הִרְחַ֥קְתָּ מְיֻדָּעַ֗י מִ֫מֶּ֥נִּי שַׁתַּ֣נִי תוֹעֵב֣וֹת לָ֑מוֹ כָּ֝לֻ֗א וְלֹ֣א אֵצֵֽא׃
8You have caused my companions to shun me;
you have made me a thing of horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
The Hebrew that is translated as “abomination” or similar in English is translated in Vidunda as “hated thing” and in Kwere as zitibusa which means “evil” but also something that causes horror or disgust and revolts people. (Source for both: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
in Ngambay it is nékɔb or “taboo.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
See also detestable in the sight of God and holy.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 88:8:
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.
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 Translator 2002, 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.
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, s-are-ru (される) or “do/reckon” is used.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
The psalmist seems to refer to his physical condition, which causes his friends to shun him (verse 8a-b); this may have been leprosy or some other loathsome disease (see Job 19.13-19; Psa 31.11). In verse 8b a thing of horror is variously translated: “loathsome” (New English Bible); “abhorrent” (New Jerusalem Bible); “unbearable” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy); “a disgusting thing” (Bible en français courant); “repulsive” (Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version). The statement in verse 8c I am shut in may be literal, perhaps meaning prison (New English Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) or quarantine (New International Version “confined”; Revised Standard Version, An American Translation, New Jerusalem Bible shut in); or it may be figurative, that is, he is hemmed in by his troubles and cannot escape (so Bible en français courant). Briggs and Dahood believe the psalmist is speaking of himself as a prisoner in Sheol. Toombs interprets the words as a figure of deprivation, restriction, the contrary to that of salvation, which is characterized by openness, space (see 18.19).
For verse 9a see similar language in 31.9b; 38.10b. It is more natural in English to refer to one’s “eyes” (Good News Translation) when both are meant, than to one’s eye (Revised Standard Version).
Despite the LORD’s fury and anger, the psalmist persists in praying to him for help (verse 9b-c); Every day (or “all day long,” that is, insistently, continually) he cries out to the LORD. For spread out my hands, see comments on “lift up my hands” in 28.2.
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 .
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