wisdom

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is translated as “wisdom” in English is rendered in various ways:

  • Amganad Ifugao / Tabasco Chontal: “(big) mind”
  • Bulu / Yamba: “heart-thinking”
  • Tae’: “cleverness of heart” (source for this and all above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Palauan: “bright spirit (innermost)” (source: Bratcher / Hatton)
  • Ixcatlán Mazatec: “with your best/biggest thinking” (source: Robert Bascom)
  • Noongar: dwangka-boola, lit. “ear much” (source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018 — see also remember)
  • Kwere “to know how to live well” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Dobel: “their ear holes are long-lasting” (in Acts 6:3) (source: Jock Hughes)
  • Gbaya: iŋa-mgbara-mɔ or “knowing-about-things” (note that in comparison to that, “knowledge” is translated as iŋa-mɔ or “knowing things”) (source: Philip Noss in The Bible Translator 2001, p. 114ff. )
  • Chichewa: nzeru, meaning both “knowledge” and “wisdom” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Uma: “clearness” (source: Uma Back Translation)

See also wisdom (Proverbs) and knowledge.

complete verse (Psalm 49:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 49:3:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “My mouth will speak words of wisdom;
    the words from my heart will give wisdom.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “My mouth will speak wisdom,
    and my thoughts are full of insight.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “I will-speak with wisdom/knowledge and I will-think-(of things) that have value.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “My mouth will talk about the matter of wisdom,
    the word which I speak in my heart will give people understanding.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Maneno yangu yanakuwa ya hekima,
    mawazo yangu yanafundisha mema.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “because what I am thinking is very sensible, and what I say will enable you to become wise!” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Psalm 49:3 - 49:4

In verse 3 Good News Translation has reversed the two lines, since words are meant to follow thoughts. The psalmist promises to speak wisdom, and his “thoughts will be clear” (Good News Translation).

What the psalmist is writing about is not philosophical knowledge but practical, everyday wisdom. To speak wisdom must be rendered in some languages as “I will speak words that will make you wise.”

Meditation of my heart: the word translated meditation occurs only here in the Old Testament; the related verb “to meditate” is used in 1.2 (see comments there).

The word translated understanding carries the idea of skill; New Jerusalem Bible and Bible en français courant have “good sense”; New Jerusalem Bible “my speech is full of insight.” Another possible version is “understanding guides my thoughts.”

Verse 3 is a clear case of heightening movement from line a to line b, in which meditation of my heart steps up the thought from the physical mouth of line a. The intensification may be made explicit in English by rendering, for example, “I will not only speak words of wisdom, but what is more, my deepest thoughts will be clearly expressed.” Translators may prefer to follow the logical order of thoughts before words, as Good News Translation has done; however, this is not the concern of the psalmist.

In verse 4 proverb and riddle are parallel. The Hebrew word translated proverb is mashal (see Howard A. Hatton, The Bible Translator, vol. 27, no. 2, April 1976, pages 224-230). Proverbs are sometimes called “wise sayings” or “wisdom words of the ancestors.” One can also translate verse 4a “I will ponder what I must teach.”

The psalmist promises to explain the proverb, calling it my riddle. Revised Standard Version solve does not mean that he, the psalmist, is going to discover for himself, for the first time, the meaning of his proverb. Rather, he is going to explain it to his listeners. Anderson suggests “perplexing problem” as the meaning of the latter word here.

Only here in the Old Testament is instruction given to the accompaniment of music, although in places prophetic utterance was so delivered (see 1 Sam 10.5; 2 Kgs 3.15). To the music of the lyre may be rendered in some languages “as I play on the stringed instrument called harp” or simply “as I play on the stringed instrument.”

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 .