Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 44:10:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“You caused us to turn back before an enemy
and (those) who hate us have confiscated property from us” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“You forced us to retreat from our enemies.
And allowed our enemies to plunder all that we had.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“You (sing.) made- us (excl.) -flee from our (excl.) enemies.
And they took our (excl.) properties/possessions.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Eastern Bru:
“You have already made it that we run from those who war against us. So they have already taken all our possessions.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
Laarim:
“You allowed our enemies to defeat us
then people who dislike us take away our things completely.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Umetufanya kuwakimbia maadui zetu,
ambao wanatupinga wameteka mali zetu.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“You have caused us to run away from our enemies,
with the result that they captured the things that belonged to us.” (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 ).
Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed.
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Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or modern 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 Translator2002, 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 the most recent Manchu translation of 1835 (a revision of an earlier edition from 1822), God is never addressed with a pronoun but with “father” (ama /ᠠᠮᠠ) instead. Chengcheng Liu (in this post on the Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology blog ) explains: “In Manchu tradition, as in Chinese etiquette, second-person pronouns could be considered disrespectful when speaking to superiors or spiritual beings. Manchu Shamanist prayers avoided si [‘you’] and sini [‘your’] for this very reason. To use them for God would be, in Lipovzoff’s [one of the two translators] words, ‘the most uncouth and indecent way to speak to the Almighty — as if He were a servant or slave.’ There was also a grammatical problem. In Manchu, si and sini could refer to both singular and plural subjects. For a faith that insisted on the singularity of God, this was potentially confusing. By contrast, repeating ama removed any ambiguity.”
After recalling what God had done for his people in the past, the psalmist now turns to the present. He accuses God of abandoning his people, of deserting them, of letting them be defeated by their enemies. For cast … off see 43.2. The Good News Translation expression “you have rejected us” may sometimes be rendered “you have turned your back on us” or “you have said ‘No’ to us.” Abased us: “disgraced us,” “put us to shame,” “humiliated us” (see comments on “put to … shame” in 35.4). The passive construction in Good News Translation “you … let us be defeated” must be rendered in some languages as an active construction supplying the subject; for example, “you let our enemies defeat us.”
In vivid terms he says that God no longer goes out with the Israelite troops to fight the enemy. The Hebrew word for armies recalls the title of God as “LORD of hosts” (see 24.10). The Covenant Box, which accompanied the Israelite army, was the symbol and Lord guarantee of Yahweh’s presence with them (see Num 10.35; 1 Sam 4.3). Armies is sometimes rendered “soldier companies,” or “groups of soldiers,” or “companies of fighters.”
Because God deserted them, the Israelites fled from their enemies, who captured as spoil the belongings and weapons of the Israelites.
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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