Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 83:15:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“so chase them with stormy wind,
and terrify them with a storm.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“Chase them relentlessly with a storm and frightening wind,
making them tremble.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“Destroy them and cause-(them)-to-be-afraid of your (sing.) storm like fire [linker] burning trees on a mountain/hill.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“you chase them with very big wind,
and you give them to always tremble with a very big storm.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“uwafukuze na tufani,
uwatishe na upepo wako mkali.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“expel them by sending storms;
cause them to be terrified by your big storms/hurricanes!” (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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-kao (御顔) or “face (of God)” in the referenced verses.
There is some uncertainty over the precise meaning of the word translated whirling dust, which occurs only here and in Isaiah 17.13; New International Version and Revised Standard Version footnote have “tumbleweed”; New Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, “thistledown”; New American Bible “leaves.” King James Version “wheel” is wrong. For the translator the important thing is a natural figure employing some object readily blown away by the wind. See similar language in 1.4; 35.5.
And for the language of verses 14-15 see 21.9; 58.6-9. The two nouns in verse 15, tempest and hurricane, are synonymous; New Jerusalem Bible “tempest” and “whirlwind”; New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version “tempest” and “storm.” The verbs used in verse 14, consumes and sets … ablaze, mean to destroy completely. In verse 15 the psalmist goes on to ask God to get rid of his people’s enemies as fire and flames get rid of vegetation: pursue them and terrify them. Here pursue means more precisely “drive away” (New Jerusalem Bible; Good News Translation “cahse … away”). Terrify comes almost as an anticlimax, but that is what the psalmist wrote. Verses 14 and 15 may have to be restructured in some languages in order to maintain the connection between the two parts of the simile. For example, in some languages it may be necessary to join 14a with 15a and 14b with 15b: “Chase them away with your storm, like fire burning the forest. Terrify them with your fierce winds, like flames setting the hills on fire.”
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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