Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 22:28:
Kupsabiny: “You deliver those who bring themselves down/humble themselves, but you pull down those who are proud.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “You save those who are humble, But You put down those who keep on boasting.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Yes, you save the humble, but you put-down the proud/haughty.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “You rescue those who are humble, but you watch those who are proud and humiliate them.” (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.
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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.
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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 on- (御 or み) can be used, as in on-me (御目) or “eye (of God)” in the referenced verses.
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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 Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) 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, hikukus-are-ru (低くされる) or “make them low” is used.
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 are (され) 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, sukuw-are-ru (救われる) or “save” is used.
While the parallel in Psa 18 has the Hebrew transition word rendered “For” in Revised Standard Version at the beginning of this verse, this seems unnecessary here, since no cause and effect relation between verses 27 and 28 seems indicated.
Deliver translates the verb translated “save” in 3.18, “gave victory” in 8.6, 14, and “help” in 10.11, 19; 14.4. The same term is used in verses 3 and 4 of this chapter.
A humble people: the word translated humble is elsewhere “poor” (Exo 22.25), “the afflicted” (Psa 9.12), and “the meek” (Psa 10.17). The Hebrew word refers to people who have been humbled by difficult circumstances, who have been taken advantage of.
The parallel in Psa 18 here reads “haughty eyes thou dost bring down,” and this reading from Psa 18 has been assimilated into this verse in 2 Samuel in the Septuagint and the ancient Syriac. This is the basis for the New Jerusalem Bible translation, “You … humiliate those with haughty looks.” But according to the Masoretic Text, here in 2 Samuel the wording is different. In this case the “eyes” are those of Yahweh, and the haughty refers to proud people who are contrasted with humble people in the previous line. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives an {A} rating to the Masoretic Text.
The verb bring … down translates the causative form of a verb meaning “to be low.” It means “to humiliate, shame, defeat” (in contrast with deliver in line a). The act of “bringing down” or “lowering” the haughty (or “high”) is a play on words involving the idea of downward movement. In some languages this same wordplay can be maintained. For example, “but you lower the heads of those who carry them high” or “but you bend people down who put their noses up.”
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 .
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