complete verse (Psalm 50:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 50:10:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “for every animal of the forest is mine
    and also the cows of the many mountains.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “All the animals of the forest
    and the animals on a thousand hills are mine.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “for all animals (are) mine:
    the animals in the forest,
    the cattle on a thousand hills/mountains,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “because all the animals of the bush are mine
    then I keep cattle in mountains which are thousands.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Wanyama wote wa porini wangu,
    na ngʼombe wa katika milima yote.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “because all the animals in the forest belong to me,
    and all the cattle on 1,000 hills also belong to me.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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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 choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on Psalm 50:10 - 50:11

In these verses God declares that he owns all animals, wild and domestic, and all birds. The Hebrew text of verse 10b is unusual, and the meaning may be “and thousands of cattle in the hills” (see New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible).

I know in verse 11a is used here in the sense of laying claim to; Anderson explains: “I have both knowledge of and mastery over.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “All the birds out there belong to me.”

Good News Translation “wild birds” in verse 11a translates the Masoretic text “birds of the hills” (see Revised Standard Version footnote; New Jerusalem Bible “every bird of the mountains”), which is an unusual phrase; the usual one is “birds of the air,” as in the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate. These two verses form a chiasmus in the Hebrew, and the poet undoubtedly used “of the mountains” to correspond to on a thousand hills in the previous line. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project also prefers the Masoretic text (“C” decision). The meaning, however, is the same, namely “wild birds.”

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 .