The Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “patient” or “patience” are translated in a variety of ways.
Eugene Nida (1952, p. 130) gives some examples:
“Peace is the quality of the soul; patience is the behavior of the soul. The Aymara of Bolivia have described patience well by the phrase ‘a waiting heart.’
“The Ngäbere of Panama describe patience in more vivid terms. They say that it is ‘chasing down your temper.’ The impatient person lets his temper run away with him. Patience requires one to “chase down his temper” and get it under control [see also Mairasi down below].
“The Yucateco describe patience as ‘strength not to fall.’ This seems to include almost more than patience, but it is important to note that this Yucateco translation recognizes that impatience means ‘falling.’ For some of us, who tend to take a certain secret pride in our impatience—describing it as energetic drive—it might be well to recognize that impatience is failure, while patience is strength.
“The San Blas Kuna in Panama use a rather strange phrase to depict patience. They say ‘not caring what happens.’ But this is not meant as condoning foolhardy indifference to life and danger. It reflects a kind of reckless confidence in God, a confidence not bred of desperation but of utter reliance. The patient person is not concerned about what happens; he is willing to wait in confidence.”
In Mairasi, the phrase that is employed is “stop (our) anger” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Suki “slow careful thinking way” is used (source L. and E. Twyman in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 91ff. )
In Kwang an expression is used that directly translates as “carry one’s head” (source: Mark Vanderkooi right here ), and in Q’anjob’al it is translated with the phrase “large stomach” (source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. ).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 40:1:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“Patiently I waited for Jehovah
He turned to me and heard my cry.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“Without impatience I waited for the LORD for help.
And just then He turned [His] ear towards me,
and listened to my prayer.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“I waited patiently for the LORD,
and he listened to my asking-for help.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Eastern Bru:
“I waited patiently hoping for God’s help. Then he surely listened and received the voice I prayed.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
Laarim:
“I waited for the LORD with patience,
then he came and listened to me then he answered my cry.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Nilivumilia kumsubiri BWANA na amani,
alinigeukia, alisikia kulia kwangu.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“I waited patiently for Yahweh to help me, and he listened to me when I called out to him.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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 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, kīte (聞いて) or “listen” 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).”
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 tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”
In that system, one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and others 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: “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 Twents as well as Indonesian and Malay. In the latter two 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. ).
The translator should note in verses 1-3 that parallelism is used to make a series of statements. There is no heightening effect between lines, although there is some semantic sameness between parallel lines; for example, in verse 2 pit/miry bog; feet/steps; rock/secure.
In verse 1 I waited patiently translates “Waiting, I waited” (see comments on 25.3a for I waited); the Hebrew phrase that follows, “for Yahweh,” means “for Yahweh’s help.” He inclined is similar to “he inclined his ear” (see 17.6 and comments) and means “he listened, he paid attention to.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, however, “He bent down to hear my cries”–which the translator may choose to follow.
In figurative language the psalmist describes in verse 2 the danger he was in. It is probable the desolate pit and the miry bog are metaphors for Sheol, the world of the dead; either because of illness or because of some other dangerous situation, the psalmist was near death, from which Yahweh rescued him, setting his feet upon a rock and making his steps secure, that is, giving him health and safety. A similar description of deliverance from imminent death is found in 30.3. The word translated desolate (Good News Translation “dangerous”) is of uncertain meaning; in other contexts the Hebrew word means “tumult, roaring”; for its use here, however, K-B classifies it as a different word, occurring only here in the Old Testament, meaning “desolate, waste,” and defines it as a reference to Sheol. Some wish to translate “the noisy pit” believing that this is a reference to “the tumultuous waters in the underworld.” Dahood and New American Bible have “pit of destruction”; New Jerusalem Bible “seething chasm”; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “deadly pit.” Desolate pit, referring to the place of the dead, may be rendered in some languages as “he pulled me up from the pit of death” or “he took me out of the pit where the dead people go.” The other expression, miry bog, is translated “deadly quicksand” by Good News Translation; New Jerusalem Bible “slimy clay”; New American Bible “the mud of the swamp.” “Quicksand” is not known in some areas; however, a deep bog or place of mud is equally applicable.
The rock (verse 2c) is a figure of safety, stability, security, as often in Psalms; my feet and my steps are parallel. Instead of “made me secure” (Good News Translation) the translation can be “and now I walk without fear.” One translation preserves the parallelism as follows: “He made me stand on a rock, he made me walk with firm steps.”
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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