The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin that is translated as “justice” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that describes the quality or principle of fairness, righteousness, and impartiality in treating other people. A literal back-translation of the signs are “FOLLOW(God is implied) ACTIONS, DECISIONS JUST-RIGHT”. A more idiomatic back-translation would be: “actions and decisions are right/fitting/just in accordance to God’s will.” The movement in the signs itself helps to indicate that this is a noun, not a verb. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Justice” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
The Hebrew that is translated as “steadfast love,” “lovingkindness” (Goldingay 2018: “commitment”) or similar in English is translated in a number of ways:
Vidunda: “love of enduring” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Bura-Pabir: “love which cannot be-changed” (hyirkur na a palidzi wa)
HausaCommon Language Bible “his love without changing” (kaunarsa marar canjawa) (source for this and above: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Elhomwe: “love that does not finish” (echikondi yoohisintheya) (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Nyamwezi: chelu, combining “love,” “faithfulness,” “loyalty,” and “kindness” (source: James Lundeen)
Newari: dayāmāyā (दयामाया), a compound word made from two Sanskrit-derived terms: dayā (दया) or “compassion, mercy, kindness” and māyā (माया) or “love, affection” (source: Newari Back Translation)
In Pijintinghevi long or “think heavy about” is used. “The Pijin expression ‘think heavy about’ is very much within the domain of committed relationships. The relationship between father and child, husband and wife, God and His people. There is a very strong element of ‘loyalty’ in this expression.” (Source: Bob Carter)
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 Englishmercy originates from the Latinmerces, 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.”
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 101:1:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“I will sing of love and your righteous judgment;
to You Jehovah I will sing praises.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“I will sing a song of
Your unceasing faithful love and justice.
O LORD, I will praise You by singing songs.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“LORD, I will-sing about your (sing.) love and justice.
I will-sing praises to you (sing.).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“LORD, I will sing about your love
and that you judge matter in a right way,
I will sing to you praise.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Nitaimba habari za neema na unyofu wako,
ee BWANA, nitakusifu wewe.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“Yahweh, I will sing to you!
I will sing about your faithfully loving us (OR, my being loyal to you and acting justly/fairly toward people).” (Source: Translation for Translators)
It is uncertain whether loyalty and justice are meant to be God’s attributes or human qualities; in this context the latter seems preferable, and the king is talking about his own loyalty to Yahweh’s will for him, and the justice that he, the king, will practice. As a human quality, chesed (see 5.7) is better represented by loyalty (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New English Bible), or “faithful love” (New Jerusalem Bible), or “faithfulness” (New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), rather than “goodness” (Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), “kindness” (New American Bible), or “love” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Bible de Jérusalem). Dahood takes the words to refer to God: “Your love and justice will I sing.” If the translator takes loyalty and justice to refer to the king’s actions, it will be necessary in some languages to switch to clauses and say, for example, “I will sing about how I will be loyal to God and how I will treat people fairly.”
Two synonymous verbs for sing are used in verse 1; New Jerusalem Bible and Dahood translate “sing” and “chant.”
The king’s first promise is in verse 2a: the Hebrew verb has a variety of meanings; the idea of “to understand, consider, ponder” seems basic. Revised Standard VersionI will give heed to; New Jerusalem Bible “I will study the way of”; Bible en français courant “I will apply myself to understand.” Briggs prefers “I will behave myself wisely” (so King James Version), which McCullough rejects. Good News Translation has taken the verb to express a promise concerning the king’s own conduct; see Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “I want to live,” New English Bible “I will follow (a wise and blameless course),” New American Bible “I will persevere.” The complement of the verb is “in a perfect way” (New American Bible “the way of integrity”). The king promises to be blameless in his behavior.
Verse 2a in both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation is generic but may require more specific content in some languages, if it is to have any meaning. One may say, for example, “No one will be able to criticize the way I live” or “The way I live will not cause people to find fault with me.”
The question in verse 2 seems out of place, and some emend the Hebrew to get “Truth will abide with me” (so Weiser); New English Bible emends to get “whatever may befall me.” New Jerusalem Bible translates the Masoretic text “when shall I attain it?”; it does this by taking the verb as third feminine singular, referring to “way,” which is feminine, instead of second masculine singular “you” (the two forms in Hebrew are identical). But it is strange to speak of a way “coming” to someone. It seems better, with the vast majority of translations, to render “When will you come to me?”–an expression of the king’s desire to have an immediate and personal revelation of God’s power and guidance.
The king promises to “live a pure life” (so Good News Translation; literally “walk with a perfect heart”) in his house, which is, of course, the royal palace. His private conduct will be moral and pure. Integrity of heart is often translated by figures of speech; for example, “with one heart” or “with a straight liver.” Within my house focuses upon the king’s activity. The same expression in some languages may be too limiting and will have to be recast to say, for example, “where I rule the people” or “from the place where I govern the people.”
In verse 3a I will not set before my eyes means “I will not allow to appear in my presence.” Bible en français courant has “I refuse to become involved in (anything dishonest).” Base translates the phrase “a thing of Belial,” something worthless, or else something bad; the same phrase occurs in 41.8 (where Revised Standard Version translates “A deadly thing”). Good News Translation‘s “tolerate” is rather general in sense, and Revised Standard Version‘s set before my eyes suggests entirely a visual avoidance of evil. This may be recast in some languages to say, for example, “Where I am I will allow no evil.” In some languages it may not be possible to treat “evil” as a thing occupying space. One must switch, therefore, to “evil things” or, more commonly, to “evil people.”
In verse 3c those who fall away translates a word found only here in the Old Testament; the Septuagint translates “transgressions”; K-B labels the word “unknown,” but Holladay defines it as “deviation, transgression.” Dahood takes it to mean “(the making of) images”; New English Bible “disloyalty”; Briggs, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, and Bible en français courant take it to mean apostasy; New Jerusalem Bible “crooked dealing,” and New Jerusalem Bible “act crookedly.” Toombs explains it as a violation of the covenant. Good News Translation takes it to mean apostasy, “turn away from God”; equally Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “those who are not loyal to God.”
In verse 3d the verb phrase not cleave (see 22.15b) here means to avoid altogether, to get rid of. Bible en français courant has “I will have nothing in common with that,” and New English Bible “I will have none of it.” The reference may be to the people, “them” (Good News Translation, New American Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy), or to the evil itself, it (Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant, New Jerusalem Bible). A translator may feel free to choose.
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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