The Greek that is translated into English versions as “throne” is translated into Naro as ntcõó-q’oo: “he will rule.” The figure of the “throne” cannot be translated in the egalitarian Naro culture, so the idea had to be expressed more explicitly. (Source: Gerrit van Steenbergen)
In other languages it is translated as “stool/seat of the king” (Marathi), “seat of commanding/chieftainship” (Highland Totonac, Kituba), “seat of the Supreme one (lit. of-him-who-has-the umbrella)” (Toraja-Sa’dan — the umbrella being a well-known symbol of power in various parts of South and South-East Asia), “glorious place to sit” (Ekari) (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel), “where God sits and rules” (Estado de México Otomi), “where God reigns” (Central Mazahua) (source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2ff.), or “bed of kingship” (Kafa) (source: Loren Bliese).
In Elhomwe it is translated as “seat of the king,” unless it refers to the throne of God (such as in Matthew 19:28. Then the translation is the “seat of God.”) (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 93:2:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“Your kingship chair got established long ago;
You are eternal.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“O LORD, Your throne existed
from the very beginning.
You Yourself also existed
from the very beginning.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“You (sing.) (are) already a king from a-long-time-ago/before,
for you (sing.) (were) already there yet in-time-past/back-then.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“You stayed on your throne long time ago,
you stayed before all things were created.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Kiti chako cha enzi kiko vizuri kutoka zamani,
wewe uko milele na milele.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“You ruled as king a very long time ago;
you have always existed.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Following is a translation of Psalm 93 into song in Kom, by the Kom Psalms That Sing team. You can find the translation into English below the video.
1. The Lord is reigning in majesty He has power that is complete
The entire world is in his hands not shaking
2. Your rule/reign Lord is always there from the beginning
You have always been from the beginning
3. Waters/rivers are flowing Lord
Waters have become rough and are sweeping people along
Floods have come out and are causing landslide
4. But the voice of the Lord is stronger than waters
Stronger than the sound of many waters gathered together.
He is higher than all things and he is stronger than all troubles.
5. Your laws are perfect
They stand forever Lord
Lord your house is holy forever.
℗ 2025 Wycliffe Bible Translators South Africa NPC. Used with permission. Part of the Psalms that Sing project.
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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-za (御座), mi-kura (みくら) (Psalm 7:7), or mi-kurai (御位) (Psalm 113:5) in the referenced verses, all relating to the “throne (or: high seat) (of God)”.
Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed.
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Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or modern 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 the most recent Manchu translation of 1835 (a revision of an earlier edition from 1822), God is never addressed with a pronoun but with “father” (ama /ᠠᠮᠠ) instead. Chengcheng Liu (in this post on the Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology blog ) explains: “In Manchu tradition, as in Chinese etiquette, second-person pronouns could be considered disrespectful when speaking to superiors or spiritual beings. Manchu Shamanist prayers avoided si [‘you’] and sini [‘your’] for this very reason. To use them for God would be, in Lipovzoff’s [one of the two translators] words, ‘the most uncouth and indecent way to speak to the Almighty — as if He were a servant or slave.’ There was also a grammatical problem. In Manchu, si and sini could refer to both singular and plural subjects. For a faith that insisted on the singularity of God, this was potentially confusing. By contrast, repeating ama removed any ambiguity.”
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 rare (られ) 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, o-rare-ru (おられる) or “is/be present” is used.
The psalm begins with an acclamation of Yahweh as king. The first line of verse 1 in Good News Translation will be rendered in some languages in the form suggested for the heading. Only in verse 1 is God spoken of in the third person. Good News Translation retains the third person here. However, in many languages, for consistency it will be better to switch to second person. The verb is in the perfect tense, which some believe means here “has become king,” with reference to an enthronement ritual in which Yahweh was depicted as taking his place on his throne (see Taylor; Weiser has “is become King”). But translations uniformly have “is king” or reigns.
His royal robes are described as majesty and strength. Two verbs are used in Hebrew: “clothe oneself” and “gird oneself”; for the latter verb see 65.6; see also 18.32, 39. In most translations the metaphors is robed in majesty … is girded with strength will have to be changed into similes: “his divine majesty and strength are to him like the splendid robes worn by a king,” or “he is dressed like a king and is powerful,” or “he is strong and wears the robe of a chief.”
The statement about the world is a consequence of Yahweh’s power as king; at the time of creation he set it firmly in place, and so it shall never be moved (see 96.10a-b). There is no power, human or otherwise, which can threaten the LORD’s sovereignty over the world (see also 104.5-9). The passive construction of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation will have to be recast in many languages so that God is the agent; for example, “you have set the earth firmly in place and nothing can move it.”
In verse 2 throne is a figure for Yahweh’s kingly power; he has been king from of old, from a very long time ago, that is, from the time he created the world.
God’s eternal existence is stated in verse 2b. The Hebrew is simply “you (are) from all time (past)” (see 90.2); this can be stated “You have always existed.” Instead of the Masoretic text “you (are),” the Targum has “you (are) God”; so New English Bible, Bible en français courant. But it is not necessary to abandon the Masoretic text (so Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, instead of repeating established from of old, says “ever since then….” One may also translate “and since then you have been king.” The expression “existed before time began” may be rendered in some languages as “you were there before people began counting years.”
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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