hypocrite

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The Greek and Hebrew terms that are translated as “hypocrite” in English typically have a counterpart in most languages. According to Bratcher / Nida (1961, p. 225), they can be categorized into the following categories:

  • those which employ some concept of “two” or “double”
  • those which make use of some expression of “mouth” or “speaking”
  • those which are based upon some special cultural feature
  • those which employ a non-metaphorical phrase

Following is a list of (back-) translations from some languages:

  • Highland Totonac, Huautla Mazatec, Lacandon, Cuicatec, Highland Puebla Nahuatl: “two-faced”
  • Obolo: ebi isi iba: “double-faced person” (source: Enene Enene)
  • Tzeltal, Chol: “two hearts”
  • Pame: “two mouths”
  • San Miguel El Grande Mixtec: “two heads”
  • Kekchí: “two sides”
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “double (or “forked”) tongue”
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “double talk”
  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “talk false”
  • Copainalá Zoque: “lie-act”
  • Kituba, Amganad Ifugao, Chuukese: “lie”
  • Toraja-Sa’dan: “someone whose lips are fair” (i.e. “gracious”)
  • Mossi: “have a sweet mouth”
  • Mazahua: “have a swollen mouth” (from too much speaking)
  • Tai Dam: “have a straight mouth and a crooked heart”
  • Kongo: “the bitterness of white” (an idiom based on the fact that white-wash looks nice but tastes bitter)
  • Merina Malagasy: “spread a clean carpet” (an expression used in Madagascar to describe one who covers up the dirt of an unswept floor just before the arrival of guests)
  • Zanaki: “those who make themselves out to be good”
  • Tetelcingo Nahuatl: “those who deceive” (this and all examples above acc. to Bratcher / Nida 1961, p. 225)
  • Kafa: “one who makes as if his belly is clean” (source: Loren Bliese)
  • Agatu: ɔcɛ gigbefu — “disguised person acting a part” (source: Mackay in The Bible Translator 1962, 211f. )
  • Mairasi: “deceiver person” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Bauzi: “good on top person” (source: David Briley in Kroneman (2004), p. 502)
  • Tibetan: kha chos pa (ཁ་​ཆོས་​པ།), lit. “mouth + religion + person” (used for instance in Matt. 7:5) or sgyu zog can (སྒྱུ་​ཟོག་​ཅན།), lit. “deception + fraud + person” (used for instance in Matt. 24:51) (source: gSungrab website )
  • Low German: “actor in a comedy” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006)
  • Kölsch (Boch 2017): falscher Fuffzijer, literally “counterfeit 50-pfennig coin” (source: Jost Zetzsche)
  • German: “pretender” (Heuchler) (most versions), “wanna-be saint” (Scheinheiliger) (Gute Nachricht), “dazzler” (Blender) (translation by Fridolin Stier [1989])
  • Lélé: ne kub so or “make mouth two” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

The Latvian term liekulis was likely coined by the Bible translation of Ernst Glück (1654–1705) in the late 17th century and is still being used today (source ).

The English version of Sarah Ruden (2021) uses “play-actor.” She explains (p. li): “A hupokrites is fundamentally an actor. The word has deep negativity in the Gospels on two counts: professional actors were not respectable people in the ancient world, and traditional Judaism did not countenance any kind of playacting. I write ‘play-actor’ throughout.”

See also hypocrisy.

female 1st person singular pronoun in Psalms

In Garifuna the first person singular pronoun (“I” in English) has two forms. One is used in women’s speech and one in men’s speech. In the Garifuna Bible the form used in men’s speech (au) is typically used, except when it’s clear that a woman’s speech is quoted (for instance in John 4:9) or in Psalms where the women on the translation team insisted that the form used in women’s speech (nuguya) would be used throughout the whole book.

Ronald Ross (in Omanson 2001, p. 375f.) tells the story: “Throughout most of the translation, [the distinctions between the different forms of the pronouns] presented no problem. Whenever the speaker in the text was perceived as a man, the male speech forms were used; and when a woman was speaking, the female speech forms were used. True, the women members of the translation team did object on occasion to the use of the male forms when the author (and narrator) of a book was unknown and the men translators had used the male speech forms as the default. Serious discord arose, however, during the translation of the Psalms because of their highly devotional nature and because throughout the book the psalmist is addressing God. The male translators had, predictably, used the male form to address God, and the male form to refer to the psalmist, even though women speakers of Garifuna never use those forms to address anyone. The women contended that they could not as women read the Psalms meaningfully if God and the psalmist were always addressed as if the readers were men. The men, of course, turned the argument around, claiming that neither could they read the Psalms comfortably if the reader was assumed to be a woman.

“Initially there seemed to be no way out of this impasse. However a solution was found in the ongoing evolution of the language. There is a strong propensity for male speech and female speech to merge in favor of the latter, so the few remaining male forms are gradually dying out. Moreover, male children learn female speech from their mothers and only shift to the male speech forms when they reach adolescence to avoid sounding effeminate. However they use the female form buguya when addressing their parents throughout life. So the women wielded two arguments: First, the general development of the language favored the increasing use of the female forms. Secondly, the female forms are less strange to the men than the male forms are to the women, because the men habitually use them during early childhood and continue to use them to address their parents even in adulthood. Therefore, the female pronominal forms prevailed and were adopted throughout the book of Psalms, though the male forms remained the default forms in the rest of the translation.”

See also female second person singular pronoun in Psalms.

complete verse (Psalm 26:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 26:4:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “I do not sit down with fraudulent people,
    or seek wisdom from hypocrites.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “I do not associate with people who keep deceiving others,
    I also do not associate with people who have evil intentions.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “I do- not -go-along-with people/men who (are) deceitful and hypocrites.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Eastern Bru:
    “I don’t stay together with people whose thoughts are crooked. And I don’t do anything with people who pretend to be straight good but whose gall bladders are crooked.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “(I) we do not walk with people who deceive other people,
    or (I) we stay with people who are liars.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Sikai pamoja na watu wa ovyo,
    sina na ushirika na wadanganyifu.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “I do not spend my time with liars
    and I stay away from hypocrites.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Psalm 26:4 - 26:5

Continuing to protest his innocence, the psalmist makes clear that he avoids altogether associating with evil, worthless people. In these four lines (verses 4-5) the same thought is expressed in four different ways.

For sit with in verses 4a and 5b, see comments on 1.1. The expression may be rendered as in Good News Translation or idiomatically as in some languages: “I do not tie myself up with” or “I don’t eat my food with.”

In verse 4a false men translates “men of fraud.” New English Bible and New American Bible have “worthless”; New Jerusalem Bible “scoundrels”; Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “impostors,” and New International Version “deceitful men.” Dahood takes the phrase to mean idol-worshipers. “Worthless people” (Good News Translation) is sometimes expressed as “people who cheat others.”

Consort translates a verb which is very frequently used in the Old Testament. It means, generally, “to enter”; here the idea is of entering someone’s house, and so “associate with,” “keep company with.”

Dissemblers in verse 4b is literally “those who hide themselves,” that is, who conceal their real thoughts or motives; so Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, and New International Version have “hypocrites.” (For a detailed treatment of “hypocrites,” see A Translator’s Handbook on the Gospel of Mark, pages 224-225.) Most languages have an abundance of terms or expressions for hypocrites. Many languages base the expression on the basis of a double image; for example, “two tongues,” “two hearts,” “two throats,” “two livers.” Others focus on a false manner of speaking: “to have a sweet mouth” or “to have a straight mouth and a crooked heart.” Others base the expression upon some cultural aspect such as “spreading a clean carpet.”

In verse 5 the two words translated evildoers and the wicked are synonymous and indicate in the broadest terms possible people who aren’t good. Evildoers is used in 22.16a; the word translated the wicked appears eighty-one times in the Psalms.

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 26: Layer by Layer

The following is a presentation by the Psalms: Layer by Layer project, run by Scriptura . The first is an overview and the second an introduction into the exegesis of Psalm 26.


Copyright © Scriptura


Copyright © Scriptura

Psalm 26 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 26 from the 1946 edition is in pentameter (the 1946 edition did not have verse numbers either):

表明心跡

殷勤求我主。一伸我貞慤。 平生惟仰主。所守寧不篤。願主測中情。鍛鍊我心靈。 慈恩常在目。聖道從容行。 未伴妄人坐。未偕奸徒立。 群小會集處。何曾敢廁足。 洗手滌餘穢。留連於閟幄。 詠我感謝意。誦主玄妙蹟。 心慕爾庭幃。榮光之所宅。 莫將我靈魂。使與罪人雜。莫將我生命。與彼同消滅。 若輩惡盈貫。受賄一何多。 吾心愛清白。應與彼殊科。 求主賜矜全。俾居安樂窩。綽綽有餘裕。會中獻雅歌。

Transcription into Roman alphabet:

biǎo míng xīn jì

yīn qín qiú wǒ zhǔ 。 yī shēn wǒ zhēn què 。 píng shēng wéi yǎng zhǔ 。 suǒ shǒu níng bù dǔ 。 yuàn zhǔ cè zhōng qíng 。 duàn liàn wǒ xīn líng 。 cí ēn cháng zài mù 。 shèng dào cóng róng xíng 。 wèi bàn wàng rén zuò 。 wèi xié jiān tú lì 。 qún xiǎo huì jí chǔ 。 hé zēng gǎn cè zú 。 xǐ shǒu dí yú huì 。 liú lián yú huī wò 。 yǒng wǒ gǎn xiè yì 。 sòng zhǔ xuán miào lì 。 xīn mù ěr tíng wéi 。 róng guāng zhī suǒ zhái 。 mò jiāng wǒ líng hún 。 shǐ yǔ zuì rén zá 。 mò jiāng wǒ shēng mìng 。 yǔ bǐ tóng xiāo miè 。 ruò bèi è yíng guàn 。 shòu huì yī hé duō 。 wú xīn ài qīng bái 。 yīng yǔ bǐ shū kē 。 qiú zhǔ cì jīn quán 。 bǐ jū ān lè wō 。 chuò chuò yǒu yú yù 。 huì zhōng xiàn yǎ gē 。

With thanks to Simon Wong.