For the phrase “O that today you would listen to his voice! Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. For forty years I loathed that generation and said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways.’ Therefore in my anger I swore, ‘They shall not enter my rest.'” see Hebrews 3:7, Hebrews 3:8, Hebrews 3:9, Hebrews 3:10, and Hebrews 3:11.
Note that this quote in the New Testament is not taken from the Hebrew Bible but from the Greek Septuagint (LXX) which translates into English as “Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at the embittering, like the day of the trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried; they put to the proof and saw my works. For forty years I loathed that generation, and said, ‘Always do they stray in heart, and they did not know my ways.’ As I swore in my wrath, ‘If they shall enter into my rest!'” (Translation by NETS — for the Greek version see the title’s tooltip)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 95:10:
Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“For forty years I was angry with that generation;
and I said, ‘They are people whose hearts go astray
and they did not know my paths.’” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Newari:
“For forty years I was angry with them,
and I said, ‘These [people] have turned away from me,
They are not able to recognize my path.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon:
“For/[lit. inside of] 40 years I (was) very angry with that generation.
And I said that they (are) people who go-astray and do- not -follow what I teach them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Laarim:
“I was angry to those people for 40 years,
I was saying that, ‘They are people who reject me in their hearts,
and they have not known my ways.’” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Miaka makumi manne niliwachukia,
nilisema, ‘Watu hawa wanapotea siku zote,
hawapendi kuzifuata njia zangu.’” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
English:
“For 40 years I was angry with those people, and I said, ‘Those people say that they want to please me, but they do things that I detest.
They refuse to obey my commands.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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.
In verse 10a loathed translates a verb expressing deep dislike, revulsion, disgust. The sentiment is not as much of anger or indignation (New International Version, New English Bible) as it is of disgust; see this verb in 119.158a; 139.21b. For forty years see Numbers 14.33-34.
In verse 10b err in heart means to be “disloyal” (Good News Translation), perverse, fickle (New Jerusalem Bible), parallel with line cthey do not regard my ways, that is, “They refuse to obey my commands.”
God was angry with them and swore that that generation, that is, all the adults who had left Egypt, would never enter the Promised Land, Canaan, which is here called my rest, that is, “my resting-place.” This is the place where God “rests” (see also 132.8, 14), and where the people would also enjoy rest after their years of wandering in the wilderness (see Deut 12.9). In some languages it will be best to avoid Good News Translation‘s “those people,” verse 10a, and to speak of “your ancestors” as in verse 8. Modern translations are divided in the expression of my rest. Many express it as “God’s rest,” while others, like Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, render it as giving rest to the people.
Verses 8-11 are quoted in Hebrews 3.7-11, substantially as they appear in the Septuagint; references are made to the same passage in the rest of the chapter and in the following chapter in Hebrews.
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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