3 CALLING to you, none shall ever be put to shame, but shame is theirs who groundlessly break faith.
4 DIRECT me in your ways, Yahweh, and teach me your paths.
5 ENCOURAGE me to walk in your truth and teach me since you are the God who saves me. FOR my hope is in you all day long — such is your generosity, Yahweh.
6 GOODNESS and faithful love have been yours for ever, Yahweh, do not forget them.
7 HOLD not my youthful sins against me, but remember me as your faithful love dictates.
8 INTEGRITY and generosity are marks of Yahweh for he brings sinners back to the path.
9 JUDICIOUSLY he guides the humble, instructing the poor in his way.
10 KINDNESS unfailing and constancy mark all Yahweh’s paths, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
11 LET my sin, great though it is, be forgiven, Yahweh, for the sake of your name.
12 MEN who respect Yahweh, what of them? He teaches them the way they must choose.
13 NEIGHBOURS to happiness will they live, and their children inherit the land.
14 ONLY those who fear Yahweh have his secret and his covenant, for their understanding.
15 PERMANENTLY my eyes are on Yahweh, for he will free my feet from the snare.
16 QUICK, turn to me, pity me, alone and wretched as I am!
17 RELIEVE the distress of my heart, bring me out of my constraint.
18 SPARE a glance for my misery and pain, take all my sins away.
19 TAKE note how countless are my enemies, how violent their hatred for me.
20 UNLESS you guard me and rescue me I shall be put to shame, for you are my refuge.
21 VIRTUE and integrity be my protection, for my hope, Yahweh, is in you.
22 Ransom Israel, O God, from all its troubles. (Source )
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 25:9:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“He leads the humble to act righteously
and he teaches them his paths.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“He takes the humble along on the good path,
and He teaches them to go on His path!” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“You (sing.) guide the humble ones to do what (is) right/proper.
You (sing.) teach them your (sing.) way(s).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Eastern Bru:
“He leads people who have humble hearts (lit. well-behave gall bladers) on the road of truth, and he teaches them to know his ways/ideas.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
Laarim:
“He shows people who are not proud to follow the right matter,
and he teaches them his way.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Anawaongoza katika unyofu wenye unyenyekevu,
anawafundisha njia yake.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“He shows humble people what is right for them to do
and teaches them what he wants them to do.” (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 ta (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential ta (祂) is used.”
In that system one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and one 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 in the following way: “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 the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In both 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. ).
Good and upright: these are the two qualities which characterize Yahweh’s dealings with his people; he is kind, good, generous, and he is also fair and just, always doing what is right.
In verse 8 the way is Yahweh’s will for sinners; and the Hebrew verb for instruct is the one from which the Hebrew word for “Law” (torah) is formed. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible‘s footnote comments that sinners here are those who miss the right path they should take. Good News Translation makes verse 8 two propositions, the first the reason and the second the result.
It will sometimes be necessary in translation to shift from the two modifiers Good and upright by saying, for example, “the LORD is good and always does what is right.” It may be necessary in some languages to speak of the LORD judging fairly, since judging is closely related to God’s righteousness; for example, “God is good and judges people fairly.”
In verse 9 the two lines are parallel. The humble are those who trust in God, not in themselves (see 9.12, where Revised Standard Version has “the afflicted”). The two verbs He leads and teaches are parallel verbs; and what is right in line a (see 7.6) is defined in line b by his way, that is, the way he wants his people to follow, to live.
Verse 8 ends in way, and the same Hebrew root is used in the verb in verse 9, leads, with the noun repeated again at the end of verse 9, way. In this manner the psalmist has given cohesion to the two verses. In line b of verse 9, teaches is the more specific development of leads in line a.
He leads the humble may have to be expressed in some languages in a negative manner; for example, “he leads people who do not feel proud,” or stated idiomatically, “he leads people who do not have swollen hearts.”
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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