Aari: “the day our Savior comes” (in Rom 13:11) (source: Loren Bliese)
in Mairasi its is translated as “life fruit” or “life fruit all mashed out.” Lloyd Peckham explains: “In secret stories, not knowable to women nor children, there was a magical fruit of life. If referred to vaguely, without specifying the specific ‘fruit,’ it can be an expression for eternity.” And for “all masked out” he explains: “Bark cloth required pounding. It got longer and wider as it got pounded. Similarly, life gets pounded or mashed to lengthen it into infinity. Tubers also get mashed into the standard way of serving the staple food, like the fufu of Uganda, or like poi of Hawaii. It spreads out into infinity.” (See also eternity / forever)
In Lisu a poetic construct is used for this term. Arrington (2020, p. 58f.) explains: “A four-word couplet uses Lisu poetic forms to bridge the abstract concrete divide, an essential divide to cross if Christian theology is to be understood by those with oral thought patterns. Each couplet uses three concrete nouns or verbs to express an abstract term. An example of this is the word for salvation, a quite abstract term essential to understanding Christian theology. To coin this new word, the missionary translators used a four-word couplet: ℲO., CYU. W: CYU (person … save … person … save). In this particular case, the word for person was not the ordinary word (ʁ) but rather the combination of ℲO., and W: used in oral poetry. The word for ‘save’ also had to be coined; in this case, it was borrowed from Chinese [from jiù / 救]. These aspects of Lisu poetry, originally based on animism, likely would have been lost as Lisu society encountered communism and modernization. Yet they are now codified in the Lisu Bible as well as the hymnbook.”
In the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) it is translated with chipulumutso which is used to refer to an act of helping someone who is in problems but cannot help him/herself come out of the problems because of weakness. (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 89:27:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“I will put him to be my first born child;
very lifted amidst the kings of the earth.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“Again I will make him my eldest son, and leader of the kings of the earth.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“I will-consider him my first-born child, the most powerful of all the kings.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“I will make him to be my firstborn,
the king who is more than all kings.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Nitamfanya kuwa mwanangu wa kwanza,
atakuwa mkuu wa wafalme wote duniani.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“I will give him the rights/privileges that a man’s firstborn son has;
he will be the greatest king on the earth.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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 Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
Since David has not been mentioned since verse 20, it may be necessary to reintroduce him by name. David will acknowledge Yahweh as his Father and his God (see 2 Sam 7.14). The word Father here indicates a special relationship with God which the king enjoys by virtue of the fact that he has been anointed; God “adopts” him as his son (for a similar statement see 2.7 and comments). My God will sometimes have to be rendered as “the God whom I worship.” Good News Translation “my protector and savior” translates the Rock of my salvation (see 62.2 for comments on a similar expression); Traduction œcuménique de la Bible translates “the rock that saves me,” and Bible en français courant “the rock where I find salvation.” If the translator follows Good News Translation, “my protector and savior” may have to be shifted to say “the one who protects and saves me.”
In verse 27a the first-born is a title that distinguishes the one so named as having rank and privileges above all others. The oldest son received a greater share of his father’s property than any of the other sons and became the head of the family upon the father’s death. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translates “I will give him the rights of the oldest son.” The promise here is that David will be a king greater than all other kings. The major problem for the translator in connection with this verse is the ambiguity in make him the first-born. Since the meaning focuses upon the rights of this particular son, it will in most cases be best to follow the model of Biblia Dios Habla Hoy or to say, for example, “I will give him all the things the oldest son should receive.”
In line bhighest means “greatest, most powerful, most famous.” As God is the Most High (see 7.17), so David is also the “most high” king (the same Hebrew word ʿelyon).
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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