hope

Click here to view graphically

“Hope is sometimes one of the most difficult terms to translate in the entire Bible. It is not because people do not hope for things, but so often they speak of hoping as simply ‘waiting.’ In fact, even in Spanish, the word esperar means both ‘to wait’ and ‘to hope.’ However, in many instances the purely neutral term meaning ‘to wait’ may be modified in such a way that people will understand something more of its significance. For example, in Tepeuxila Cuicatec hope is called ‘wait-desire.’ Hope is thus a blend of two activities: waiting and desiring. This is substantially the type of expectancy of which hope consists.

In Yucateco the dependence of hope is described by the phrase ‘on what it hangs.’ ‘Our hope in God’ means that ‘we hang onto God.’ The object of hope is the support of one’s expectant waiting.

In Ngäbere the phrase “resting the mind” is used. This “implies waiting and confidence, and what is a better definition of hope than ‘confident waiting’.” (Source for this and above: Nida 1952, p. 20, 133)

In Mwera “hope” and “faith” are translated with the same word: ngulupai. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Other languages translate as follows:

  • Mairasi: “vision resting place” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Enlhet: “waitings of (our) innermost” (“innermost” or valhoc is a term that is frequently used in Enlhet to describe a large variety of emotions or states of mind — for other examples see here) (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )
  • Kwang: “one’s future is restored to one’s soul like a fresh, cool breeze on a hot day.” (Source: Mark Vanderkooi right here )
  • Noongar: koort-kwidiny or “heart waiting” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Anjam: “looking through the horizon” (source: Albert Hoffmann in his memoirs from 1948, quoted in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 7)
  • Ron: kintiɓwi or “put lip” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • Highland Totonac “wait with expectation” (to offset it from the every-day meaning of hope or wait — source: Hermann Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. ).
  • Alekano: “wait not hearing two ears” (meaning to “wait without being double-minded” — source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation June 1986, p. 36ff.)
  • Marathi aasha (आशा) with a stronger emphasis on desire
  • Tamil: nampikkai (நம்பிக்கை) with a stronger emphasis on expectation (source for this and above: J.S.M. Hooper in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 2ff. )

C.M. Doke looks at a number of Bantu languages and their respective translations of “hope” with slightly varying connotations (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 9ff. ):

  • Xhosa and Zulu: themba “hope, expect,” also “have faith in, rely upon”
  • Tswana: tsholofelo “hope, expect, look for confidently”
  • Southern Sotho: tshepo “trust, rely on, believe in, have confidence in”
  • Kuanyama: eteelelo “waiting for”
  • Swahili: tumaini “confidence, trust, expectation, hope” (as a verb: “hope, trust, expect, be confident, be truthful, rely on”
  • Luganda: okusuubira “hope, trust, expect” also “look forward to, rely upon, anticipate, reckon”
  • Chichewa: chiyembekezo “wait for, wait, expect”
  • Koongo: vuvu “hope, expectancy, expectation, anticipation”
Syntyche D. Dahou (in Christianity Today, January 2021 or see here the same article in French ) reports on the two different terms that are being used in French (click or tap here to see the details):

“Unlike English, which uses the word hope broadly, the French language uses two words that derive from the word espérer (to hope): espoir and espérance. Both can first refer to something hoped for. In this sense, the word espoir usually refers to an uncertain object; that is, someone who hopes for something in this way does not have the certainty that it will happen (“I hope the weather will be nice tomorrow”). On the other hand, espérance describes what, rightly or wrongly, is hoped for or expected with certainty. It often refers to a philosophical or eschatological object (‘I hope in the goodness of human beings’; ‘I hope for the return of Jesus Christ’).

“When we speak of espoir or espérance, we then have in mind different types of objects hoped for. This difference matters, because both terms also commonly refer to the state of mind that characterizes the hopeful. And this state of mind will be different precisely according to the object hoped for.

“Having espoir for an uncertain yet better future in these difficult times may be a good thing, but it is not enough. Such hope can be disappointed and easily fade away when our wishes and expectations (our hopes) do not materialize.

“The opposite is true with espérance, which is deeper than our desire and wish for an end to a crisis or a future without pain and suffering. To face the trials of life, we need peace and joy in our hearts that come from expecting certain happiness. This is what espérance is: a profound and stable disposition resulting from faith in the coming of what we expect. In this sense, it is similar in meaning to the English word hopefulness.

“If we have believed in the Son of the living God, we have such a hope. It rests on the infallible promises of our God, who knows the plans he has for us, his children—plans of peace and not misfortune, to give us a hope and a future (Jer. 29:11). By using the two meanings of the word, we can say that the espérance that the fulfillment of his promises represents (the object hoped for) fills us with espérance (the state of mind).”

joy

Click here to view graphically

The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated with “joy” or “gladness” in English is translated with various associations of “sweetness” or taste: Bambara has “the spirit is made sweet,” Kpelle translates as “sweet heart,” and Tzeltal as “the good taste of one’s heart,” Uduk uses the phrase “good to the stomach,” Baoulé “a song in the stomach,” Mískito “the liver is wide open” (“happily letting the pleasures flooding in upon it”) (source: Nida 1952), Mairasi says “good liver” (source: Enggavoter 2004), Noongar has koort-kwabba-djil or “heart very good” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang), and Chicahuaxtla Triqui “refreshed heart” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.).

See also Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling,” happiness / joy, and exceeding joy.

Translation commentary on Baruch 4:22

For: It will be helpful to render this connector as “So” to express correctly the relationship of this verse with the previous one.

I have put my hope in the Everlasting to save you: Good News Translation “I am confident that the Eternal God will soon set you free” brings the word “soon” up from later in the verse (which soon will come to you). This is legitimate, but still, the emphasis in this line is not on when God will rescue the exiles, but simply that he will do it. Jerusalem has placed her hope (or, confidence) in that rescue. Good News Translation is not wrong to read “I am confident…” (Contemporary English Version “I know without a doubt…”). Translators should use the most natural way to describe this hope. In some languages figurative language is appropriate; for example, “I have set my heart in the Eternal God to set you free.” However, translators in some languages may want to follow Good News Translation or Contemporary English Version.

And joy has come to me from the Holy One: According to this line, Jerusalem already has known joy from expecting the exiles to return. Good News Translation has restructured this in such a way that the joy is still in the future; Jerusalem will be happy when God shows mercy, but presumably not until then. This is not quite the way the Greek text puts it, so Good News Translation should not be followed here. It is possible for a person who is sad and depressed to experience flashes of happiness, of quiet satisfaction if not bliss. The wife of a man held hostage in a foreign land may well be distraught with fear, but news that diplomatic or military action may effect a rescue brings a welcome lightening of the heart, but without lessening the anxiety. This is the picture here. To be sure, Jerusalem is in mourning, but there is light in the darkness, a beam of joy cutting through her grief. It comes to her from the Holy One, when she thinks of the exiles’ coming rescue. But this is more than the hope of diplomatic or military success; it comes from the confidence she has placed in the Eternal God. It is possible to restructure the verse to express this. See the model below.

God is called the Holy One in Bar 4.37 and 5.5 also. This title is frequent in the Old Testament. Holy when used of places or objects means that they have been set aside for religious purposes, but we may not speak about God this way. However, it is possible to speak of God’s holiness in terms of the awe or even fear that people feel when facing the holiness of God. In a number of languages the Holy One in this context will be expressed as “the God that Israel worships” or “the God the people of Israel pray to.” And the whole second line of this verse may be rendered “The God that Israel worships puts joy in my heart.”

Because of the mercy which soon will come to you from your everlasting Savior: For your everlasting Savior, Good News Translation has “your eternal savior.” This phrase can also be translated, as suggested in the translation offered below, “the Eternal God, your savior.” The grammar of this phrase is ambiguous (see Revised Standard Version footnote). “The Eternal One, your savior” can be defended more easily, since the Eternal One is a frequent term for God in this part of Baruch (see the comments on verse 10). We may also compare the Greek text of Psa 24.5 (23.5 in Greek): “He will receive … mercy from God, his savior.” The reference here is of course to God, not to Jesus Christ as Savior. Translators are advised to avoid the use of a word here, which though technically correct, would lead readers to think the writer is referring to Jesus. An interpreter may be on good grounds in seeing Jesus as a fulfilment of this promise, but the author is thinking of God. Even the English word “savior” is something of a problem in this respect. Good News Translation and New Revised Standard Version wisely choose not to capitalize the word as Revised Standard Version did. An alternative way to express the last half of this verse is “when I think how the Eternal God, the one who sets you free, will soon be merciful to you.”

One possibility for the translation of this whole verse is:

• I am confident that the Eternal One will set you free. The Holy One puts joy in my heart when I think of the mercy that he as the Eternal One, your savior, will soon show you.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.