LORD God / Lord God

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated in English as “Lord God” or “Lord God” encountered an issue in Tok Pisin. Norm Mundhenk explains why (in The Bible Translator 1985, p. 442ff. ):

“I am not aware of any serious objections to either the word God [for “God”] or Bikpela [for YHWH] alone. However, when trying to translate the expression ‘the Lord God,’ the translators first tried to use Bikpela God. But Bikpela is also an adjective meaning ‘big’ and in the expression Bikpela God, it would usually be understood as “Big God,’ as though there were other smaller gods around also.

“In the Old Testament, as the recent articles have clearly pointed out, the English word ‘Lord‘ often stands for the Hebrew name of God, YHWH, which is usually spelled these days as Yahweh. With this in mind, the name Yawe was tried in Tok Pisin, but it was felt that most readers did not connect this strange name with God. Eventually, we decided to keep Bikpela, but to translate ‘Lord God’ as God, Bikpela, literally ‘God, the Lord.’

“The reason for this decision was really only that the words could be used naturally in this order, without the problem of giving a wrong meaning which we had when putting Bikpela first. It was not until some people asked if it was right to ‘turn around’ the name and the title in this way that we realized that there was really a deeper reason for doing what we did. In fact, for most speakers of Tok Pisin, God is the only God they know, and it seems likely that God is understood as the personal name of God, rather than as a class name. Bikpela, on the other hand, is a class name — there can be more than one Bikpela, though it is recognized that God is the greatest of them and there is no confusion when he is referred to simply as Bikpela. Thus, in Hebrew an expression like ‘YHWH, the God of Israel,’ has the personal name first, followed by the class name explaining who he is. And we have exactly the same situation in Tok Pisin when we say God, Bikpela bilong Isrel. I suspect that in many other languages which have borrowed the word ‘God,’ we might find that it has been borrowed basically as a personal name, rather than as a class name.”

complete verse (Ezekiel 20:49)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 20:49:

  • Kupsabiny: “But I said to (him/God), ‘God of power, these people are telling me, ‘Your words are only stories.’ ’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Then I said, ‘O Lord GOD, the people say that I am- only -speaking parables.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then I said, ‘Yahweh, my Lord, when I tell things like this to people, they do not believe me. They say about me, ‘He is only telling parables.’ ’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 20:49

Then I said …: This verse is Ezekiel’s response to God’s message. The response shows that Ezekiel was afraid the people would not understand or accept the message and would make fun of him. In fact, the meaning may have been obscure even to Ezekiel.

Ah Lord GOD!: For this frustrated interjection of Ezekiel, see 4.14.

They are saying of me: Apparently the people were “already” saying what follows (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant), or Ezekiel was afraid that they would say it when they hear it (so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). This clause may be rendered “People are saying about me” (similarly New Century Version).

Is he not a maker of allegories?: This rhetorical question refers to the “riddles” (Good News Translation, New Living Translation, New Jerusalem Bible), “parables” (New International Version, King James Version / New King James Version, New American Standard Bible, New English Bible, New American Bible), or “stories” (New Century Version) that Ezekiel told in his prophecies. For the Hebrew word rendered allegories, see the comments on 17.2. The rhetorical question has the effect of criticizing or making light of Ezekiel’s messages. If that is clear in the receptor language, then translators may retain the question by saying “Isn’t he making up riddles [or, stories]?” However, some languages will find it better to use a strong statement, such as “All he does is talk in riddles” or “He’s just making up stories.” Good News Translation uses indirect speech here, saying “Everyone is already complaining that I always speak in riddles.” By making this response to God, Ezekiel implies that the people will not listen to his message.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .