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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.”

Other translations include:

  • San Blas Kuna: “help the heart”
  • Laka: “take by the hand” in the meaning of “rescue” or “deliver”
  • Huautla Mazatec: “lift out on behalf of”
  • Anuak: “have life because of”
  • Central Mazahua: “be healed in the heart”
  • Baoulé: “save one’s head”
  • Guerrero Amuzgo: “come out well”
  • Northwestern Dinka: “be helped as to his breath” (or “life”) (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida),
  • Matumbi: “rescue (from danger)” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
  • Noongar: barrang-ngandabat or “hold life” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • South Bolivian Quechua: “make to escape”
  • Highland Puebla Nahuatl: “cause people to come out with the aid of the hand” (source for this and one above: Nida 1947, p. 222)
  • Bariai: “retrieve one back” (source: Bariai Back Translation)

See also salvation and save (Japanese honorifics).

enemy / foe

The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin that is translated as “enemy” or “foe” in English is translated in the Hausa Common Language Bible as “friends of front,” i.e., the person standing opposite you in a battle. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

In North Alaskan Inupiatun it is translated with a term that implies that it’s not just someone who hates you, but one who wants to do you harm (Source: Robert Bascom), in Tarok as ukpa ìkum or “companion in war/fighting,” and in Ikwere as nye irno m or “person who hates me” (source for this and one above: Chuck and Karen Tessaro in this newsletter ).

complete verse (2 Samuel 22:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 22:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “I cried to God who deserves to be praised, oh my people,
    then, he rescued me from my enemies, oh my people.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “I pray to the LORD.
    He saves me from my enemies.
    I praise Him.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You are worthy-to-be-praised, LORD, for if I asked for help from you, you save me from my enemies.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I call out to you, Yahweh;
    you deserve to be praised,
    and you rescue me from my enemies.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 2 Samuel 22:4

This verse sums up the purpose of the entire psalm. The relation between the two parallel lines is that of consequence. David calls upon Yahweh, and as a result he is saved from my enemies. If the translator wishes to help the reader understand the function of the verse in the poem as a whole, it will be necessary to consider carefully how this can be done in terms of the receptor language. This may be done by putting the final line first; for example, “Praise the LORD! I call out, and so he saves me from my enemies.”

I call upon the LORD should not be rendered by a term that means to shout at someone. Also in many languages it is necessary to indicate the purpose of the calling; for example, “I call to the LORD for help” or “I call to the LORD, ‘Help me!’ ”

Who is worthy to be praised: these six words in English translate a single word in the Hebrew, which is the first word in the verse and is a passive participle of the verb “to praise.” Good News Translation translates it as “Praise the LORD!” and places it at the end of the verse. Its relation to what follows in the Hebrew is not quite clear, and changes in the text have been proposed. But New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, and others take it as Revised Standard Version has, who is worthy to be praised or “who should be praised,” which may be rendered “people [or, everybody] should praise him.” New American Bible has “ ‘Praised be the LORD,’ I exclaim.” Some commentators connect it with the preceding word (the last word in verse 3), “my stronghold, worthy of praise,” but this clearly is not the division found in the Masoretic Text.

Worthy to be praised must often be recast as an active construction, and in this context it may be necessary to shift the subject to the first person; for example, “I praise the LORD” or “I say the LORD is good.”

In translating the conjunction and, which joins the “calling” and the “saving” in this verse, translators should be careful to avoid the impression that the writer is speaking of two unconnected events. Revised English Bible uses the transition word “then.” Another way of showing the relationship more clearly is that of Bible en français courant, “as soon as I call on him [the LORD] for help, I am delivered from my enemies.”

I am saved: this verb is found frequently in Scripture and means “to rescue, save, deliver from illness, physical danger, enemies, or death”—anything that threatens the well-being or life of the person using the term. In translation it is often necessary to make explicit the condition from which the person is being rescued or saved. In this context it is clearly from my enemies. In those languages where the passive form is not possible or advisable, it will be reasonable to say “you save me from my enemies” or “he saves me from my enemies,” depending on whether second or third person pronouns are being used.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .