9‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you, for your name is in this house, and cry to you in our distress, and you will hear and save.’
The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as a form of “save” in English is translated in Shipibo-Conibo with a phrase that means literally “make to live,” which combines the meaning of “to rescue” and “to deliver from danger,” but also the concept of “to heal” or “restore to health.”
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 translation both use the exclusive pronoun, excluding the Lord.
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 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.
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “save” in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-sukui (お救い), combining “save” (sukui) with the respectful prefix o-. In these cases, kudasaru (くださる) is also attached, a respectful form of a benefactive, emphasizing the respectful notion. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Chronicles 20:9:
Kupsabiny: “‘If/When calamity comes to us, spear, disease or famine, we come and stand in front of you in this house, because you are here. We shall cry to you there about/in our troubles, you shall hear us and save us.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “If any calamity comes to us, if the sword of judgment, or plague, or famine comes, we will stand before you, before this temple which has your name and we will pray to you. Hear our requests and deliver us.’” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘If there is a calamity that comes upon us like war, flood, plague, or famine, we will-stand in your presence before/[lit. in front of] this temple where you are-being-honored. We will-ask-help to you for help in our distress, and you will-listen to us and save (us).’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “’If we experience disasters, either from our enemies attacking us or from you punishing us, or if we experience a plague or a famine, we will stand in your presence in front of this temple that is built to honor you, and we will cry out to you when we are distressed/suffering, and you will hear us and will rescue us.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed. The first example is from a language where God is always addressed distinctly formal whereas the second is one where the opposite choice was made.
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight
Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or 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 Dutch and Western Frisian translations, however, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.
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 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-na (御名) or “name (of God)” in the referenced verses.
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 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-mae (御前) or “before (God)” in the referenced verses. In some cases in can also be used in reference to being before a king, such as in 1 Samuel 16:16.
If evil comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine: Evil is defined in the text itself as one of several possible calamities that might happen to the people of God: sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine. The word sword here is a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole; that is, sword stands for “war” (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version, God’s Word, Revised English Bible).
Revised Standard Version and most other modern versions follow the Masoretic Text in reading judgment. However, some scholars think the Hebrew text originally read “flood” (God’s Word, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). In Hebrew the difference between the consonants of the two words meaning “judgment” and “flood” is simply a reversal of the second and third consonants, that is, a case of metathesis. The word “flood” seems to fit the context of natural disasters better than judgment. But Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament supports the reading judgment and notes that there is no textual evidence to support the correction of the Hebrew text to read “flood.”
Revised Standard Version renders sword and judgment as separate calamities, but some versions take them together as “sword of/in judgment” (New International Version, An American Translation, Moffatt) or “punishing sword” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).
For pestilence and famine, see the comments on 2 Chr 6.28.
We will stand before this house, and before thee, for thy name is in this house: In Hebrew Yahweh’s name sometimes refers to Yahweh himself. To say that his name was in the Temple is the same as saying that he resided in the Temple (see the comments on 2 Chr 6.5). This whole part of the verse may be rendered “we will stand before this Temple where you are present.”
And cry to thee in our affliction may be rendered “and we will pray to you for help when we are in trouble” (similarly New Century Version).
And thou wilt hear and save: The verb hear implies a favorable hearing. For this whole clause New Living Translation says “and you will hear us and rescue us.”
This entire verse is an embedded quotation. It constitutes a declaration of what the people of God believed. In languages where direct quotations—and especially embedded quotations—are not acceptable, it may be rendered as indirect speech. Good News Translation provides one possible model for this, and so does Contemporary English Version by saying:
• They believed that whenever this land is struck by war or disease or famine, your people can pray to you at the temple, and you will hear their prayer and save them.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.