Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 78:23:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“However He gave a rule to the clouds in the sky
and opened the doors of the heavenly worlds;” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“In spite of this He gave a command to the sky,
and the door of heaven opened.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“But in spite of that, he commanded heaven to open-up,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“And then, he really told the matter to heaven boldly,
and he opened the doors of heaven,” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Lakini BWANA aliyaagiza mawingu ya mbinguni,
yalifunguka kama vile mlango.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“But God spoke to the sky above them;
he commanded it to open like a door,” (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 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. ).
Exodus 16.13b-15 and Numbers 11.7-9 describe the sending of manna to the people in the wilderness.
In verse 23a instead of the skies above the meaning may be “the clouds above” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible; Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy have “the clouds”). The word above can be misunderstood to mean “above God,” so it may be well not to represent it formally in translation. The skies above refers to the sky above the people, not above God.
Only here (verse 23b) is there a reference to the doors of heaven; elsewhere “gate” or “windows” are spoken of. The passage says literally he … opened the doors of heaven; this is probably to be taken with line a to mean that God ordered the doors to be opened. Most translations, however, have two different actions in verse 23, an oral command in line a and the action of opening the doors in line b. The translator will have to determine to what extent it is possible to apply the figurative language opened the doors of heaven. Where such a metaphor creates misunderstanding, nonmetaphorical language will have to be used; for example, “he ordered the sky to open,” or with a simile, “he commanded the sky to open like a door.”
Part of verse 23, as translated by the Septuagint, is quoted in John 6.31.
In verse 24 Good News Translation has reversed the order of the two lines for greater ease of understanding. “Sending down” in verse 24b is literally he rained down (as in verse 27a). The Hebrew word for manna is man; in Exodus 16.15 the people ask: “What is it?” (man-hu)–and it appears that this is the origin of the name. Again the two lines of verse 24 should not appear to refer to two different things. Most translations transliterate the term manna, or adapt it in some other way, if the resultant transliteration may be confused with a word in the receptor language. It may be useful to provide an explanatory footnote for manna.
In verse 25a the Hebrew is Man ate, which may mean “they ate” (Good News Translation), or “each one ate” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), that is, everyone there ate. Or else it may emphasize that mere human beings ate the bread of the angels; so New Jerusalem Bible “mere mortals.”
The word translated angels is literally “strong ones”; most take the word to refer to heavenly beings (so the Septuagint translates “bread of angels”; and see in 103.20b where this same word is parallel with “angels” in verse 20a). Traduction œcuménique de la Bible has “the Strong Ones,” with a footnote explaining that this means the powers who unite to form the heavenly court; New Jerusalem Bible and New American Bible translate “the Mighty,” explaining in a footnote that they are angels. New Jerusalem Bible has “Each man ate a hero’s meal,” which is quite unlikely. If the translator follows Good News Translation or Revised Standard Versionbread of the angels, in many languages where bread is not used, the common local food should be substituted, or a generic term for food. Whether the translator translates angels or follows one of the other suggestions, the main concern will be to avoid giving the reader the impression that the people were given the food that the angels were intending to eat. This may be done by saying, for example, “they ate the same kind of food that the angels eat,” or if the translator follows the interpretation which contrasts mortals with angels, it may be possible to say, for example, “ordinary people ate the same kind of food that angels eat.”
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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