years (age)

In Aekyom, years are counted as “turtles” (ambum).

Norm Mundhenk tells this story:

“Recently I was checking some New Testament material in the Aekyom language of western Papua New Guinea. It seemed relatively clear until suddenly we came to a passage that started, ‘When Jesus had 12 turtles, …’ Surely I had misunderstood what they said.
“‘Did you say that Jesus had 12 turtles?’
“‘Let us explain! Around here there is a certain time every year when river turtles come up on the banks and lay their eggs. Because this is so regular, it can be used as a way of counting years. Someone’s age is said to be how many turtles that person has. So when we say that Jesus had 12 turtles, we mean that Jesus was 12 years old.’
“It was of course the familiar story of Jesus’ trip with his parents to Jerusalem. And certainly, as we all know, Jesus did indeed have 12 turtles at that time!”

In Tok Pisin, krismas (derived from “christmas”) is taken as the fixed annual marker, so Jesus had 12 “christmases” (Jisas i gat 12-pela krismas pinis) or Abram (in Gen. 12:4) had 75 (Abram i gat 75 krismas) (source: Norm Mundhenk). In Noongar it is biroka kadak or “summers had” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

See also advanced in years.

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Ps 90:10)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translations both use the exclusive pronoun, excluding the Lord.

complete verse (Psalm 90:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 90:10:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “The multiplicity of our days is 70,
    or 80 if we have strength;
    however all these years are of problems and anxiety,
    they end quickly and we fly far.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “We live for seventy years,
    if by strength it is possible, we might live for eighty years.
    But our time is spent in trouble and calamity
    because life comes quickly to an end
    and we fly away.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “The length of our (excl.) lives (is) 70 years, or 80 if we (excl.) (are) strong.
    But even our (excl.) best years (have) many troubles and difficulties.
    (It is) surely true that in not a-long-time our (excl.) lives will-end and we (excl.) will-be-gone.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “Our years are seventy (70),
    or eighty (80), if we are strong.
    But instead these years are full of suffering and sadness,
    because they will disappear soon, and we die.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Miaka ya uhai wetu iko 70,
    iwapo tuko na nguvu, inakuwa 80.
    Lakini katika maisha yetu tunapita katika shida na mateso,
    siku zinapita mara moja, sisi tunapotea.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “People live for only 70 years;
    but if they are strong, some of them live for 80 years.
    But even during good years we have much pain and troubles;
    our lives soon end, and we die.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Psalm 90:9 - 90:10

The psalmist now produces a contrast in time. In verse 4 he looked at time from God’s view, which moved from years to yesterday to a watch in the night. Now looking at mankind’s time the movement is in the opposite direction: our days … our years.

In verse 9 all our days and our years are parallel expressions, meaning “our lifetime, our life.” In verse 9a Revised Standard Version our days pass away under thy wrath misses the point that God’s wrath is the cause of our days ending. Furthermore, the verb is used with a poetic connotation that calls to mind the ending of a day. Good News Translation “cut short” misses that connotation. Bible en français courant translates “Under the effect of your anger our life wanes,” and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has “In truth, our whole life ends because of your anger.” In verse 9b come to an end is parallel with pass away in verse 9a; the form of the verb in Hebrew is “we end (our years)” (see Revised Standard Version footnote). It is not necessary to depart from the Masoretic text and follow the Syriac, as Revised Standard Version does, in order to make sense of the passage. New Jerusalem Bible translates the Masoretic text “we spend our years like a sigh.” The emphasis appears to be on the brevity of human life, so a better translation can be “our life goes by as quickly as a sigh.”

Even when a person lives out the full life span of seventy years–and, in exceptional cases, eighty years–all that person experiences is toil and trouble; life is over quickly and we fly away. Again, this is poetic language, and nothing is to be inferred from this passage as to what happens at death. Bible en français courant has “we fly toward death.”

Good News Translation‘s “… years is all we have” is idiomatic in English and will have to be recast in many languages to say something like “A person only lives seventy years, or if he is strong, he may live eighty years.”

Good News Translation “all they bring” in verse 10c translates what seems to be “and their pride.” The noun is variously defined by the lexicons: BDB has “pride”; K-B “eagerness, insistence”; Holladay “crowding, hurry.” One possible translation is “but at best they bring only”; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “yet pride in living so long (only brings illnesses and toil)”; New Jerusalem Bible “but the best of them” (with a note: “meaning of Heb uncertain”).

Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, An American Translation, and New Jerusalem Bible follow the Septuagint and other ancient versions in reading “their extent.” Anderson says the Revised Standard Version emendation is not needed; the meaning of the Masoretic text is “even the best years of our life … are characterized by toil and trouble.”9-10 Hebrew Old Testament Text Project suggests “and their turmoil (or, hurry)” (“B” decision).

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 .