The Hebrew that is translated in English as “Rahab” is translated in the interconfessional Chichewa translation (publ. 1999) as chilombo cha m’nyanja or “beast of the sea.” (Source: Wendland 1998, p. 96)
mighty arm
The Hebrew that is translated as “mighty arm” in English is translated in Newari as “the strongest arm of all” (source: Newari Back Translation).
With Your powerful arm You scattered Your enemies (image)
Drawing by Ismar David from The Psalms: A new English translation, linked with permission from Ismar David Archive .
For other images of Ismar David drawings, see here.
complete verse (Psalm 89:10)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 89:10:
- Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“You crushed Rahab like a murdered person;
with your powerful hand you scattered your enemies.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation) - Newari:
“You crushed the great ocean monster,
You scattered Your enemies with the strength of Your hand.” (Source: Newari Back Translation) - Hiligaynon:
“You crushed the dragon [linker] Rahab and it died.
By-means-of your (sing.) power you scattered your (sing.) enemies.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation) - Laarim:
“You stepped on Rahab who was proud like a person who was killed,
you defeated your enemies with your great mighty power.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation) - Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Ni wewe, uliliponda kabisa joka Lahabu,
na kuliua na mkono wako wa nguvu.
Uliwatawanya maadui zako,
na nguvu zako kuu.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation) - English:
“You are the one who crushed and killed the great sea monster named Rahab.
You defeated and scattered your enemies with your great power.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
enemy / foe
The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin that is translated as “enemy” or “foe” in English is translated in the Hausa Common Language Bible as “friends of front,” i.e., the person standing opposite you in a battle. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
In North Alaskan Inupiatun it is translated with a term that implies that it’s not just someone who hates you, but one who wants to do you harm (Source: Robert Bascom), in Tarok as ukpa ìkum or “companion in war/fighting,” and in Ikwere as nye irno m or “person who hates me” (source for this and one above: Chuck and Karen Tessaro in this newsletter ).
arm (of God) (Japanese honorifics)
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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-ude (御腕) or “arm (of God)” in the referenced verses.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
addressing God
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 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.
Honorary "are" construct denoting God (“scatter”)
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 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, chiras-are-ru (散らされる) or “scatter” is used.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
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