Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 8:4:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“who is a human that you remember him,
and child of a human that you chat with him?” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“What is man that You should care about him?
What is man that You should remember him?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“I ask what really (is) a person/human that you (sing.) ponder/[lit. really remember/think-about] (him/her).
He (is) just a person/human, why (are) you (sing.) so- really -concerns-about?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Eastern Bru:
“what do you see that is good in very small human beings that you remember them? And why do you value humans?” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
Laarim:
“what is a person that you now care for him,
or what are people that you care about them?” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“basi najiuliza kuwa, ‘Mtu ni kitu gani ambapo unamjali?
Mtoto wa mtu ni kitu gani ambapo unamhurumia?’” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“it is amazing to me that you think about people,
that you are concerned about us humans!” (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.
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight
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.
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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, kaerimite (顧みて) or “think/care” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”
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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) 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, todome-rare-ru (留められる) or “keep” is used.
The reflection on God’s sovereign greatness leads the psalmist to wonderment at God’s concern for human beings, who are so insignificant in comparison with God’s awesome works of creation. The translation of look at thy heavens should not imply the mere act of seeing but rather should suggest contemplation. It is therefore sometimes necessary to say “when I look at and think about….” God made the heavens with his own hands (the work of thy fingers; see also 102.25). The plural heavens may reflect the idea of several levels of heaven (three or seven) in the Hebrew concept of the universe, or else it is a way of saying “the vast heaven.”
Languages indicate space above the earth in very different ways. Some simply refer to everything as “up,” while others make such distinctions as (1) the area of clouds and (2) the area where the moon and stars are. In addition, many languages use figurative expressions to indicate the realm where God is said to be; for example, “God’s town,” “God’s house,” or “the high home.” Here the term for sky should be the area where the moon and stars are thought to exist.
As commentators point out, the psalmist is looking up at the sky at night, since he mentions the moon and the stars but not the sun. Of them he says “you set (them) in their places” (Good News Translation). The verb established means here to put firmly in place, reflecting the thought of that time that the moon and the stars were set in the solid vault of heaven. It should be noted that Good News Translation “you set” is to be understood as a past tense; it would be better to have “you have set.”
Verse 3 contains four dependent clauses, and all four serve as an introduction to the double rhetorical question of verse 4. Moreover, this arrangement is made complex by the fact that there is an implied cause in verse 3 relating it to verse 4. By observing creation the psalmist is led to ask the question in verse 4. Furthermore, the psalmist is contrasting the smallness of man with the greatness of the heavens. The translator must determine:
(1) whether it is possible or natural for the clauses in verse 3 to give rise to the question in verse 4;
(2) whether or not verse 3 can remain as four dependent clauses or must be restructured;
(3) whether or not a rhetorical question requires an explicit reply; and
(4) whether or not the contrastive picture between man in verse 4 and the heavenly bodies in verse 3 is sufficiently clear.
In some languages it will be necessary in (1) to introduce the question; for example, “When I look at the sky which you have made, at the moon and the stars which you have set in their places, I ask this question:….” Regarding (2), for languages which will not permit series of dependent clauses to precede a question, these clauses may be recast as statements; for example, “I look at the sky you have made; I look at the moon and the stars which you set in their places. Therefore I ask, what are people…?” In respect to (3), if the receptor language requires a reply, one may say “What are people, that you think of them? They are nothing.” Concerning (4), in some languages it may be necessary to make the contrast between the smallness of people and the greatness of heavenly bodies more explicit; for example, “What are mere people that you think of them?” Alternatively, one may speak of the “vast heavens” and the “great moon and stars” in order to highlight the contrast with man; for example, “What are people–so small as they are–that you care for them?”
The rhetorical question in verse 4 eloquently expresses the psalmist’s wonder at God’s care for humankind. The two lines are exactly parallel, both making the same point in different ways. Both man and the son of man mean “humankind” or “a human being.” It should be emphasized that the Hebrew phrase translated son of man means “human being,” with emphasis on the creature’s frailty and mortality, as one made of the dust of the earth. In languages where the use of male-oriented language is considered undesirable, it is important to avoid saying man, if at all possible. So Bible en français courant “The human being … a mere individual.” In some languages man in the generic sense is rendered by the use of the plural. The son of man may need to be rendered with a qualifier to indicate “mere humanity”; for example, “a plain human being,” “simply people,” or “nothing more than people.” The line is repeated in 144.3; in Job 7.17 it is used ironically.
The verb art mindful is literally “remember” in the sense of being concerned about, and in some languages is rendered idiomatically as “to have a warm heart for” or “to feel in one’s insides for.”
The Hebrew verb for care for is used in a great variety of ways; the basic idea is to look for what is missing, to worry about, and to do something for it. One translation can be “show concern.” The verb is often used of God taking care of his people by going to them and acting on their behalf (see its use in 65.9a; 80.14c; 106.4b, where it is translated by a number of English verbs).
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 .
The following are presentations by the Psalms: Layer by Layer project, run by Scriptura . The first is an overview, the second an introduction into the poetry, and the third an introduction into the exegesis of Psalm 7.
John Wu Ching-hsiung (1899-1986) was a native of Ningbo, Zhejiang, a renowned jurist who studied in Europe and the United States, and served as a professor of law at Soochow University, as a judge and the Acting President of the Shanghai Provisional Court, and as the Vice President of the Commission for the Drafting of the Constitution of the Republic of China, before becoming the Minister of the Republic of China to the Holy See. Wu has written extensively, not only on law but also on Chinese philosophy, and has also written his autobiography, Beyond East and West, in English. Wu was a devout Catholic and had a personal relationship with Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975). Wu began translating the the Psalms in 1938, and was encouraged by Chiang to translate the entire New Testament, which he corrected in his own handwriting. (…) John Wu Ching-hsiung’s translation of the Psalms (first draft in 1946, revised in 1975) was translated into Literary Chinese in the form of poetic rhyme, with attention paid to the style of writing. According to the content and mood of the different chapters of the original psalm, Wu chose Chinese poetic forms such as tetrameter, pentameter, heptameter [4, 5 or 7 syllables/Chinese characters per stanza], and the [less formal] Sao style, and sometimes more than two poetic forms were used in a single poem. (Source: Simon Wong)
John Wu Ching-hsiung himself talks about his celebrated and much-admired (though difficult-to-understand) translation in his aforementioned autobiography: (Click or tap here to see)
“Nothing could have been farther from my mind than to translate the Bible or any parts of it with a view to publishing it as an authorized version. I had rendered some of the Psalms into Chinese verse, but that was done as a part of my private devotion and as a literary hobby. When I was in Hongkong in 1938, I had come to know Madame H. H. Kung [Soong Ai-ling], and as she was deeply interested in the Bible, I gave her about a dozen pieces of my amateurish work just for her own enjoyment. What was my surprise when, the next time I saw her, she told me, “My sister [Soong Mei-ling] has written to say that the Generalissimo [Chiang Kai-shek] likes your translation of the Psalms very much, especially the first, the fifteenth, and the twenty-third, the Psalm of the Good Shepherd!”
“In the Autumn of 1940, when I was in Chungking, the Generalissimo invited me several times to lunch with him and expressed his appreciation of the few pieces that he had read. So I sent him some more. A few days later I received a letter from Madame Chiang [Soong Mei-ling], dated September 21, 1940, in which she said that they both liked my translation of the few Psalms I had sent them. ‘For many years,’ she wrote, ‘the Generalissimo has been wanting to have a really adequate and readable Wen-li (literary) translation of the Bible. He has never been able to find anyone who could undertake the matter.’ The letter ends up by saying that I should take up the job and that ‘the Generalissimo would gladly finance the undertaking of this work.’
“After some preliminary study of the commentaries, I started my work with the Psalms on January 6, 1943, the Feast of the Epiphany.
“I had three thousand years of Chinese literature to draw upon. The Chinese vocabulary for describing the beauties of nature is so rich that I seldom failed to find a word, a phrase, and sometimes even a whole line to fit the scene. But what makes such Psalms so unique is that they bring an intimate knowledge of the Creator to bear upon a loving observation of things of nature. I think one of the reasons why my translation is so well received by the Chinese scholars is that I have made the Psalms read like native poems written by a Chinese, who happens to be a Christian. Thus to my countrymen they are at once familiar and new — not so familiar as to be jejune, and not so new as to be bizarre. I did not publish it as a literal translation, but only as a paraphrase.
“To my greatest surprise, [my translation of the Psalms] sold like hot dogs. The popularity of that work was beyond my fondest dreams. Numberless papers and periodicals, irrespective of religion, published reviews too good to be true. I was very much tickled when I saw the opening verse of the first Psalm used as a headline on the front page of one of the non-religious dailies.”
A contemporary researcher (Lindblom 2021) mentions this about Wu’s translation: “Wu created a unique and personal work of sacred art that bears the imprint of his own admitted love and devotion, a landmark achievement comparable to Antoni Gaudi’s Basilica of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain. Although its use is still somewhat limited today, it continues to attract readers for the aforementioned qualities, and continues to be used in prayers and music by those who desire beauty and an authentic Chinese-sounding text that draws from China’s ancient traditions.”
The translation of Psalm 8 from the 1946 edition is in pentameter with rhyme schemes based on -i and -ie (the 1946 edition did not have verse numbers either):
君子與小人
John Wu Ching-hsiung (1899-1986) was a native of Ningbo, Zhejiang, a renowned jurist who studied in Europe and the United States, and served as a professor of law at Soochow University, as a judge and the Acting President of the Shanghai Provisional Court, and as the Vice President of the Commission for the Drafting of the Constitution of the Republic of China, before becoming the Minister of the Republic of China to the Holy See. Wu has written extensively, not only on law but also on Chinese philosophy, and has also written his autobiography, Beyond East and West, in English. Wu was a devout Catholic and had a personal relationship with Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975). Wu began translating the the Psalms in 1938, and was encouraged by Chiang to translate the entire New Testament, which he corrected in his own handwriting. (…) John Wu Ching-hsiung’s translation of the Psalms (first draft in 1946, revised in 1975) was translated into Literary Chinese in the form of poetic rhyme, with attention paid to the style of writing. According to the content and mood of the different chapters of the original psalm, Wu chose Chinese poetic forms such as tetrameter, pentameter, heptameter [4, 5 or 7 syllables/Chinese characters per stanza], and the [less formal] Sao style, and sometimes more than two poetic forms were used in a single poem. (Source: Simon Wong)
John Wu Ching-hsiung himself talks about his celebrated and much-admired (though difficult-to-understand) translation in his aforementioned autobiography: (Click or tap here to see)
“Nothing could have been farther from my mind than to translate the Bible or any parts of it with a view to publishing it as an authorized version. I had rendered some of the Psalms into Chinese verse, but that was done as a part of my private devotion and as a literary hobby. When I was in Hongkong in 1938, I had come to know Madame H. H. Kung [Soong Ai-ling], and as she was deeply interested in the Bible, I gave her about a dozen pieces of my amateurish work just for her own enjoyment. What was my surprise when, the next time I saw her, she told me, “My sister [Soong Mei-ling] has written to say that the Generalissimo [Chiang Kai-shek] likes your translation of the Psalms very much, especially the first, the fifteenth, and the twenty-third, the Psalm of the Good Shepherd!”
“In the Autumn of 1940, when I was in Chungking, the Generalissimo invited me several times to lunch with him and expressed his appreciation of the few pieces that he had read. So I sent him some more. A few days later I received a letter from Madame Chiang [Soong Mei-ling], dated September 21, 1940, in which she said that they both liked my translation of the few Psalms I had sent them. ‘For many years,’ she wrote, ‘the Generalissimo has been wanting to have a really adequate and readable Wen-li (literary) translation of the Bible. He has never been able to find anyone who could undertake the matter.’ The letter ends up by saying that I should take up the job and that ‘the Generalissimo would gladly finance the undertaking of this work.’
“After some preliminary study of the commentaries, I started my work with the Psalms on January 6, 1943, the Feast of the Epiphany.
“I had three thousand years of Chinese literature to draw upon. The Chinese vocabulary for describing the beauties of nature is so rich that I seldom failed to find a word, a phrase, and sometimes even a whole line to fit the scene. But what makes such Psalms so unique is that they bring an intimate knowledge of the Creator to bear upon a loving observation of things of nature. I think one of the reasons why my translation is so well received by the Chinese scholars is that I have made the Psalms read like native poems written by a Chinese, who happens to be a Christian. Thus to my countrymen they are at once familiar and new — not so familiar as to be jejune, and not so new as to be bizarre. I did not publish it as a literal translation, but only as a paraphrase.
“To my greatest surprise, [my translation of the Psalms] sold like hot dogs. The popularity of that work was beyond my fondest dreams. Numberless papers and periodicals, irrespective of religion, published reviews too good to be true. I was very much tickled when I saw the opening verse of the first Psalm used as a headline on the front page of one of the non-religious dailies.”
The translation of Psalm 1 from the 1946 edition is in pentameter with a rhyme scheme based on -ang (the 1946 edition did not have verse numbers either):
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.