hope

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“Hope is sometimes one of the most difficult terms to translate in the entire Bible. It is not because people do not hope for things, but so often they speak of hoping as simply ‘waiting.’ In fact, even in Spanish, the word esperar means both ‘to wait’ and ‘to hope.’ However, in many instances the purely neutral term meaning ‘to wait’ may be modified in such a way that people will understand something more of its significance. For example, in Tepeuxila Cuicatec hope is called ‘wait-desire.’ Hope is thus a blend of two activities: waiting and desiring. This is substantially the type of expectancy of which hope consists.

In Yucateco the dependence of hope is described by the phrase ‘on what it hangs.’ ‘Our hope in God’ means that ‘we hang onto God.’ The object of hope is the support of one’s expectant waiting.

In Ngäbere the phrase “resting the mind” is used. This “implies waiting and confidence, and what is a better definition of hope than ‘confident waiting’.” (Source for this and above: Nida 1952, p. 20, 133)

In Mwera “hope” and “faith” are translated with the same word: ngulupai. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Other languages translate as follows:

  • Mairasi: “vision resting place” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Enlhet: “waitings of (our) innermost” (“innermost” or valhoc is a term that is frequently used in Enlhet to describe a large variety of emotions or states of mind — for other examples see here) (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )
  • Kwang: “one’s future is restored to one’s soul like a fresh, cool breeze on a hot day.” (Source: Mark Vanderkooi right here )
  • Noongar: koort-kwidiny or “heart waiting” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Anjam: “looking through the horizon” (source: Albert Hoffmann in his memoirs from 1948, quoted in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 7)
  • Ron: kintiɓwi or “put lip” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • Highland Totonac “wait with expectation” (to offset it from the every-day meaning of hope or wait — source: Hermann Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. ).
  • Alekano: “wait not hearing two ears” (meaning to “wait without being double-minded” — source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation June 1986, p. 36ff.)
  • Marathi aasha (आशा) with a stronger emphasis on desire
  • Tamil: nampikkai (நம்பிக்கை) with a stronger emphasis on expectation (source for this and above: J.S.M. Hooper in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 2ff. )

C.M. Doke looks at a number of Bantu languages and their respective translations of “hope” with slightly varying connotations (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 9ff. ):

  • Xhosa and Zulu: themba “hope, expect,” also “have faith in, rely upon”
  • Tswana: tsholofelo “hope, expect, look for confidently”
  • Southern Sotho: tshepo “trust, rely on, believe in, have confidence in”
  • Kuanyama: eteelelo “waiting for”
  • Swahili: tumaini “confidence, trust, expectation, hope” (as a verb: “hope, trust, expect, be confident, be truthful, rely on”
  • Luganda: okusuubira “hope, trust, expect” also “look forward to, rely upon, anticipate, reckon”
  • Chichewa: chiyembekezo “wait for, wait, expect”
  • Koongo: vuvu “hope, expectancy, expectation, anticipation”
Syntyche D. Dahou (in Christianity Today, January 2021 or see here the same article in French ) reports on the two different terms that are being used in French (click or tap here to see the details):

“Unlike English, which uses the word hope broadly, the French language uses two words that derive from the word espérer (to hope): espoir and espérance. Both can first refer to something hoped for. In this sense, the word espoir usually refers to an uncertain object; that is, someone who hopes for something in this way does not have the certainty that it will happen (“I hope the weather will be nice tomorrow”). On the other hand, espérance describes what, rightly or wrongly, is hoped for or expected with certainty. It often refers to a philosophical or eschatological object (‘I hope in the goodness of human beings’; ‘I hope for the return of Jesus Christ’).

“When we speak of espoir or espérance, we then have in mind different types of objects hoped for. This difference matters, because both terms also commonly refer to the state of mind that characterizes the hopeful. And this state of mind will be different precisely according to the object hoped for.

“Having espoir for an uncertain yet better future in these difficult times may be a good thing, but it is not enough. Such hope can be disappointed and easily fade away when our wishes and expectations (our hopes) do not materialize.

“The opposite is true with espérance, which is deeper than our desire and wish for an end to a crisis or a future without pain and suffering. To face the trials of life, we need peace and joy in our hearts that come from expecting certain happiness. This is what espérance is: a profound and stable disposition resulting from faith in the coming of what we expect. In this sense, it is similar in meaning to the English word hopefulness.

“If we have believed in the Son of the living God, we have such a hope. It rests on the infallible promises of our God, who knows the plans he has for us, his children—plans of peace and not misfortune, to give us a hope and a future (Jer. 29:11). By using the two meanings of the word, we can say that the espérance that the fulfillment of his promises represents (the object hoped for) fills us with espérance (the state of mind).”

Translation commentary on Wisdom 5:14

Verses 14-23 are the author’s reflection on the speech of the ungodly, paralleling 2.21-24.

Because the hope of the ungodly man is like chaff carried by the wind: The connector Because does not fit in this context. Contrast this verse with 2.22. The point of the verse is that the ungodly have no hope at all. This is illustrated by four comparisons, showing that the hope of the ungodly has no substance. Contemporary English Version conveys this better than the question form in Good News Translation with “Sinners have no more hope than….” Here their hope is compared to something carried off by the wind. The word translated chaff (the light husks on grain that have to be separated from the kernels) is better rendered “thistledown” (New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible) or “down” (New English Bible). This refers to the seeds of certain plants, such as the thistle or the dandelion, that are easily blown away by the wind or even light breezes. The Greek word can apply to any downy substance of such light weight that the slightest breeze can blow it away. Good News Translation “straw” is not really adequate, since straw is heavier and has more substance. An alternative model is “Sinners have no more hope than seeds carried by the wind.”

The Revised Standard Version footnote on chaff notes that some manuscripts have “dust” here. This is a textual matter, but from a purely translational point of view, “dust” could be substituted for “seeds” in the model above without damaging the sense. For translators in some regions it may prove easier.

And like a light hoarfrost driven away by a storm: Hoarfrost is frozen dew, but the connection with a storm is puzzling. Other manuscripts have “spider’s web” and others read “foam.” (The three Greek words involved resemble each other.) “Foam” makes the best sense here. It provides a description of the surface of a lake or the sea whipped up by strong winds, with foam from the waves blowing through the air. The Handbook suggests that translators follow Good News Translation and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible in reading “foam” (New Jerusalem Bible “fine spray”). Good News Translation provides a simple model for a textual footnote.

It is dispersed like smoke before the wind: This third comparison is clear enough. The translator’s problem in the first three lines is to sustain the comparison to the lack of hope for the ungodly. Good News Translation is effective in English. Another approach would be “Ungodly people have no stronger hope than that of seeds carried by the breeze, or ocean foam in a storm, or smoke in the wind.”

And it passes like the remembrance of a guest who stays but a day: Guest is probably a poor translation. It certainly makes a feeble comparison; sometimes it’s not hard at all to remember guests who stay only a day. The Greek word refers to “one who stays somewhere,” with “somewhere” not necessarily being anyone’s home. It is modified by an adjective meaning “one day.” What we have is a “one-day stayer,” a vagabond, someone who is constantly on the move and never stays more than one night in the same place. New American Bible is on the right track: “and like the passing memory of the nomad camping for a single day.” Translators might say “Their hope passes quickly by like a wanderer who never spends two nights in the same place,” or simply “Their hope lasts no longer than people remember some wanderer who passes by.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Wisdom of Solomon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2004. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.