chariot

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated into English as “chariot” is translated into Anuak as “canoe pulled by horse.” “Canoe” is the general term for “vehicle” (source: Loren Bliese). Similarly it is translated in Lokạạ as ukwaa wạ nyanyang ntuuli or “canoe that is driven by horses.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

In Eastern Highland Otomi it’s translated as “cart pulled by horses” (source: Larson 1998, p. 98) and in Chichicapan Zapotec as “ox cart” (in Acts 8). Ox carts are common vehicles for travel. (Source: Loren Bliese)

In Chichimeca-Jonaz, it is translated as “little house with two feet pulled by two horses” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.) and in the Hausa Common Language Ajami Bible as keken-doki or “cart of donkey” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

It is illustrated for use in Bible translations in East Africa by Pioneer Bible Translators like this:

Image owned by PBT and Jonathan McDaniel and licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

See also cart.

Pharaoh

The term that is used for monarchs in ancient Egypt and is transliterated as “Pharaoh” in English is translated in Finnish Sign Language with the sign signifying the “fake metal beard (postiche)” that was word by Pharaohs during official functions. (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Pharaoh” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

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.

See also female second person singular pronoun in Psalms.

Translation commentary on 3 Maccabees 6:4

Pharaoh with his abundance of chariots, the former ruler of this Egypt … : See 3 Macc 2.6-7. The reference here is to the Pharaoh, or king of Egypt, in the time of Moses, in the book of Exodus. Pharaoh is the grammatical direct object of the verb destroyed in the main clause later in this verse. Through verse 6, the author uses this same pattern. The direct object of the main verb appears in the first of a series of dependent clauses. Then the main verb is found in the final clause—the main clause. In a number of languages this is a very common style. In fact, in some languages it is part of the grammar. Chariots were wheeled vehicles pulled by horses and used in warfare (see the comments on 3 Macc 2.7). The expression this Egypt sounds strange in English, since in English it implies that there was more than one Egypt. The following model for the beginning of this verse avoids this problem: “A long time ago, Pharaoh ruled [or, was king] here in Egypt, and he had many chariots in his army….”

Exalted with lawless insolence and boastful tongue describes how Pharaoh dealt with Moses in their face-to-face encounters in Exodus. Exalted renders a Greek participle describing Pharaoh. Translators may render this description of him as a separate sentence by saying “He boasted [boastful tongue] that he was a great man [exalted], and was very insolent [lawless insolence]” or even “He proudly [or, insolently] boasted that he was a great man.”

You destroyed together with his arrogant army by drowning them in the sea: As noted above, the direct object of destroyed is Pharaoh, but destroyed may be combined with drowning by saying “You drowned him in the sea along with his arrogant army [or, soldiers].”

Manifesting the light of your mercy upon the nation of Israel: This clause uses the image of light to refer to God’s mercy. Contemporary English Version removes this image by saying “You showed the greatness of your mercy for the people of Israel,” which some languages may find helpful. The following model for this verse keeps the image:

• “A long time ago, Pharaoh was ruler here in Egypt, and he had many chariots in his army. He proudly [or, insolently] boasted that he was a great man. You drowned him in the sea, along with his arrogant army. As if you were shining a light on the people of Israel, you showed them your mercy.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 3-4 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2018. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.