Japanese honorifics (Psalm 107:38)

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 rare (られ) is affixed on verbs 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, yabu-rare-ru (破られる) or “defeat/destroy” and shukufukus-are-ru (祝福される) or “bless” are used.

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

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God (“angry”)

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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, ika-rare-ru (怒られる) or “angry” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Psalm 60:1 - 60:2

The psalm begins with a bitter cry of complaint to God for having abandoned his people (see similar language in 44.9-12).

The verb translated broken our defenses is taken to mean to break through (enemy lines), to make a breach. So Bible en français courant translates “You have broken through our ranks,” and New Jerusalem Bible “you have made a breach in us.” But many translations, like Good News Translation, use less specific expressions: “broken us,” “displaced us.”

In verse 1b the verbal form translated restore us (Good News Translation “turn back to us”) may possibly be read as a statement, “you have turned away from us” (so, with variations, Briggs, Dahood, Weiser, An American Translation, New English Bible, Good News Translation footnote); Anderson is of the opinion that this is not very likely. It is better to translate as a petition.

God’s actions are compared to those resulting from an earthquake, in which the land (Israel, that is) trembles and splits open (verse 2a), and God is requested to repair the breaks, for which Good News Translation has “heal its wounds.” The country “is falling apart” (New Jerusalem Bible “collapsing”), literally “is shaking, tottering”–see the verb used of mountains in 46.3, where it is translated “tremble.” In verse 2b the verb translated “heal” (Good News Translation) is not in its normal form, but many take it to be a variant of the verb “to heal.” Revised Standard Version repair its breaches keeps the vivid metaphor of an earthquake; so New Jerusalem Bible “mend the rifts,” and New Jerusalem Bible “mend its fissures.” The translator must decide whether this will be appropriate and understandable in the receptor language. New English Bible, however, takes the verb in the sense it normally has of “sink down,” and translates “it gives way” (similarly Briggs, Dahood). In many languages it is not possible to speak of healing the wounds of the land. Therefore it may be necessary to say, for example, “make the land strong again,” “close the holes in the earth,” or “repair the ground that is cut open.”

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 .