Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translations both use the inclusive pronoun, including everyone.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 103:14:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“for He knows how we were molded,
he remembers that we are dust.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“He knows how we are formed.
He knows we are only dust.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“For he knows how he created us (incl.).
He remembers that we (incl.) were-made from soil/sand.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“for he knows the way we are created,
he remembers us that we are only dust.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Kwa maana yeye anatujua jinsi tulivyoumbwa,
anakumbuka kuwa sisi ni mavumbi.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“He knows what our bodies are like;
he remembers that he created us from dirt, and so we quickly fail to do what pleases him.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).
Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.
In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.
While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”
In that system one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and one for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.
Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains in the following way: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”
In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)
Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”
In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )
In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)
The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.
Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In both languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).
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 choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
Here, tomete (留めて) or “put/keep” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
The psalmist uses two figures (verses 11-12), the distance that separates the heavens from the earth and the distance from the east to the west, in order to illustrate Yahweh’s great love for his people and his readiness to forgive them. For steadfast love see 5.7, and for those who fear him see 15.4.
In verse 11 the greatness of the distance of the sky from the earth is used as the basis for comparing the greatness of God’s love. In this case distance is compared with intensity. In some languages it will not be clear how two such different things can be said to be alike; in such languages it may be necessary to say something like “God loves those who honor him; he loves them so greatly, it is like the greatness with which the sky covers the earth.”
Verse 12 speaks of forgiveness in terms of Yahweh’s taking the people’s sins and placing them as far away as possible. The Hebrew uses the word “distance” as a noun and as a verb, as follows: “As is the distance from the east to the west, so he distances our sins from us” (see similar language in Micah 7.19). The meaning is that Yahweh frees his people from the power and consequences of their sins by granting them full pardon. As far as the east is from the west will have little or no meaning in some languages. It will be necessary in some cases to say, for example, “God removes our sins from us as far as the place where the sun rises is from the place where the sun sets.”
Yahweh’s mercy is compared to that of a kind father, who pities his children. The Hebrew verb means “show love, tenderness, kindness” (see 102.14b; 116.5b, “merciful”). The verb “to pity” has too great an element of sorrow in it and is not the best English equivalent of the Hebrew verb. New Jerusalem Bible is good: “As tenderly as a father treats his children, so Yahweh treats those who fear him” (see Biblia Dios Habla Hoy).
Yahweh’s attitude of love and kindness (verse 13) is based on his intimate knowledge of people (verse 14); he knows that they are weak and prone to failure, creatures made of dust (see the creation story, Gen 2.7; see also Psa 90.3). Good News Translation “what we are made of” translates the noun for our frame, which is related to the verb “to form” used in Genesis 2.7; so New Jerusalem Bible “He knows how we are formed”; New English Bible, New American Bible “he knows how we are made.” The expression that we are dust will often have to be recast to say, for example, “that we have been created from dust,” and a cross reference to Genesis 2.7 provided. The expression he remembers that should not be translated by a term which implies that he forgot and then recalled, but by a term that indicates knowing. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy says “he well knows that….”
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 .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.