The Hebrew that is translated as “before you,” “to you” or similar in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) as pamaso panu, lit. “on your eyes.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 88:13:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“You Jehovah, I cry for help;
in the morning my prayers reach before you.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“O LORD I beg You for help,
and early in the morning I pray to You.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“Therefore, LORD, I ask-for help from you (sing.).
Every morning I pray to you (sing.).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“LORD, I call you so that you help me,
I pray to you always in the morning.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Lakini mimi nakuita, ee BWANA,
kila asubuhi naomba kwako.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“But as for me, Yahweh, I cry out to you to help me;
each morning I pray to you.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed. The first example is from a language where God is always addressed distinctly formal whereas the second is one where the opposite choice was made.
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Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.
As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.
In these verses, in which humans address God, the informal, familiar pronoun is used that communicates closeness.
Voinov notes that “in the Tuvan Bible, God is only addressed with the informal pronoun. No exceptions. An interesting thing about this is that I’ve heard new Tuvan believers praying with the formal form to God until they are corrected by other Christians who tell them that God is close to us so we should address him with the informal pronoun. As a result, the informal pronoun is the only one that is used in praying to God among the Tuvan church.”
In Gbaya, “a superior, whether father, uncle, or older brother, mother, aunt, or older sister, president, governor, or chief, is never addressed in the singular unless the speaker intends a deliberate insult. When addressing the superior face to face, the second person plural pronoun ɛ́nɛ́ or ‘you (pl.)’ is used, similar to the French usage of vous.
Accordingly, the translators of the current version of the Gbaya Bible chose to use the plural ɛ́nɛ́ to address God. There are a few exceptions. In Psalms 86:8, 97:9, and 138:1, God is addressed alongside other “gods,” and here the third person pronoun o is used to avoid confusion about who is being addressed. In several New Testament passages (Matthew 21:23, 26:68, 27:40, Mark 11:28, Luke 20:2, 23:37, as well as in Jesus’ interaction with Pilate and Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well) the less courteous form for Jesus is used to indicate ignorance of his position or mocking (source Philip Noss).
In Dutch and Western Frisian translations, however, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.
Once again the psalmist cries to the LORD for help. In the morning (that is, “every morning”) he prays to him–but in vain! See similar statements about morning prayer in 5.13; 55.17; 82.2.
For verse 14 see similar language in 10.1; 13.1; 22.1; 27.9; 44.23; 74.1. For cast me off see 43.2 and comment; and for hide thy face see 13.1 and comments. The psalmist feels completely rejected and abandoned by God; and the absence of any confession of sin in this psalm makes even more poignant the psalmist’s desperate situation. The questions in verse 14 are real; the psalmist would like to know why Yahweh is treating him like this.
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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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-mae (御前) or “before (God)” in the referenced verses. In some cases in can also be used in reference to being before a king, such as in 1 Samuel 16:16.
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