patience / patient

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The Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “patient” or “patience” are translated in a variety of ways.

Eugene Nida (1952, p. 130) gives some examples:

“Peace is the quality of the soul; patience is the behavior of the soul. The Aymara of Bolivia have described patience well by the phrase ‘a waiting heart.’

“The Ngäbere of Panama describe patience in more vivid terms. They say that it is ‘chasing down your temper.’ The impatient person lets his temper run away with him. Patience requires one to “chase down his temper” and get it under control [see also Mairasi down below].

“The Yucateco describe patience as ‘strength not to fall.’ This seems to include almost more than patience, but it is important to note that this Yucateco translation recognizes that impatience means ‘falling.’ For some of us, who tend to take a certain secret pride in our impatience—describing it as energetic drive—it might be well to recognize that impatience is failure, while patience is strength.

“The San Blas Kuna in Panama use a rather strange phrase to depict patience. They say ‘not caring what happens.’ But this is not meant as condoning foolhardy indifference to life and danger. It reflects a kind of reckless confidence in God, a confidence not bred of desperation but of utter reliance. The patient person is not concerned about what happens; he is willing to wait in confidence.”

In Mairasi, the phrase that is employed is “stop (our) anger” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Suki “slow careful thinking way” is used (source L. and E. Twyman in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 91ff. )

In Kwang an expression is used that directly translates as “carry one’s head” (source: Mark Vanderkooi right here ), and in Q’anjob’al it is translated with the phrase “large stomach” (source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. ).

In Akan, it is typically translated as abodwokyɛre, lit. “chest cool longer.” (Source: Kofi Agyekum in International Journal of Language and Communication 2015, p. 35ff. )

See also Seat of the Mind / Seat of Emotions.

Translation commentary on Sirach 1:23

A patient man will endure until the right moment: When someone is faced with a situation that makes him angry, he should not just explode, but be patient (New Jerusalem Bible “puts up with things”), and wait for an appropriate time to express himself. The idea here may be expressed in the present tense as well as the future; Good News Translation shifts into the second person and expresses both the verb endure and its subject (a patient man) as imperative verbs: “Wait and be patient” (Contemporary English Version “Just be patient and stay calm”). This leaves out the idea of until the right moment, but this is expressed again in the next verse, where Good News Translation makes it quite clear.

And then joy will burst forth for him: Revised Standard Version does not do well here. In this context Good News Translation‘s literal “later” is better than then. Joy is not a good choice of words. Both the Greek noun used here and the context support the idea of “cheerfulness” (New English Bible) or “contentment” (New American Bible). Burst forth is not quite appropriate either; the Greek verb here does not necessarily imply suddenness. The idea is rather that cheer [or, good humor/gladness/contentment] will return or be restored. Good News Translation is not bad, but it may shift the focus a bit too much with “and later you will be glad you did.” The idea seems to be that if you are patient and wait until the right time comes to say what you have to say, you will then be able to return to a state of calm, of not being upset. In such a situation, a person may indeed be glad that he waited and was patient, as Good News Translation suggests, but it is probably not quite what the author had in mind. Contemporary English Version is better with “until your anger fades,” or we may say “until you stop being angry.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Sirach. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.