Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 142:7:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“Bring me out of my prison
that I may praise your name.
And righteous people will surround me
because of your good (things) on me.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“Set me free from the place
where [I] have been imprisoned.
so that I may be able to praise You.
The righteous will gather all around me
for you have done good for me.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“Set- me -free from being-imprisoned
so-that I can-praise you (sing.).
Then the righteous ones will-gather about me
because you (sing.) (are) good to me.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“Free me from the cave were I hide,
so that I praise your names.
And the good people will gather to me,
because you are so very good to me.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Unitoe katika gereza,
ili nikushukuru,
ndipo wanyofu watakuja kunizunguka mimi,
kwa sababu unanitendea mema.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“Free/ Rescue me from my troubles/ difficulties
in order that I may thank you.
If you do that, when I am with godly/righteous people,
I will praise you for having been very good to me.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
The Greek, Hebrew, and Latin terms that are translated in English mostly as “righteous” as an adjective or personified noun or “righteousness” (also as “upright(ness)” and “just(ice)”) are most commonly expressed with concept of “straightness,” though this may be expressed in a number of ways. (Click or tap here to see the details)
Following is a list of (back-) translations of various languages:
Paasaal: “white heart” (source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
(San Mateo del Mar Huave: “completely good” (the translation does not imply sinless perfection)
Nuer: “way of right” (“there is a complex concept of “right” vs. ‘left’ in Nuer where ‘right’ indicates that which is masculine, strong, good, and moral, and ‘left’ denotes what is feminine, weak, and sinful (a strictly masculine viewpoint!) The ‘way of right’ is therefore righteousness, but of course women may also attain this way, for the opposition is more classificatory than descriptive.”) (This and all above from Bratcher / Nida except for Bilua: Carl Gross; Tiv: Rob Koops; Muna: René van den Berg)
Yatzachi Zapotec: “walk straight” (source for this and four previous: John Beekman in Notes on Translation November 1964, p. 1-22)
Makonde: “doing what God wants” (in a context of us doing) and “be good in God’s eyes” (in the context of being made righteous by God) (note that justify / justification is translated as “to be made good in the eyes of God.” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
Aari: The Pauline word for “righteous” is generally rendered by “makes one without sin” in the Aari, sometimes “before God” is added for clarity. (Source: Loren Bliese)
Ekari: maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (the same word that is also used for “truth“; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).
Guhu-Samane: pobi or “right” (also: “right (side),” “(legal) right,” “straightness,” “correction,” “south,” “possession,” “pertinence,” “kingdom,” “fame,” “information,” or “speech” — “According to [Guhu-Samane] thinking there is a common core of meaning among all these glosses. Even from an English point of view the first five can be seen to be closely related, simply because of their similarity in English. However, from that point the nuances of meaning are not so apparent. They relate in some such a fashion as this: As one faces the morning sun, south lies to the right hand (as north lies to the left); then at one’s right hand are his possessions and whatever pertains to him; thus, a rich man’s many possessions and scope of power and influence is his kingdom; so, the rich and other important people encounter fame; and all of this spreads as information and forms most of the framework of the people’s speech.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in Notes on Translation 1964, p. 11ff.)
German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): Gerechtheit, a neologism to differentiate it from the commonly-used Gerechtigkeit which can mean “righteousness” but is more often used in modern German as “fairness” (Berger / Nord especially use Gerechtheit in Letter to the Romans) or Gerechtestun, also a neologism, meaning “righteous deeds” (especially in Letter to the Ephesians)
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 Translator2002, 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.
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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-na (御名) or “name (of God)” in the referenced verses.
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, yokushite (良くして) or “be good” 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. )
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, yō ni shite (ようにして) or “do so (so that) / make it like” 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).”
As in the first strophe the psalmist again pleads for Yahweh’s protection and promises to praise him publicly if he answers his prayer. Verse 5a expresses the same thought as verse 1a. In verse 5b-c Good News Translation has not reproduced the form of the Hebrew text, in which the psalmist quotes himself (see Revised Standard Version). A translator should feel free to follow the form of the Hebrew, if that represents a natural way to quote or refer to one’s thoughts, ideas, or prayers. For the language of verse 5b, see 46.1 and comments; and for the language of verse 5c, see 16.5; 119.57. Instead of “you are all I want” as the translation of “portion, share,” the meaning can be “all I need” or “all I have” (New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). The phrase the land of the living means “in this life” (see 27.13; 52.5), as Good News Translation and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translate. Bible en français courant has “in this land where we live.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “you give me all I need in life” as a translation of verse 5c.
In verse 6b for I am brought very low, see 79.8c; 116.6b. New International Version has “I am in desperate need,” and New Jerusalem Bible “I am miserably weak.” For the language of verse 6c-d, see 18.17. Revised Standard Version connects verse 6c-d to verse 7 rather than to verse 6a-b. No other translation consulted does this.
In verse 7 the word translated prison (Revised Standard Version and most other translations) occurs elsewhere only in Isaiah 24.22; 42.7. It is probable that here the word is used figuratively of distress, troubles, difficulties. It is possible, however, that the word is used literally, and that the psalmist was a prisoner. Dahood takes it to mean Sheol, the world of the dead. If the translator follows Good News Translation‘s “distress” or prison, in some languages the request will be “untie me from the troubles that hold me” and “untie me from this house of iron,” or “… house of captives.” In verse 7a me translates “my nefesh” (see 3.2). For I may give thanks to thy name, see 5.11.
The verb translated surround is taken by some to mean “to place a wreath on, to crown” (so New English Bible “shall crown me with garlands”). Cohen takes the language to mean “because of me the righteous will crown themselves,” that is, will celebrate, will rejoice triumphantly. Good News Translation takes The righteous will surround me to mean “in the assembly of your people,” that is, in public worship in the Temple, where the psalmist will go to praise Yahweh for having answered his prayer for help. No other translation consulted is this specific; most are like Bible en français courant “in the circle of those who are faithful,” indicating an informal gathering of the psalmist’s friends. So a translation can read “May the righteous join with me in praise, because….” Good News Translation connects line c with line b (so Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). The language of the last line of verse 7 is similar to that in 13.6b; 116.7b.
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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