covenant

Click here to view graphically

The Hebrew, Greek, and Latin that are translated as “covenant” in English are translated in a variety of ways. Here are some (back-) translations:

  • Mossi: “helping promise”
  • Vai: “a thing-time-bind” (i.e. “an arrangement agreed upon for a period of time”)
  • Loma (Liberia): “agreement”
  • Northwestern Dinka: “agreement which is tied up” (i.e. “secure and binding”)
  • Chol: “a word which is left”
  • Huastec: “a broken-off word” (“based on the concept of ‘breaking off a word’ and leaving it with the person with whom an agreement has been reached”)
  • Tetelcingo Nahuatl: “a death command” (i.e. “a special term for testament”)
  • Piro: “a promised word”
  • Eastern Krahn: “a word between”
  • Yaka: “promise that brings together” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Nabak: alakŋaŋ or “tying the knot” (source: Fabian 2013, p. 156)
  • Kâte: ʒâʒâfic or “tie together” (source: Renck 1990, p. 108)
  • Nyamwezi: ilagano: “agreement, contract, covenant, promise” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Bariai: “true talk” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Q’anjob’al: “put mouths equal” (representing agreement) (source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. )
  • Manikion, Indonesian: “God’s promise” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • Natügu: nzesz’tikr drtwr: “oneness of mind” (source: Brenda Boerger in Beerle-Moor / Voinov, p. 164)
  • Tagalog: tipan: mutual promising on the part of two persons agreeing to do something (also has a romantic touch and denotes something secretive) (source: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
  • Tagbanwa: “initiated-agreement” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Guhu-Samane: “The concept [in Mark 14:24 and Matthew 16:28] is not easy, but the ritual freeing of a fruit and nut preserve does afford some reference. Thus, ‘As they were drinking he said to them, ‘On behalf of many this poro provision [poro is the traditional religion] of my blood is released.’ (…) God is here seen as the great benefactor and man the grateful recipient.” (Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. )
  • Chichewa: pangano. This word can also be translated as a contract, agreement, or a treaty between two parties. In Chewa culture, two people or groups enter into an agreement to help each other in times of need. When entering into an agreement, parties look at the mutual benefits which will be gained. The agreement terms are mostly kept as a secret between the parties and the witnesses involved. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Law (2013, p. 95) writes about how the Ancient Greek Septuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew berith was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments (click or tap here to read more):

“Right from the start we witness the influence of the Septuagint on the earliest expressions of the Christian faith. In the New Testament, Jesus speaks of his blood being a kaine diatheke, a ‘new covenant.’ The covenant is elucidated in Hebrews 8:8-12 and other texts, but it was preserved in the words of Jesus with this language in Luke 22:20 when at the Last Supper Jesus said, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Jesus’s blood was to provide the grounds for the ‘new covenant,’ in contrast to the old one his disciples knew from the Jewish scriptures (e.g., Jeremiah 31:31-34). Thus, the earliest Christians accepted the Jewish Scriptures as prophecies about Jesus and in time began to call the collection the ‘Old Testament’ and the writings about Jesus and early Christianity the ‘New Testament,’ since ‘testament’ was another word for ‘covenant.’ The covenant promises of God (berith in Hebrew) were translated in the Septuagint with the word diatheke. In classical Greek diatheke had meant ‘last will, testament,’ but in the Septuagint it is the chosen equivalent for God’s covenant with his people. The author of Hebrews plays on the double meaning, and when Luke records Jesus’ announcement at the Last Supper that his blood was instituting a ‘new covenant,’ or a ‘new testament,’ he is using the language in an explicit contrast with the old covenant, found in the Jewish scriptures. Soon, the writings that would eventually be chosen to make up the texts about the life and teachings of Jesus and the earliest expression of the Christian faith would be called the New Testament. This very distinction between the Old and New Testaments is based on the Septuagint’s language.”

See also establish (covenant) and covenant (book).

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Covenant in the Hebrew Bible .

complete verse (Psalm 50:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 50:5:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “Gather for me my faithful ones
    those who made a covenant with me by making a sacrifice.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “"Gather those
    who have made a covenant with me by offering sacrifices
    to assemble in my place."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “He says, ‘Gather to me my faithful people who made agreement with me by-means-of sacrifice/offering.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “He speaks and says that, ‘Collect my people who keep my word,
    people who ate with me covenant which was a thing of sacrifice.’” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Anasema, ‘Mnikusanyie ambao wananiogopa(wananicha) mimi,
    ambao walioahidiana na mimi agano,
    kwa sadaka ya kuchoma.’” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “He says, ‘Summon those who faithfully worship me,
    those who made an agreement with me by offering sacrifices to me.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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 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 50:5 - 50:6

“He says” (Good News Translation): the Hebrew text does not say to whom God is speaking. But it seems that the imperative Gather to me is addressed to the heavens and the earth, as messengers who are to bring God’s people to judgment (see Briggs); it is highly unlikely that angels are being addressed. My faithful ones: see comments on “godly” in 4.3; here the translation can be “those who are devoted (or, dedicated) to me.”

In Good News Translation Gather occurs as a command. If the translator follows this wording, it will often be necessary to express the one who is being commanded. Since it is not clear that anyone is being told to do the gathering, it will most often be easier to express line a as a request or command to the people themselves; for example, “God says, ‘I want my people to gather to me’ ” or “God says, ‘Let my people come to me.’ ”

The people are described as those who made a covenant with God by sacrifice. This could refer to the original ratification of the covenant (Exo 24.5-8) or to a ceremony in which the covenant was renewed, perhaps during the Festival of Shelters. In some languages covenant is rendered by such terms as “treaty,” “alliance,” or “compact” (see 25.10).

The heavens declare: perhaps this means the heavenly beings; more likely, as in verse 4, heaven is here personified. In some languages one cannot say that The heavens declare or “proclaim.” It is often possible to say, however, “the heavens show that God is righteous.”

The initial conjunction in verse 4b may mean “because” or for (Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible) instead of “that” (Good News Translation, An American Translation, Bible en français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). In some languages it will be necessary to shift from a noun phrase to a verb phrase in the expression God himself is judge; for example, “God himself is the one who judges people.”

For Selah see 3.2.

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 .