complete verse (Psalm 78:48)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 78:48:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “He gave their cows to hailstones,
    their flocks to lightnings.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “He killed their cows and bulls
    by causing hail to fall,
    and He killed their sheep and goats
    by causing thunderbolts to strike.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “He killed their animals/livestock by-means-of ice rain also and by lightning.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “He allowed hailstones to beat their cattle,
    and the lightening struck also their animals.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Aliua ngʼombe wao na mvua ya mawe,
    mifugo yao na radi.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “He sent hail that killed their cattle
    and sent lightning that killed their sheep and cows.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("hand over")

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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, watas-are-ru (渡される) or “hand over” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )