complete verse (Psalm 31:17)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 31:17:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “Jehovah do not allow that I should be ashamed,
    for I have cried to You;
    but let the wicked be ashamed
    and let them sleep quietly in the grave.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “O LORD,
    when I pray to You for help
    may I not need to be ashamed.
    rather, having shamed my enemies
    having sent them to hell, silence them.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “Do- not -allow/permit that I will-be-put-to-shame, LORD,
    for I am-calling you (sing.).
    Put-to-shame the wicked ones and kill them
    so-that they will be-at-peace in the grave.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Eastern Bru:
    “O God! Because I have already called out asking you, help me so I will not be ashamed. But may evil people be ashamed, and may they go silently to the place where dead people are.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “LORD, do not give me to be caught by shame,
    because I cried for you,
    but, you give shame to people who are bad
    and you let them sleep silently in tomb.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Ee Bwana, naomba kwako,
    nisiaibike mimi.
    Waibike waliopotoka,
    walale kimya katika wafu.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “Yahweh, I call out to you,
    so do not allow me to be disgraced.
    I desire that wicked people will be disgraced;
    I want them to soon die and go down to the place where the dead people are.” (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 (hazukashimete)

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 show 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, hazukashimete (辱めて) or “shame” 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. )

Japanese benefactives (yō ni shite)

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 show 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, yō ni shite (ようにして) or “do so (so that) / make it like” 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 31:16 - 31:18

The psalmist prays for Yahweh to help him, the LORD’s servant (verses 16-17b), and to punish his enemies and put them to death (verses 17c-18).

The plea in verse 16a, Let thy face shine, is similar to the expression in 4.6, which is used also in 67.1; 80.3, 7, 19; 119.135; it means to look on someone with favor, mercy, kindness. In many languages Let thy face shine on thy servant must be recast to say, for example, “be kind to me who serves you,” or idiomatically, “have a warm heart for me your servant.”

It should be clear in translation that thy servant is the psalmist himself.

In verse 16b in thy steadfast love indicates the reason, or motivation, which will lead Yahweh to save the psalmist. So a translation can say “because of your great love for me” or “since you love me.”

For the plea in verse 17 that the psalmist’s enemies, and not he himself, be put to shame, see verse 1 and 25.2-3. Put to shame must be rendered in some languages idiomatically; for example, “Do not give me a burning face” or “Do not make me hide my face.” Good News Translation reverses lines a and b of verse 17, and the translator should feel free to do the same if it is effective in the target language.

The language the psalmist uses in describing his enemies is standard, and it is impossible to know the exact nature of the lies about the psalmist that they were spreading. Whatever they were, he wanted his enemies to die.

In verse 17d the word translated dumbfounded may be taken to mean “lifeless,” although it usually means that one is so surprised as to be silent. New Jerusalem Bible translates “be silenced in Sheol,” and New Jerusalem Bible “go down to Sheol in silence.” Dahood derives the verbal form from “to hurl,” translating “be hurled into Sheol.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy is quite good: “hurl them into the silence of the grave.” Go dumbfounded to Sheol may be translated in some languages as “let them die and go silently to the grave” or “let them die and be put in the silent grave.” In some translations it may be more effective to make the prayer a direct plea to God: “Defeat and humiliate the wicked; send them down to the silent world of the dead.”

In verse 18a the Hebrew is “May those lying lips be bound” (the verb that is used of binding sheaves or grain). In some languages it is possible to use figures which approximate closely the Hebrew usage; for example, “Tie shut the mouths of those who speak lies.”

In verse 18b insolently translates a word found only here and in 1 Samuel 2.3; Psalms 75.5; 94.4. The basic meaning is that of arrogance, pride; those liars “speak with contempt” (Good News Translation) against righteous people.

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 .

imperatives (kudasai / Japanese honorifics)

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 show different degree of politeness is through the choice of an imperative construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

In these verses, the honorific form kudasai (ください) reflects that the action is called for as a favor for the sake of the beneficiary. This polite kudasai imperative form is often translated as “please” in English. While English employs pure imperatives in most imperative constructions (“Do this!”), Japanese chooses the polite kudasai (“Do this, please.”). (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )