complete verse (Psalm 94:20)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 94:20:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “Can an evil kingship chair be able to agree with you
    that brings afflictions because of its laws?” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “What! Can wicked rulers agree with You?
    While applying their law, they plot to kill” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “(It) is- not -permitted that you (sing.) (are) allies of the wicked judges, who do evil by-means-of the laws/commands.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “Would the bad king stay with you,
    who bring suffering in his law?” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Watawala wabaya, huwezi kushirikiana nao,
    ambao wanaweka sheria ya kuharibu.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “You have nothing to do with wicked judges, who establish laws that allow people to do what is not legal.” (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.

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 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.

See also female second person singular pronoun in Psalms.

Translation commentary on Psalm 94:20 - 94:21

In the final verses the psalmist sums up his faith in the LORD’s justice: Yahweh is with the righteous and against the wicked. In verse 20, by means of a rhetorical question, the psalmist declares that Yahweh is in no way on the side of “corrupt judges” (Good News Translation), which translates “throne of destruction.” Revised Standard Version takes this to mean wicked rulers, but as Anderson points out, it is more likely that in this context judges are meant (see Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Bible en français courant). For a translation discussion of “corrupt,” see 14.1. The Hebrew phrase translated by Good News Translation as “You have nothing to do with…” is rendered by Biblia Dios Habla Hoy as “you cannot be the friend of…,” which may serve as a better model for many languages. Revised Standard Version mischief (also New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) does not seem adequate for the Hebrew word, which indicates rather “wrong, disorder, wickedness”; so Good News Translation “injustice.” The Hebrew phrase translated by statute can be taken to mean “against the law,” as Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translates it. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible and Bible en français courant translate “who create misery by flouting the law.” Good News Translation‘s “who make injustice legal” will often have to be shifted to two clauses; for example, “who do things which the law is against” or “who do wrong acts which the law says people should not do.”

In verse 21a band together translates a verb form found only here in the Old Testament, which is defined as “gather together (against).” Against the life implies that they plan to kill him. Condemn the innocent to death translates “condemn innocent blood” (see similar language in 106.38).

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 .