soul

The Hebrew, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “soul” in English is translated in Chol with a term that refers to the invisible aspects of human beings (source: Robert Bascom), in Yagaria with oune or “shadow, reflection” (source: Renck, p. 81), and in Elhomwe as “heart” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext).

The Mandarin Chinese línghún (靈魂 / 灵魂), literally “spirit-soul,” is often used for “soul” (along with xīn [心] or “heart”). This is a term that was adopted from Buddhist sources into early Catholic writings and later also by Protestant translators. (Source: Zetzsche 1996, p. 32, see also Clara Ho-yan Chan in this article )

In Chichewa, moyo means both “soul” and “life.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

See also heart, soul, mind.

Translation commentary on Sirach 14:9

A greedy man’s eye is not satisfied with a portion: Greedy describes a person who wants everything he can have, who always wants more than he has. Good News Translation combines this line with the preceding one into one sentence, which is possible. “Never satisfied with what he has” (Good News Translation) is okay, but it would be little sharper to say “never satisfied with just a part of anything” or “never satisfied with just his own share of something.” Compare 31.13.

And mean injustice withers the soul: Good News Translation (and New Jerusalem Bible) is translating a conjectural emendation. This is not necessary. The sense of this line in Greek can be adequately represented like this: “This is greedy, it is unjust, and it will dry up the soul.” Withers the soul (Good News Translation “will shrivel up a person’s soul”) is a powerful image. An equivalent image in English is “will suck the life out of a person.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Sirach. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.