mercy

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin terms that are typically translated as “mercy” (or “compassion” or “kindness”) in English are translated in various ways. Bratcher / Nida classify them in (1) those based on the quality of heart, or other psychological center, (2) those which introduce the concept of weeping or extreme sorrow, (3) those which involve willingness to look upon and recognize the condition of others, or (4) those which involve a variety of intense feelings.

While the English mercy originates from the Latin merces, originally “price paid,” Romance languages (Italian, Spanish, Corsican, Catalan, Friulian) and other Germanic languages (German, Swedish, Danish — Barmherzigkeit, barmhärtighet and barmhjertighed, respectively) tend to follow the Latin misericordia, lit. “misery-heart.”

Here are some other (back-) translations:

See also steadfast love.

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 (Nehemiah 9:28)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Nehemiah 9:28:

  • Kupsabiny: “But when everything was getting on well, they returned to evil and then you abandoned them to be defeated by their enemies. But when your people cried out to you again for help, you listened to them from above. You rescued them always out of your amazing mercy.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘But when their well-being/situation is now fine/good they again do wicked-thing before/in-front-of you (sing.). Then you (sing.) leave them under-the-hand of their enemies so-that they will-be-ruled-over. And when they will- again -ask help from you (sing.), you (sing.) listen to them there in heaven. And in your (sing.) compassion you (sing.) always save/redeem them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But when their hardship/suffering stopped, they again did what was evil in your (sing.) viewpoint. Therefore you (sing.) abandoned/let- them -alone for their enemies to defeat and they ruled-over them. When they again requested your (sing.) help, you (sing.) heard in heaven and you (sing.) saved them. Always like that is what was-happening.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “‘But after there was a time of peace again, our ancestors again did things that displeased you. So again you allowed their enemies to conquer them. But whenever they cried out to you again to help them, you heard them from heaven, and because you act mercifully, you rescued them many times.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

addressing God

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 Translator 2002, 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.

See also female second person singular pronoun in Psalms.

Honorary "are" construct denoting God (“save out of”)

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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, sukuidas-are-ru (救い出される) or “save out of” or “deliver” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Nehemiah 9:28

The cycle of events described in these verses is the same as that which is repeated throughout the book of Judges. That is, after a time of peace and success, the Israelites would forget God. They would be punished, then turn to God again, and be rescued, only to repeat the same cycle again.

But after they had rest: This verse begins with the Hebrew connective conjunction, which is a strong adversative But here. The temporal clause after But refers to the times of peace the Israelites enjoyed after deliverance by the judges. Bible en français courant renders it “But when they had been delivered from oppression.” New Jerusalem Bible translates “But once at peace again.” Another possible rendering is “But when peace returned” (similarly Good News Translation).

Did evil … before thee is to do what is displeasing to God and against God’s commands.

Thou didst abandon them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them: To punish the Israelites, God left them and allowed them to fall into the power of their enemies who then had power over them. Had dominion over them means that their enemies “ruled over them” (New International Version) and “oppressed them” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible).

For when they … cried to thee thou didst hear from heaven, see the previous verse.

Many times: This cycle of events occurred repeatedly or “time after time” (Good News Translation).

According to thy mercies: See verse 19 above. This is the third of the four times that this expression is used in this prayer. This is the one time that it occurs without the adjective “great,” but some translations add the adjective here to harmonize with the other occurrences (so Good News Translation, Nouvelle Bible Segond, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). It is preferable to translate only what is in the Hebrew text.

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .