The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “scepter” in English is translated in the Hausa Common Language Bible as “stick of ruling.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
complete verse (Psalm 89:44)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 89:44:
- Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“You have ended the beauty of his glory
and you have brought down the chair of his kingship.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation) - Newari:
“You have ended his glory,
and You have disposed of his throne on the land.” (Source: Newari Back Translation) - Hiligaynon:
“You (sing.) took-(away) his being-powerful and his authority as king.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation) - Laarim:
“You took away his glory,
and you threw his chair down on earth.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation) - Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Umeondoa utukufu wake,
kiti chake cha enzi umekiangusha chini.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation) - English:
“You have caused his splendor to end (OR, You have taken away his power
by knocking his throne to the ground.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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.
Japanese honorifics (1 Kings 1:21)
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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 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, taos-are-ru (倒される) or “fall/tip” is used.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Translation commentary on Psalm 89:44 - 89:45
Verse 44a in Hebrew is unclear. The text seems to mean “You removed his splendor (or, purity)” (so An American Translation, New American Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). There is much uncertainty over the form and meaning of the noun, which appears nowhere else in the Old Testament. New Jerusalem Bible translates “his splendor” with a note, “Meaning of Heb uncertain.” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and New International Version have “You have put an end to his splendor.” Many commentators and translators emend the text to get “his royal scepter” (Good News Translation; also Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible); Revised Standard Version has the scepter from his hand (see Oesterley). Although an impressive number of translations find that the Masoretic text makes sense, it must be admitted that the Hebrew word as it appears in the Masoretic text has not yet been satisfactorily explained.44-45 Hebrew Old Testament Text Project (“A” decision) says the word may mean “splendour” or “purity”; the former is more probable. If the translator preserves the use of symbols of authority, these should be used as are known in the local language. Otherwise the translation can say “royal power,” “his power as king,” in line a.
Verse 44b should not be understood literally; so a translation can be “you removed him from his position as king” or “you brought his kingdom to an end.” Or else a translation that uses one of the symbols of kingship may be a good parallel to line a. The language vividly expresses the way in which God has shamed and humiliated the king.
As a result of all this, the king has aged prematurely (verse 45a), his health and vigor are gone, and he is covered … with shame. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has “you have taken years away from his life”; Bible en français courant “you have shortened his youth.” In some languages “You have made him old” would be the equivalent of having made him wise. For this reason it may in such cases be better to follow the model of such versions as Biblia Dios Habla Hoy and Bible en français courant.
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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