complete verse (Psalm 104:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 104:7:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “But on your rebuke the water fled,
    on the roaring of your thunder they were scattered;” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “When you rebuked, the water fled,
    and they rushed away
    when they heard Your shout of command.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “At your (sing.) rebuke that roars, the water divided.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “And when your voice shouted the water flowed away,
    when your thunder and lightening struck, the water flowed away.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Lakini wakati umeyakemea, yalikimbia,
    kwa neno lako la radi, yakapotea.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “But when you rebuked the water, the oceans receded;
    your voice spoke like thunder, and then the waters rushed away.” (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.

Translation commentary on Psalm 104:7 - 104:9

In verse 7 the primeval waters flee and rush away at Yahweh’s command; the two lines of the verse are synonymous. See in 76.6 another instance of Yahweh’s rebuke. In line b Good News Translation “your shout of command” translates a phrase that elsewhere means sound of thy thunder (see “thunder” in 77.18; 81.7).

Verse 8 is understood in different ways by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. Good News Translation, along with Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Bible en français courant, New International Version, New English Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy (Briggs, Oesterley, McCullough, Anderson, Dahood), takes “the waters” of verse 7 as the subject of the verbs in verse 8. New Jerusalem Bible does this by setting off verse 8a between dashes (“–mountains rising, valleys sinking–”) and connecting verse 8b directly to verse 7, with “the waters” of verse 6b as the subject of verse 8b, “(They rushed away) … to the place you established for them.” Revised Standard Version, however, follows An American Translation (see Kirkpatrick, Weiser). Good News Translation‘s interpretation is preferred, since this continues the description of water from verse 7 through verse 9.

In verse 9 Yahweh is pictured as confining the primeval waters to a closed space, so that never again would they cover the earth, as they did before creation (see Gen 1.6-9). Beginning with verse 7b, Good News Translation uses “they” and “them” six times to refer to “the waters.” In many languages it will be necessary to reintroduce the subject “waters.”

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 .