The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is usually translated into English as “peace,” when referring to one’s inner peace, is (back-) translated with a variety of idioms and phrases:
“rest the heart” (Central Mazahua) / “rest within” (Lacandon) (source: Nida 1952, p. 40 and 128ff.) / “wait well in your heart” (Yatzachi Zapotec) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
The Hebrew and the Greek that is usually directly translated as “kiss” in English is translated more indirectly in other languages because kissing is deemed as inappropriate, is not a custom at all, or is not customary in the particular context (see the English translation of J.B. Phillips [publ. 1960] in Romans 16:16: “Give each other a hearty handshake”). Here are some examples:
Pökoot: “greet warmly” (“kissing in public, certainly between men, is absolutely unacceptable in Pökoot.”) (Source: Gerrit van Steenbergen)
Pitjantjatjara: “when you meet/join up with others of Jesus’ relatives hug and kiss them [footnote], for you are each a relative of the other through Jesus.” Footnote: “This was their custom in that place to hug and kiss one another in happiness. Maybe when we see another relative of Jesus we shake hands and rejoice.” (esp. Rom. 16:16) (source for this and two above: Carl Gross)
Kamba: “greet with the greeting of love” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Mende: “embrace” (“greet one another with the kiss of love”: “greet one another and embrace one another to show that you love one another”) (source for this and two above: Rob Koops)
Gen: “embrace affectionately” (source: John Ellington)
Kachin: “holy and pure customary greetings” (source: Gam Seng Shae)
Kahua: “smell” (source: David Clark) (also in Ekari and Kekchí, source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Chichewa: “suck” (“habit and term a novelty amongst the young and more or less westernized people, the traditional term for greeting a friend after a long absence being, ‘clap in the hands and laugh happily'”)
Medumba: “suck the cheek” (“a novelty, the traditional term being ‘to embrace.'”)
Elhomwe: “show respect by hugging” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Balinese: “caress” (source for this and three above: Reiling / Swellengrebel; Vidunda: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Tsafiki: earlier version: “greet in a friendly way,” later revision: “kiss on the face” (Bruce Moore [in: Notes on Translation 1/1992, p. 1ff.] explains: “Formerly, kissing had presented a problem. Because of the Tsáchilas’ [speakers of Tsafiki] limited exposure to Hispanic culture they understood the kiss only in the eros context. Accordingly, the original translation had rendered ‘kiss’ in a greeting sense as ‘greet in a friendly way’. The actual word ‘kiss’ was not used. Today ‘kiss’ is still an awkward term, but the team’s judgment was that it could be used as long as long as it was qualified. So ‘kiss’ (in greeting) is now ‘kiss on the face’ (that is, not on the lips).)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated as heiliger Kuss or “holy kiss” in the epistles. The translators note (p. 62): “It is possible that this is an early practice in which Christians communicate the Holy Spirit to one another or rekindle it.”
The Hebrew that is translated as “steadfast love,” “lovingkindness” (Goldingay 2018: “commitment”) or similar in English is translated in a number of ways:
Vidunda: “love of enduring” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Bura-Pabir: “love which cannot be-changed” (hyirkur na a palidzi wa)
HausaCommon Language Bible “his love without changing” (kaunarsa marar canjawa) (source for this and above: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Elhomwe: “love that does not finish” (echikondi yoohisintheya) (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Nyamwezi: chelu, combining “love,” “faithfulness,” “loyalty,” and “kindness” (source: James Lundeen)
Newari: dayāmāyā (दयामाया), a compound word made from two Sanskrit-derived terms: dayā (दया) or “compassion, mercy, kindness” and māyā (माया) or “love, affection” (source: Newari Back Translation)
In Pijintinghevi long or “think heavy about” is used. “The Pijin expression ‘think heavy about’ is very much within the domain of committed relationships. The relationship between father and child, husband and wife, God and His people. There is a very strong element of ‘loyalty’ in this expression.” (Source: Bob Carter)
In Latvian the term žēlastība is used both for “steadfast love” and grace.
In a number of languages, the terms for for “steadfast love” and mercy are used interchangeably.
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin terms that are typically translated as “mercy” (or “compassion” or “kindness”) in English are translated in various ways. Bratcher / Nida classify them in (1) those based on the quality of heart, or other psychological center, (2) those which introduce the concept of weeping or extreme sorrow, (3) those which involve willingness to look upon and recognize the condition of others, or (4) those which involve a variety of intense feelings.
While the Englishmercy originates from the Latinmerces, originally “price paid,” Romance languages (Italian, Spanish, Corsican, Catalan, Friulian) and other Germanic languages (German, Swedish, Danish — Barmherzigkeit, barmhärtighet and barmhjertighed, respectively) tend to follow the Latin misericordia, lit. “misery-heart.”
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 85:10:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“Love and faithfulness meet together;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“Unceasing mercy and faith
have met one another,
righteousness and peace
have kissed each other.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“Love and faithfulness go-together,
and also righteousness and peace.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“Love and faithfulness meet together,
kindness and peace hugged each other alone.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Neema na ukweli vitakutana,
unyofu na amani vitaungana.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“When that happens, he will both faithfully love us and faithfully do for us what he promised to do;
and we will act/behave righteously, and he will give us peace,
which will be like a kiss that he gives us.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Translations vary in their understanding of the verbs in verses 10-13; some have the future tense (Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Good News Translation, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Weiser, Dahood); New English Bible has the perfect tense in verse 10, the present tense in verse 11, and the future tense in verses 12-13; New Jerusalem Bible, Bible en français courant, New Jerusalem Bible have the present tense for all four verses; Traduction œcuménique de la Bible has the perfect tense in verse 10 and the present tense in verses 11-13. There is no way of proving which is right, but in the context it seems more reasonable to suppose that the psalmist (or whoever is the speaker in verses 8-13) is announcing what will happen in the future, as God answers his people’s prayers (so McCullough and others).
In poetic language the psalmist speaks of Steadfast love and faithfulness (see the same pairing in 25.10; 40.10, 11; 57.3; 61.7); he then speaks of God’s righteousness and peace. These may be taken to be attributes of God, not of human beings, which are spoken of as God’s representatives, or messengers. They meet and greet each other with a kiss as they prepare to go and bless God’s people. In languages in which abstract qualities can be quite readily personified, it is fairly simple to represent the Hebrew text as New Jerusalem Bible has done: “Faithful Love and Loyalty join together, Saving Justice and Peace embrace.” A footnote explains: “Personified attributes of God; these will inaugurate the kingdom of God on earth and in human hearts.” For the average English-speaking reader this is a satisfactory translation.
Others, however, see in verse 10 the divine initiative and the human response (as in verse 11); God’s Steadfast love is met by his people’s faithfulness, and human righteousness is rewarded by God’s peace (a chiastic arrangement). This seems to be the best way to read the verse. God’s Steadfast love is the way in which God maintains the promise he made when he established his covenant with the people of Israel, the promise always to be their God and to bless them, if they faithfully obeyed his laws. Line a, then, speaks of God and the people of Israel keeping their terms of the covenant. And in line b, God’s righteousness represents God’s way of making right and justice prevail among his people; when this happens, the people know peace, that is, the full blessings of a community in which God’s will prevails. These abstract qualities, both human and divine, refer to God’s deeds in blessing his people and making right prevail, and the people’s response in keeping God’s laws and so enjoying peace (see 29.11).
The translation problem in verses 10-11 concerns the personification of abstracts where such qualities as love and faithfulness perform human events. In languages in which abstracts are not allowed this kind of poetic privilege, it is often possible, even if a bit awkward, to shift to a simile; for example, “like two people meet each other, God’s love and faithfulness will meet each other” or “God sends his messengers of love and faithfulness to meet each other.” Verse 10b may be expressed in a parallel manner. In those languages in which these abstracts are not spoken of as nouns but rather as events, the restructuring must be more radical. Some interpreters see “faithfulness” as Israel’s relation to God, and “righteousness” as Israel’s keeping of the law, and “peace” as God’s reward to Israel. This view lends itself more easily to translation where noun phrases are not possible. For example, in such languages it may be possible to say “God who loves Israel and Israel who is faithful to God will meet. Israel who is loyal to God will have the peace which God gives like a kiss.”
In verse 10b the verb may be understood as “embrace” (Good News Translation, Jerusalem Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) or kiss (Revised Standard Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy); New English Bible has “join hands.”
In verse 11, by use of from the ground and from the sky, it is quite clear that it is the people’s faithfulness (or, “loyalty”) which responds to God’s righteousness. Verse 11 must be restructured in some languages somewhat in the manner of verse 10. Here, however, it is possible to shift the focus to “man” and “God” as in Good News Translation, with a further adjustment in which the subject switches to “man” and “God,” who are characterized as “loyal” and “faithful”; for example, “Israel, who is loyal to God, will reach up from the earth and God, who is faithful to Israel, will look down from heaven.”
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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