Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 76:2:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“His tent is in Salem,
his dwelling place in Zion.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“He lives in Salem.
His home is in Zion.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“He dwells on the Mountain of Zion in Jerusalem.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“His tent is in Salem,
and he stays in Zion.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Makao yake yako katika Salemu,
mji wake uko katika mlima Sayuni.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“His home is in Jerusalem;
he lives on Zion Hill.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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 the closely related 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 psalmist declares that both in Judah and in Israel (either the two as separate nations or else the two as encompassing the whole country) God is known and his name is great. The name of God stands here especially for his fame as the triumphant victor over Israel’s enemies (see 5.11). So the translation can be “he is famous” or “he is highly respected.” Translators may read verse 1 as two lines saying so nearly the same thing that they may wish to reduce the two to one. However, line b raises the impact of line a by being more specific, and this may be reflected in translation by saying, for example, “God is known in Judah, and in Israel his name is really great” or, in languages which must avoid the passive, “In Judah people know God, and in Israel they honor him.” Some languages will prefer a direct address form; for example, “The people of Judah know God and the people of Israel even say ‘God, you are great.’ ”
Salem is the older, pre-Israelite, name of Jerusalem (see Gen 14.18), or else is an abbreviation for the full name. The Hebrew reader would see the connection between Salem and shalom “peace.” For comments on Zion see 2.6. Revised Standard Versionhas been established translates the verb “to be”; the line in Hebrew is simply “and in Salem is his tent.” In line a the word translated abode is “tent, shelter” (as in the Festival of Shelters); and for dwelling place see “habitation” in 68.5.
Due to the near identity of both lines in verse 2, it may be best in some languages to reduce these to one line and say, for example, “His house is on Mount Zion in Jerusalem” or “He lives on Mount Zion in Jerusalem.” In some languages it will be necessary to qualify Jerusalem as “the city of Jerusalem.”
New English Bible, following Briggs, transposes the first word of verse 3, There (shamah), to the end of verse 2, and changes the vowels to make simah “he placed” and, by taking the two words “tent” and “dwelling place” in a military sense, translates “in Zion his battle quarters are set up” (a rendering which Anderson prefers). This is attractive but not necessary.
The flashing arrows in verse 3a translates “the flames of the bow.” This can be a reference to the swiftness of the arrows, or else it describes them as incendiary arrows (see Bible en français courant footnote). So a translation can say “the swift arrows” or “the deadly arrows.”
A translation should make clear, as Good News Translation does, that it was the weapons of the enemy that God broke; otherwise it may appear that God was destroying his own weapons.
Besides the two specific weapons, shield (see 3.3 and comment) and sword, another weapon appears to be indicated by the word which normally means “battle.” New Jerusalem Bible has “sword of war”; Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and others take it to indicate all other weapons used in war. For a similar statement see 46.9. For translation suggestions regarding bow, arrow, and shield, see 7.10, 12, 13.
For Selah see 3.2.
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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