female 1st person singular pronoun in Psalms

In Garifuna the first person singular pronoun (“I” in English) has two forms. One is used in women’s speech and one in men’s speech. In the Garifuna Bible the form used in men’s speech (au) is typically used, except when it’s clear that a woman’s speech is quoted (for instance in John 4:9) or in Psalms where the women on the translation team insisted that the form used in women’s speech (nuguya) would be used throughout the whole book.

Ronald Ross (in Omanson 2001, p. 375f.) tells the story: “Throughout most of the translation, [the distinctions between the different forms of the pronouns] presented no problem. Whenever the speaker in the text was perceived as a man, the male speech forms were used; and when a woman was speaking, the female speech forms were used. True, the women members of the translation team did object on occasion to the use of the male forms when the author (and narrator) of a book was unknown and the men translators had used the male speech forms as the default. Serious discord arose, however, during the translation of the Psalms because of their highly devotional nature and because throughout the book the psalmist is addressing God. The male translators had, predictably, used the male form to address God, and the male form to refer to the psalmist, even though women speakers of Garifuna never use those forms to address anyone. The women contended that they could not as women read the Psalms meaningfully if God and the psalmist were always addressed as if the readers were men. The men, of course, turned the argument around, claiming that neither could they read the Psalms comfortably if the reader was assumed to be a woman.

“Initially there seemed to be no way out of this impasse. However a solution was found in the ongoing evolution of the language. There is a strong propensity for male speech and female speech to merge in favor of the latter, so the few remaining male forms are gradually dying out. Moreover, male children learn female speech from their mothers and only shift to the male speech forms when they reach adolescence to avoid sounding effeminate. However they use the female form buguya when addressing their parents throughout life. So the women wielded two arguments: First, the general development of the language favored the increasing use of the female forms. Secondly, the female forms are less strange to the men than the male forms are to the women, because the men habitually use them during early childhood and continue to use them to address their parents even in adulthood. Therefore, the female pronominal forms prevailed and were adopted throughout the book of Psalms, though the male forms remained the default forms in the rest of the translation.”

See also female second person singular pronoun in Psalms.

complete verse (Psalm 69:20)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 69:20:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “An insult has broken my heart
    and it has left me without any help;
    I sort for some to have mercy on me,
    but there was not even one to comfort me, I did not find even one.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “Scorn has burst my heart.
    Not a single one has come
    to give me encouragement and support.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “I was-hurt by their putting- me -to-shame
    and my feeling(s) got-hurt.
    I waited for mercy-to-be-shown-upon-(me), but no-one at-all had-shown-mercy to me.
    I waited for comfort/(someone)-to-cheer-(me)-up, but no-one at-all comforted me/cheered- me -up.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “Insult broke my heart
    and there not be a thing that I could do,
    I sought for pity,
    but also I did not find it,
    for people who would comfort me,
    but I did not find them.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Kutukanwa matusi,
    kumenimaliza nguvu.
    Nilitumaini kuhurumiwa,
    lakini hakuwapo hata mmoja wa kunihurumia.
    Nilitumaini kufarijiwa,
    lakini sikumkuta yeyote.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “Their insults have deeply offended me, and I feel helpless/am in despair.
    I searched for someone who would pity me, but there was no one.
    I wanted someone to encourage/comfort me, but there were none.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Psalm 69:19 - 69:21

In strong, bitter language, the psalmist describes his situation, which is well known to God. Words are used that have already appeared in this psalm: reproach (verses 7a, 10b); shame (verse 7b); dishonor (verse 6d); Insults (verse 9b). But God knows who all his enemies are; he keeps his eye on them (verse 19c; literally “are in front of you”).

The figure of a broken … heart has already been encountered in 51.17b; there it expresses contrition and repentance. Here, however, it means that the psalmist has been deeply offended and hurt by the insults his enemies hurl at him. Insults have broken my heart may have to be recast in translation so that two events are depicted. For example, “my enemies insulted me and my head is lowered” or “my enemies have said bad things about me and my heart sits heavy in me.”

I am in despair (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible) translates a word found nowhere else in the Old Testament; as used in the Masoretic text, it is of uncertain form and meaning. K-B suggests an adjective, “incurable, desperate.” Briggs takes it to be a form of the verb “to be in poor health” (used in 2 Sam 12.15). New Jerusalem Bible has a vivid translation, “Insult has broken my heart past cure.”

The word translated pity describes a shaking of the head from side to side as an expression of condolence, of fellow feeling; no human sympathy, no comfort, for the psalmist! I looked for pity in some languages can be rendered idiomatically; for example, “I wanted someone to show me their warm insides.” Comforters may be rendered as “people who can encourage me” or, idiomatically, “people who can cause my heart to be strong.”

It is impossible to decide whether verse 21 is meant literally or figuratively; it probably is the latter, for had the psalmist swallowed poison, he would hardly have survived. The word poison translates “bitter” (so “gall” in some translations, which is also the Greek word in the Septuagint that is used in Matt 27.34). If the sense of poison is not to be taken literally but figuratively, as suggested above, the translator should avoid using a word for poison which would mean certain death if eaten. It may be best to translate in such a way as to leave no doubt that the psalmist did not undergo a test by eating poison, as is used in some cultures to establish innocence. For example, “They gave me food that tasted as bad as poison” or “The food they gave me to eat tasted like bitter poison.” Food occurs only once more, in Lamentations 4.10; it is specifically the meal brought to a mourner by sympathetic friends. Vinegar represents a word whose meaning is probably closer to “cheap, sour wine” (as a drink) than to vinegar (as a condiment). But some take it to be vinegar as such, which the psalmist’s enemies poured into his drink to make him even thirstier. In languages where vinegar is unknown, it is often possible to say “a sour drink.”

The language of verse 21, as translated in the Septuagint, is reflected in the accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion: see Matthew 27.34, 48; Mark 15.36; Luke 23.36; John 19.29.

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 .