Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 65:11:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“You clothe a year with abundant things,
and your carts overflow with abundant things.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“By your favor the yield of grain is great.
Wherever You step,
the yield of grain is sufficient.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“You (sing.) make- the products-of-the-harvest -abundant in the time-of-harvest/reaping.
Whatever place you (sing.) pass-through can-obtain abundance.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“You give the year much food,
when you go all over the world, you find much food.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Unaubariki mwaka kwa ukarimu wako,
poote ambapo unapita pamejaa vizuri.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“Because you bless the soil, there are very good crops at harvest season;
wherever you have gone, good crops are very abundant.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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 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 Dutch and Western Frisian translations, however, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.
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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. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-megumi (御恵み) or “grace (of God)” in the referenced verses.
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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, tō-rare-ru (通られる) or “pass” is used.
The psalmist uses poetic language to picture the large flocks and rich harvests with which God blesses his people. It is recommended that, if possible, a translator read these three verses in a number of different translations in order to get some sense of how these poetic figures hang together. After that a verse-by-verse first draft may be attempted.
In verse 11a Thou crownest the year with thy bounty means that God blesses the harvest season with rich crops, as though they were a crown that God places on the land that year (see the verb “to crown” in 8.5b). Here the verb “to crown” is used not in the sense of power and authority, like those of a king, but a wreath, a garland, that indicates victory and celebration. In many languages it will not be possible to speak of “goodness” performing an action such as providing rich harvests, as in Good News Translation. However, one may often say “Because you are good you give us rich harvests.”
In verse 11b the Hebrew is “your chariot tracks drip with fatness.” This pictures God riding around in his chariot, that is, the rain clouds (see 68.4, 33), and leaving abundant blessings wherever he goes. But it is not strictly necessary to keep the figure of a chariot. New Jerusalem Bible translates “Your paths,” and Bible en français courant has “abundance flourishes wherever you have passed.” But there are differences of opinion about the word translated “chariot tracks” (used also as “paths” in 17.5; 23.3); Dahood has “pastures,” and New English Bible “palm-trees.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translates “Your clouds.” The word fatness here indicates abundance of good things.
The same verb, “drip, trickle,” is used in verse 12a of The pastures. The Hebrew phrase The pastures of the wilderness are the open pastures where the flocks graze; for example, “grazing lands.” The figure here is that of “pastures … filled with flocks”; see New Jerusalem Bible “The meadows are clothed with flocks.” But instead of flocks, perhaps the psalmist is speaking of grass; so Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “the pastures of the wilderness are green”; New Jerusalem Bible “the pastures of the desert grow moist”; and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “The pastures in the wilderness are moist and green.” New English Bible translates in more general terms, “… are rich with blessing.”
In verses 12b, 13a-b the three verbs “to gird oneself,” “to clothe oneself,” and “to cover oneself” are used of the hills, of the meadows, and of the valleys, which are covered with joy, flocks, and grain. The poetry is beautiful and highly effective, but a literal translation may communicate very little, if anything, to readers whose way of life is radically different from that of the psalmist and his readers. Verses 12 and 13 are difficult to translate without making several adjustments. The main problem is that in Hebrew a series of inanimate objects are said to be doing things that only humans do. Good News Translation has shifted these to passive constructions and modified the “clothing” verbs. However, in languages which will not take passive constructions here, other changes will be required. One of the most obvious adaptations that can be made would be to switch to active constructions and to supply God as the agent. In addition it will often be necessary to supply some comparisons in order to keep the poetic ideas; for example, “you make the hills like joyful people” or “you cause the hills to look like happy people.”
The psalm ends with a portrayal of all of them, the pastures, the hillsides, and the valleys, shouting and singing together for joy in gratitude to God. The referent of they shout and sing is inanimate, and in many languages this figurative usage will be misleading. In languages where inanimate subjects cannot perform these events, it will often be necessary to supply a comparison; for example, “everything will be good like people shouting and singing for joy” or “all these things will be like people who shout and sing their thanks to God.”
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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