complete verse (Psalm 39:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 39:4:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “‘Jehovah show me the end of my life
    and the number of my days;
    let me know how temporary my life is.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “‘O LORD! show me when my life will be finished.
    [and] how much longer I have to live,
    and enable me to recognize that my life is only for a moment.
    Please tell me, when I will die” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “‘LORD, cause- me -to-remember that my life has an end and my days have-been-counted.
    Cause- me -to-remember that my life (is) just passing-by.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Eastern Bru:
    “"Oh God! Request you let me know for certain, how much longer will I live? How many tens of years before I die? Request you tell me how many.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “‘ LORD, show me the end of my life
    that how many days that are still left,
    let me know that the days of my life run quickly.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “‘Ee Bwana, uniambie mwisho wangu,
    na siku zangu za kuwako katika uhai,
    nijue ufupi wa uhai wangu.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “‘Yahweh, show/tell me how long I will live.
    Tell me when I will die.
    Tell me how many years I will live!” (Source: Translation for Translators)

informing (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. The concept of “informing” (“may it be known,” “good tidings” etc.) is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-shirase (お知らせ), combining “inform” (shirase) with the respectful prefix o-.

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

Japanese benefactives (oshirase)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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, oshirase (お知らせ) or “know” 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 39:4

My end means the end of the psalmist’s life; the measure of my days means the length of the psalmist’s life. All three lines of the verse are different ways of saying much the same thing (see Good News Translation). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “Lord show me how brief my life is, and that my end is inevitable; make me aware of how little time is still left.” As Anderson points out, the psalmist is really not asking for information as such (after all, the psalmist knows that life is brief); rather he is protesting the unfairness of it all. He is made to suffer, when he should be granted a measure of peace and well-being. In line a it is possible that the psalmist is asking how he will die, what will cause his death; but this does not seem very probable.

If verse 4 is taken in the sense of a protest, translators will in most cases have to make the protest clear. In English this may be done with the use of the auxiliary “should”; for example, “LORD, you should let me know when my life will end” or “LORD, why don’t you tell me when I will die?” In some languages the repetition of the same thought in three lines will be stylistically awkward and misleading, and so must be reduced. Bible en français courant uses a legal term in line c meaning a stay of proceedings or even of execution: “May I know the length of my reprieve.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy contrasts the third line with the first two by making it an exclamation, “I want to know how short my life will be!”

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 .