complete verse (Psalm 89:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 89:4:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “‘I will establish your grandchildren until forever.
    I will cause that your kingship chair be established to all generations,’ ’
    Selah.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “’One descendant of yours will always be king,
    I will keep your throne from generation to generation.’"
    Interlude” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “Each king of Israel will-come-from your (sing.) descendants forever/[lit. until whenever];
    your (sing.) kingdom will-continue without end.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “‘I will give your clan to stay forever,
    and I make your chair to be strong
    among the children of your children forever.’’” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “nimesema, ‘Nitawapa ufalme wa milele na milele,
    wa jamaa yako,
    ufalme wako utakuwako katika kizazi chote.’ ’
    Sifa kwa nguvu na uzuri wa Mungu” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “‘I will enable various ones of your descendants to always be kings;
    the line of kings descended from you will never end.’ ’
    (Think about that!) 10” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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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 choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

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

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on Psalm 89:3 - 89:4

In verse 3 God is the speaker, which Revised Standard Version indicates by Thou hast said (also Good News Translation “You said”); it should be noted that the Hebrew text does not have these words here (see comments on verse 2, above). The psalmist recalls God’s promise to King David that the throne of Israel would always be occupied by a descendant of David’s (see 2 Sam 7.16, God’s message to David by the prophet Nathan). My chosen one in line a is a reference to David my servant in line b (see also verses 19-20). The translator cannot assume in every case that my chosen one and David my servant will be understood to be the same person. In order to avoid the reader’s thinking of these as two different persons, it may be necessary to say, for example, “I have made a covenant with David whom I chose, and what is more, I have sworn to be faithful to him.” For comments on covenant see 25.10.

In verse 4a the Hebrew “I will forever establish your seed” (see “descendants” and comments in 18.50) is to be understood in light of and build your throne for all generations in line b. It is not simply a promise that David will always have descendants, but that the Davidic dynasty will never end; descendants of David will always be the kings of Israel. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translates the verse “I will ensure that your descendants will always succeed you as king.” It is to be noticed that in verse 2 the Hebrew verbs are “build … be firm,” and in verse 4 “be firm … build.”

Good News Translation‘s “preserve your dynasty” simply repeats line a in reference to the throne. Although the two lines appear to say much the same thing, the poetic movement is from establish your descendants, a somewhat abstract idea, to the more concrete image build your throne. Translations such as Biblia Dios Habla Hoy and Good News Translation translate the message of the verse, but sacrifice the poetic “going beyond” which is an integral part of the parallelism. The two lines as a unit may be rendered, for example, “Not only will I always make a descendant of yours to be king, I will also keep your dynasty forever” or “… I will make them rule after you forever.”

For Selah see 3.2.

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 .