“Sheep are known throughout most of the world, even though, as in Central Africa, they are a far cry from the fleecy wool-producing animals of colder climates. Where such animals are known, even by seemingly strange names, e.g. ‘cotton deer’ (Yucateco) or ‘woolly goat’ (Inupiaq), such names should be used. In some instances, one may wish to borrow a name and use a classifier, e.g. ‘an animal called sheep’. In still other instances translators have used ‘animal which produces wool’, for though people are not acquainted with the animals they are familiar with wool.” (Source: Bratcher / Nida)
In Dëne Súline, it is usually translated as “an evil little caribou.” To avoid the negative connotation, a loan word from the neighboring South Slavey was used. (Source: NCEM, p. 70)
Note that the often-alleged Inuktitut translation of “sheep” with “seal” is an urban myth (source Nida 1947, p. 136).
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 translation both use the exclusive pronoun, excluding the Lord.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 44:11:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“You surrendered us that we should be destroyed as sheep
and you have scattered us among the people of other races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“You have abandoned us like sheep to become food for others,
and to be scattered hither and thither among the nations.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“You (sing.) let/allow us (excl.) die like sheep who were-slaughtered.
You (sing.) caused- us (excl.) to-be-scattered among the nations.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Eastern Bru:
“You have allowed us to become like sheep that others desire to have wanting to kill and eat. And you made it so that we are scattered in many places in every country.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
Laarim:
“You allowed us to be slaughtered like sheep
then you allowed us to scattered to the nations.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Umetuacha kuchinjwa kama vile kondoo,
umetutawanya katika makabila mengine.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“You have allowed us to become like sheep that were ready to be slaughtered;
you scattered us far away among other nations.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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 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, chiras-are-ru (散らされる) or “scatter” is used.
Verse 11 reports the killing of the Israelites in battle: they were slaughtered like sheep and the survivors were taken as prisoners of war to foreign countries. The psalmist continues to insist that God is responsible for these tragic defeats. The Good News Translation expression “foreign countries” can sometimes be translated “far away where the other tribes live.”
The expression sold thy people is a common figure of speech in the Old Testament. If in translation one must indicate to whom the people have been sold, the implication is “sold thy people as slaves to their enemies.”
In particularly bitter terms (verse 12) the psalmist says that God has sold his own people for a trifle, that is, for an insignificant amount. The second line of verse 12 can be taken to mean “you did not ask a large amount for them” (see Revised Standard Version) or “you made no profit from the sale” (Good News Translation footnote; see New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, New International Version, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Bible en français courant); the latter is probably the best way to translate this line. The verse accuses God of having little, if any, feeling for his people. As Oesterley comments, “Such irreverent sarcasm is without parallel in the psalms.”
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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