יַהֲרֹ֣ג בַּבָּרָ֣ד גַּפְנָ֑ם וְ֝שִׁקְמוֹתָ֗ם בַּֽחֲנָמַֽל׃
47He destroyed their vines with hail
and their sycamores with frost.
In Gbaya, the notion of complete destruction is emphasized in the referenced verses with the ideophone hú̧s-hú̧s.
Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)
In Gbaya, the notion of killed or dried up plants is emphasized with ngokoko, an ideophone that refers to something dry and stiff; suggests the color of dry leaves, as in a burned forest.
Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “sycamore” in English is translated in Chichewa as mkuyu or “fig tree.” (Source: Wendland 1987, p. 72)
The use of “sycomore” might be preferable to “sycamore,” since the “o” spelling preserves the Latin (sycomorus) and Greek (sukomorea) better and is used in French.
The Sycomore Fig Ficus sycomorus, also called the Mulberry Fig (compare German Maulbeerfeigenbaum), is a type of fig that is found especially in lowland areas in the Mediterranean region. It was known in Egypt as early as 3000 B.C. but also in the Indus Valley in India.
The prophet Amos identified himself as “a dresser of sycamore trees” (Amos 7:14). It is possible that this refers to the practice of making a cut in the immature fruit, which has the effect of accelerating the growth of the fruit. Hepper (Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Plants: Flowers and Trees, Fruits and Vegetables, Ecology. Baker Book House, 1992) reports that this sudden growth is caused by ethylene gas released when the fruit is cut.
The sycomore fig is not a tall tree (up to 10 meters [33 feet]) but has large low, spreading branches — just right for a short man to climb up in order to see over a crowd of taller people (see the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19:4). The fruit, while edible, is not as juicy or sweet as the more common variety. The most unusual thing about the fruit is that it grows in bunches right on the trunk and branches of the tree rather than among the leaves.
In 1 Kings 10:27 the sycomore is used as an image of something plentiful. The last half of this verse says “he [King Solomon] made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah.” Translators should take care with the logic here. The verse does not say that Solomon would introduce cedars into the lowlands (the Shephelah), but rather that just as there are plenty of sycomores in the lowlands, there will be plenty of cedars in the land of Israel.
Translators need to deal with both sycomore and fig at the same time. If the translation leans toward foreignization, the translator may want to transliterate both fig and sycomore (sikomori, for example). It may be useful to use the full name sycomore fig in some cases. If a local type of fig is known, the translator could use the local name for the domestic fig (Hebrew te’enah, Greek sukē), and add the word “wild” or “lowland” when referring to the sycomore fig (Hebrew shiqmah, Greek sukomorea).
Where figs are totally unknown, transliterations can be made from an international language, for example, French (sycomore), Spanish (sicomoro), or Hebrew (shiqmah). In contrast to the regular fig, the sycomore grows in the lower elevations (Shephelah), a fact that could potentially come into use in a translation (for example, “lowland fig”).
Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 78:47:
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. ).
See also first person pronoun referring to God.
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Gender of God .
在现代汉语中，第三人称单数代词的读音都是一样的（tā），但是写法并不一样，取决于性别以及是否有生命，即男性为“他”，女性为“她”，动物、植物和无生命事物为“它”（在香港和台湾的汉语使用，动物则为“牠”）。这些字的部首偏旁表明了性别（男人、女人、动物、无生命事物），而另一偏旁通常旁提示发音。
到1930年为止，基督教新教《圣经》经过整整一百年的翻译已经拥有了十几个译本，当时的一位圣经翻译者王元德新造了一个“神圣的”代词“祂”，偏旁“礻”表示神明。一般汉语读者会立即知道这字的发音是tā，而这个偏旁表示属灵的事物，因此他们明白这个字指出，三位一体的所有位格都没有性别之分，而单单是上帝。
然而，最重要的新教圣经译本（1919年的《和合本》）和天主教圣经译本（1968年的《思高圣经》）都没有采用“祂”；虽然如此，许多其他的圣经译本采用了这个字，另外还广泛出现在赞美诗和其他基督信仰的书刊中。（资料来源：Zetzsche）
《吕振中译本》的几个早期版本也使用“祂”来指称“上帝”；这个译本的《新约》于1946年译成，整部《圣经》于1970年完成。克拉默斯（Kramers）指出：“‘他’的这种新写法（即‘祂’）产生了一个小问题，就是在指称耶稣的时候，是否一律使用这个敬语代词？《吕振中译本》遵循的原则是，在称呼耶稣这个人的时候，用一般的‘他’，而在称呼耶稣神性的时候，特别是升天之后的耶稣，则用尊称‘祂’。”
Translator: Simon Wong
The Hebrew, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated in English typically as “vine” is translated in Lak as къюмайтӀутӀул мурхьра: “the (grape-) cluster tree.”
Vitaly Voinov tells this story: “Laks (who live in the mountainous regions of Dagestan) historically have had no experience with planting and tending vineyards. They buy grapes at the market or the store, but that’s about all they know of grape growing. Thus, in field testing, none of the readers could picture the primary image of this chapter. The translator’s initial attempt of rendering ‘vine’ as ‘grape stalk’ met with complete non-understanding. After much discussion of the problem and potential solutions, we settled on what one of the field testing respondents suggested to remedy the problem: ‘vine’ was rendered as ‘the (grape-)cluster tree’ (къюмайтӀутӀул мурхьра). Technically grapes of course don’t grow on trees, but something had to be put in the text, and it had to be said in a way that the average reader/hearer could understand it. The Lak team could have borrowed the Russian word for ‘vine’ (лоза), but since this is a very low-frequency word in the Russian language, it’s likely that many Laks wouldn’t know the Russian word either. So the team settled for a reduction of accuracy in order to achieve greater clarity. After all, the primary point of importance in this passage is not a horticultural analysis, but a metaphorical comparison to the spiritual world, to the relationship between the Father, His Son, and the followers of Jesus. This rendering allows readers to get to the core of this meaning without getting tangled up in unknown terms.”
In Elhomwe it is translated as “tree of grapes” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext), Akan (Fante dialect) and Ewe have “wine tree” (source: Anthony Badu in Journal of Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology 2021, p. 88ff. ).
The Common Grape Vine Vitis vinifera is mentioned more often than any other plant or tree in the Bible. Excavations in Greece have discovered grape seeds dating to 4500 B.C. Egyptian records document the existence of cultivated vines in Canaan as early as 2375 B.C., and subsequent records report trade in vine products around 1360 B.C. and many times thereafter.
The vine is a creeping plant that develops a woody stem when it matures. It grows along the ground until it finds a tree or other object to climb, using tendrils. It bears bunches of small round fruit that are sweet and juicy. Today farmers grow them commercially throughout the Mediterranean area, in South Africa, in North America, and in many other countries. The first reference to the vine in the Bible (Genesis 9:20) tells us that Noah planted a vineyard (Hebrew kerem) and that he made an alcoholic drink from the fruit. Farmers since then have improved on the size, color, and quality of the fruit by careful pruning and selection until now there are at least 65 kinds of grapevines. Like many other plants in temperate areas, the vine has leaves that appear in early spring. After the fruit is picked and the weather gets cold, the leaves drop off and the plant is bare until the following spring. A typical vineyard in Bible times was surrounded by a stone fence. It had a stone tower from which the owner could watch for predators, and a place to squeeze the juice out of the fruits.
The vine is the most frequently cited plant in the Bible, and that alone makes it special. Vines, grapes, raisins, and wine were a major element of Jewish life, so it is not a surprise that the vine and its products are used figuratively probably more than any other Bible plant. After the flood purified the earth at the time of Noah, the vine became the means by which the human race was plunged again into sin (Genesis 9:20). We know from Jacob’s blessing in Genesis 49:11f. and other passages that the vine was the symbol of blessing, prosperity, and happiness. The fact that there were groups like the Nazirites and Rechabites who abstained from drinking wine simply shows the radical self-denial that these people imposed on themselves. A drink offering of wine was an important part of worship (Exodus 29:40), and the image of contentment was “every man under his vine and under his fig tree” (Micah 4:4). Jotham includes the vine in his well-known Parable of the Trees (Judges 9:7ff.). In the New Testament, Jesus rescued a man from humiliation at a wedding party by miraculously providing a fresh supply of wine (John 2:1ff.). Wine becomes a major symbol in the Christian community when Jesus foreshadows his crucifixion by comparing the wine poured out in the Passover celebration to his blood (Matthew 26:27f. et al.). He speaks of the need for Christians to be like the branches of the vine, drawing their nourishment from him, the True Vine (John 15.:1ff.). Nearly every New Testament writer makes some metaphorical reference to the vine or its products.
There are around 65 kinds of grapevines (Vitis vinifera) found in the Northern Hemisphere. They belong to a larger family of creeping plants called Vitaceae, which has over 800 species throughout the world including many in the tropical and warm climates of the world.
Grapevines have occasionally been grown in West Africa (for example, in The Gambia and in northern Nigeria) but are not well known even where they are grown commercially. Attempts at substituting a local tree name have not been entirely successful because the species chosen is usually not cultivated and/or does not have the same economic or social function that the grape had in Israel.
Thus it is probably best to use a transliteration from a major language. However, in parts of Nigeria and perhaps elsewhere, the word grep refers to “grapefruit” and should be avoided in translation. A transliteration from “vine” or “wine” is preferred, although a translator needs to be careful. The English word “vine” refers to any creeping plant, but it also refers to a particular kind of vine that produces grapes (Vitis vinifera). This can be confusing. Furthermore, translators in English-speaking countries should think carefully about what they are going to do with the word “wine.” In The Gambia, Mandinka translators first used “wayini tree” but later concluded that it may be better to have a word for “vine” that is not necessarily identical with “wine.” Bine, from binekaro (“vinegar”), was considered, as was inabi (“grape”) from Arabic.
Languages that borrow the Arabic word inabi must deal with the fact that this word bears an unfortunate resemblance to annabi (“prophet”) and new readers reading “water of inabi” in a context of prophecy may associate it, for better or worse, with prophets and prophecy. In northern Nigeria church people have gotten used to inabi in the New Testament even though many of them don’t know what it is. Basa in Nigeria uses a wild grape-like plant (afwafwa), and Igala has used the same species (achiwebetema) for years. Likewise, two translations in Mali and Burkina Faso use their local name for a wild vine (Lannea microcarpa) for the biblical vine. There is a species (Rhoicissus tridentata) in southern and eastern Africa known as “African grape” (locally called “bobbejaantou”). In such cases translators should write a footnote (or glossary item) stating that the grapes of Bible times were larger and sweeter than the local variety, and that they were cultivated extensively as a source for producing beverages. Other possibilities for transliteration are: vinyola/videra (Portuguese), vitis (Latin), and inab (Arabic).
Fruit of the vine (Hebrew ‘enav; Greek botrus, staphulē): There is some evidence that botrus refers to a bunch of grapes, while staphulē refers to individual grapes. According to Louw and Nida (Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains, 1988), however, both words may refer to individual grapes as well as bunches of grapes. The Hebrew word tirosh is equivalent to the word “vintage” in English, that is, the grape harvest and possibly the first squeezing of the grapes. It is normally used along with the words referring to the olive harvest (yitshar) and grain harvest (dagan).
Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)
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 are (され) 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, horobos-are-ru (滅ぼされる) or “destroy” is used.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
In these verses the psalmist recalls the plagues in Egypt (Exo 7–12).
Verse 44, the first plague: water into blood (Exo 7.17-21; see Psa 105.29). Their rivers are the rivers of the Egyptians; and their rivers in line a and their streams in line b refer to the same bodies of water. Both Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version make line b a consequence of line a. However, the use of “and” in Good News Translation is also coordinate and therefore more ambiguous. Most languages will require making line b explicitly a consequence of line a; for example, “and because of this the Egyptians could not drink the water.”
Verse 45a, the fourth plague: flies (Exo 8.20-24; see Psa 105.31a). The Hebrew text is “they ate them up” (Revised Standard Version devoured), which is not to be taken literally. Bible en français courant has “sucked their blood.” Good News Translation “tormented them” may be a bit weak; perhaps “caused them great suffering” or something similar would be better. Again it is to be noticed that them refers to the Egyptians.
Verse 45b, the second plague: frogs (Exo 8.1-7; see Psa 105.30). The use of the verb destroyed does not mean that the frogs killed the Egyptians but that they “ruined their land” (the same Hebrew verb is used in Exo 8.24, “the land was ruined” by the flies); Bible en français courant has “laid waste to everything.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy handles this verse well: “He sent among them flies and frogs, which ate and destroyed everything.” In languages in which frogs, locusts, grapevines, and fig trees are unknown, local objects may have to be used or illustrations provided, particularly if the book of Exodus has not yet been translated.
Verse 46, the eighth plague: locusts (Exo 10.1-20; see Psa 105.34-35). The Hebrew text has two different words, which Revised Standard Version translates caterpillar and locust, but it is probable that the two are synonymous, both referring to locusts (Good News Translation, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy; see Fauna and Flora of the Bible, page jmp 53-54|fig:ffb_locust.htmjmp*). Their crops in line a is parallel with the fruit of their labor in line b, both referring to their cultivated fields, with all the plants and fruit trees they (the Egyptians) grew.
Verse 47, the seventh plague: hail and thunderstorms (Exo 9.18-26; see Psa 105.32-33). Frost in line b translates a word found only here in the Old Testament; the ancient versions so understood it, but the account in Exodus does not mention frost. The psalmist no doubt selected it as a suitable term to be in parallel position with hail. Some take the word to mean “deluge” (K-B, Holladay “devastating flood”; New English Bible “torrent of rains”; New International Version “sleet”; Bible en français courant “torrential rains”; Oesterley “hailstones”). “Fig trees” (also Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) represents the Hebrew word usually rendered sycamores (Revised Standard Version), which also produce figs, but here it probably refers to fig trees (see 105.33; Fauna and Flora of the Bible, pages jmp 118-119|fig:ffb_figtree.htmjmp*).
Verse 48: it is difficult to determine whether this verse continues from verse 47 as a reference to the seventh plague, or is a description of the fifth plague, pestilence (Exo 9.1-7). He gave over their cattle to the hail is a way of saying that God caused the hail to fall on the cattle (see similar language in verses 46a and 50c). The Masoretic text in line a has hail, the same word used in verse 47a; and in line b the word is reshep, which means “flames” (as in 76.3a), and so Good News Translation “lightning” (Revised Standard Version thunderbolts). The account in Exodus 9.22, 25 specifies that the hail destroyed not only the vegetation but also the animals, and so verse 48 may be the same plague as verse 47 (so Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Dahood, Weiser).
But two Hebrew manuscripts, instead of “hail” in verse 48a, have deber “pestilence” (the same word in verse 50c); and in line b of the Masoretic text the word reshep may mean “plague” (see Hab 3.5 where reshep in line b is parallel to deber “pestilence” in line a). So verse 48 may refer to the fifth plague (Exo 9.1-7; in Exo 9.3 the word is deber); so Briggs, Good News Translation footnote, New English Bible.
Their flocks in both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation refer to sheep. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy provides a good translation model here: “Their cows and their sheep died under the hail and the lightning.” Many languages will require an active voice, “He killed the cows and sheep with hail and lightning.”
Verses 49-51 describe the last plague, the worst one of all: the death of all the first-born sons of the Egyptians (Exo 11.1–12.30; see Psa 105.36). The Hebrew text is very full: “the heat of his anger, rage, and indignation, and distress”; Good News Translation has taken “distress” to be that of the people, as the result of God’s fury. But it is better to take the word as applying to God, and translate “trouble” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “anguish” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). The psalmist calls these passions God’s company of destroying angels; see New Jerusalem Bible “a detachment of destroying angels”; New Jerusalem Bible “a band of deadly messengers.” If the translator follows the restructuring of Good News Translation, it is possible that some translation problems will remain. The figure of “pouring out his anger and fierce rage” must often be recast to say, for example, “he struck them in his anger” or “because he was angry at them, he struck them. His anger was like a messenger bringing news of death” or “… like messengers who have come to kill people.”
In verse 50a the Hebrew text is “he prepared a way for his anger,” which New Jerusalem Bible translates “he gave free course to his anger.” God let loose his anger to go where it would. Line b is “he did not hold back the death of their nefesh” (see 3.2). And in line c the text is but gave their lives over to the plague. For the verb see also verses 48 and 62. The word plague in gave their lives over to the plague is sometimes rendered “a terrible disease that kills people.” Line c of verse 50 may then be rendered “but killed them by giving them a terrible disease.”
In verse 51 the two phrases all the first-born and the first issue of their strength (see also 105.36) refer to the oldest son of every Egyptian family. (Exo 12.29 adds also “the first-born of the cattle.”) It is better to shorten and combine the two, as Good News Translation, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch have done, than to have both phrases, as Revised Standard Version does.
Many languages designate the first-born child, whether son or daughter, by special terms.
In verse 51b the tents of Ham is a way of speaking about Egypt (see 105.23, 27; 106.22, where Egypt is called “the land of Ham”). Ham, one of the sons of Noah, was regarded as the ancestor of the Egyptians (see Gen 10.6).
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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