Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 3:1:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“You Jehovah, my enemies have indeed multiplied!
They have indeed multiplied those who have risen up against me!” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“O LORD! How many enemies I have.
How many people have risen up against me.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“LORD, my enemies (are) many;
many oppose/go-against me!” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Eastern Bru:
“Oh Lord! There are many people who hate me. There are many who stand up wanting to do me in.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
Laarim:
“LORD, how many are my enemies!
How many who come for war with me!” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Ee BWANA, niko na maadui wengi,
wengi sana ambao wanapigana na mimi.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“Yahweh, I have many enemies!
There are many people who oppose/ rebel against me.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “enemy” or “foe” in English is translated in the HausaCommon Language Bible as “friends of front,” i.e., the person standing opposite you in a battle. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
In North Alaskan Inupiatun it is translated with a term that implies that it’s not just someone who hates you, but one who wants to do you harm (Source: Robert Bascom), in Tarok as ukpa ìkum or “companion in war/fighting,” and in Ikwere as nye irno m or “person who hates me” (source for this and one above: Chuck and Karen Tessaro in this newsletter ).
The following is an English translation of Psalm 3 into song by linguists & professional musicians under the auspices of The Spoken English Bible , an oral Bible translation designed to reach Americans who may not yet engage with Scripture and to serve as a model for Bible translation in minority languages.
The psalmist complains to Yahweh about his enemies, who not only threaten him with harm (verse 1b) but also claim that God will not help him (verse 2). Nothing is said about why they are against him or the kind of danger they pose. Verses 1 and 2 show in their line arrangement a progression, in that in verse 1a the psalmist states his case. In verse 1b his enemies are rising against me. In verse 2a they go so far as to speak against him, and verse 2b gives the content of their talk, no help for him.
How many are my foes!: this word order is normally employed in a question; in English it is better to say “My foes are so many!”
Are rising against me: the verb “to rise” may mean “to rebel”; if correct, this implies that the psalmist is the king. See the use of the verb in 2 Samuel 18.31-32.
Are saying of me: literally “are talking about my soul.” The Hebrew noun for “soul,” nefesh, is often used to refer to the whole person, and in such instances it should not be translated by “soul” or “spirit.” See note on nefesh at the end of this psalm (page 40).
There is no help for him in God: the noun translated help may also be translated “salvation,” “deliverance,” “rescue”; in some instances it may mean “victory” (New English Bible). It is better to use a verb to translate it here: “God will not save him!” or “God is not going to help him!”
Selah: the meaning of the Hebrew selah which occurs 71 times in Psalms, continues to be unknown. The Septuagint translates “musical pause”; most modern translations that represent the word have simply “Selah” (American Standard Version, An American Translation, Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version), which means nothing. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, and Bible en français courant have “pause”; Moffatt, Zürcher Bibel, New English Bible, German common language translation (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), and Good News Translation omit. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has a long footnote, giving the probable meaning of the word, and justifying its exclusion from the text. Unless a translator feels sufficiently assured of the meaning of the word so as to be able to translate it, it seems best to omit it. Most probably the word was not part of the original text of the individual 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 .
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 3 from the 1946 edition is in tetrameter and pentameter (the 1946 edition did not have verse numbers either):
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