The Hebrew that is translated as “oppress” in various forms in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) with kupondereza, In a literal sense, this word means stepping on someone. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
anger
The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “anger” or similar in English in this verse is translated with a variety of solutions (Bratcher / Nida says: “Since anger has so many manifestations and seems to affect so many aspects of personality, it is not strange that expressions used to describe this emotional response are so varied”).
- Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “be warm inside”
- Mende: “have a cut heart”
- Mískito: “have a split heart”
- Tzotzil: “have a hot heart”
- Mossi: “a swollen heart”
- Western Kanjobal: “fire of the viscera”
- San Blas Kuna: “pain in the heart”
- Chimborazo Highland Quichua: “not with good eye”
- Chichewa: “have a burning heart” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation) (see also anger burned in him)
- Citak: two different terms, one meaning “angry” and one meaning “offended,” both are actually descriptions of facial expressions. The former can be represented by an angry stretching of the eyes or by an angry frown. The latter is similarly expressed by an offended type of frown with one’s head lowered. (Source: Graham Ogden)
In Akan, a number of metaphors are used, most importantly abufuo, lit. “weedy chest” (the chest is seen as a container that contains the heart but can also metaphorically be filled with other fluids etc.), but also abufuhyeε lit. “hot/burning weedy chest” and anibereε, lit. “reddened eyes.” (Source: Gladys Nyarko Ansah in Kövecses / Benczes / Szelid 2024, p. 21ff.)
See also God’s anger and angry.
complete verse (Psalm 55:3)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 55:3:
- Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“because of the words of my enemies,
because of the oppression of the wicked people;
for they have brought me afflictions
and they are persecuting me in their anger;” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation) - Newari:
“I am being frightened by the threats of enemies
I am troubled by the sneers of evil people.
They are angry with me, and they hate me.” (Source: Newari Back Translation) - Hiligaynon:
“I (am) now worried about the threats and oppressions of my wicked enemies.
For they make-trouble for me and hold-a-grudge-against (me) in their anger.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation) - Laarim:
“When I heard my enemies shouting at me,
when people who are bad stare at me,
because they bring to me trouble,
and they speak against me with anger.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation) - Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Niko na hofu, maadui zangu wananitishia,
naonewa na wabaya.
Kwa maana wananiletea mateso,
kwa hasira yao wananiwinda.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation) - English:
“My enemies cause me to be terrified;
wicked people oppress me.
They cause me to have great troubles;
they are angry with me, and they hate me.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
enemy / foe
The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “enemy” or “foe” in English is translated in the Hausa Common 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 ).
Translation commentary on Psalm 55:1 - 55:3
The psalm opens with a cry to God to listen to the psalmist’s prayer and answer him (verses 1-2a). For hide not thyself in verse 1b, see similar language and comments in 13.1; 27.9a.
Attend to me is a rather old-fashioned form of English; a more normal way of expressing the thought is “Listen to me” or “Pay attention to me.” When the psalmist asks God to answer him, the translator must not think in terms of answering a question. Here the term has the meaning of responding to the psalmist’s plea for help. Therefore in translation one must often say, for example, “help me.”
Then the psalmist describes his condition: I am overcome by my trouble (verse 2b). The Hebrew verb is of uncertain meaning; this form occurs elsewhere only in Genesis 27.40, where it appears to mean “break loose”; see New Jerusalem Bible “I am tossed about.” The Septuagint has “I am grieved” (also Vulgate); Jerome “I am humiliated.” The general idea is clear enough: worry, concern, lack of peace; one possibility is “distraught”; Weiser “restless.”
As the Revised Standard Version verse division shows, the initial verb form of the fifth line of the psalm (Revised Standard Version I am distraught) is in the Masoretic text the end of verse 2, not the beginning of verse 3. For aesthetic reasons Good News Translation has placed the verse number 3 at the beginning of the line.
I am distraught translates a verb which means “be in a stir” (the Septuagint translates “I am troubled”). Good News Translation “the threats of my enemies” translates what is literally “the voice of my enemy”; see New Jerusalem Bible “outcry” and New Jerusalem Bible “clamor,” both of which are better than Revised Standard Version noise.
In verse 3b oppression translates a word found only here in the Old Testament. Good News Translation in verse 3b supplies the verb “crushed” as being more appropriate for oppression; the Hebrew text has only one verb for both lines, namely, am distraught. The phrase because of the oppression of the wicked must be restructured in many languages; for example, “I am crushed by the evil people who oppress me” or “I am defeated because bad people oppress me.”
In verse 3c they bring translates the causative form of a Hebrew verb which means “to totter, shake” (see “be moved” in 10.6), with the direct object trouble. Briggs sees the figure of an enemy force rolling stones down from the heights upon the foe in the valley. There seems to be no need for the kind of a note that Revised Standard Version has; the other translations do not feel the need of one. New Jerusalem Bible translates “they heap up charges against me,” and New Jerusalem Bible “they bring evil upon me.” Bible en français courant may be recommended: “they cause evil to fall upon me.”
Cherish enmity translates a verb found only here in the Psalms; it means to nurse a grudge, to cherish hatred (K-B). New English Bible translates the line “they revile me in their anger” (also New International Version). A number of translations see hostile activity expressed by the verb; New Jerusalem Bible “furiously harass me”; Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “attack me with fury”; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “attack me furiously.”
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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