The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “shepherd” in English is translated in Kouya as Bhlabhlɛɛ ‘yliyɔzʋnyɔ — ” tender of sheep.”
Philip Saunders (p. 231) explains:
“Then one day they tackled the thorny problem of ‘shepherd’. It was problematic because Kouyas don’t have herdsmen who stay with the sheep all the time. Sheep wander freely round the village and its outskirts, and often a young lad will be detailed to drive sheep to another feeding spot. So the usual Kouya expression meant a ‘driver of sheep’, which would miss the idea of a ‘nurturing’ shepherd. ‘A sheep nurturer’ was possible to say, but it was unnatural in most contexts. The group came up with Bhlabhlɛɛ ‘yliyɔzʋnyɔ which meant ‘a tender of sheep’, that is one who keeps an eye on the sheep to make sure they are all right. All, including the translators, agreed that this was a most satisfactory solution.”
In Chuj, the translation is “carer” since there was no single word for “shepherd” (source: Ronald Ross), in Muna, it is dhagano dhumba: “sheep guard” since there was no immediate lexical equivalent (source: René van den Berg), in Mairasi it is translated with “people who took care of domesticated animals” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Noongar as kookendjeriyang-yakina or “sheep worker” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang), and Kwakum as “those-who-monitor-the-livestock” (source: Stacey Hare in this post ).
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.
The pronoun I in the first line and the pronoun thou in the third line are emphatic. Note that Good News Translation makes it clear that it is still Jeremiah speaking to the LORD.
Pressed translates a verb that most frequently means “be in a hurry [to do something].” In the present context it means “urge” or “encourage.”
In many languages to send evil will require indication of the persons the evil will come to: “to bring disaster on them” (Good News Translation). As the Good News Translation footnote indicates, this clause in Hebrew is actually “from being a shepherd after you.” The Hebrew construction “from being a shepherd” is similar in form to “from evil,” which is the basis for the text of Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project believes the meaning for the first line should be “I did not stop being a shepherd and following after you.” New Revised Standard Version follows this interpretation with “But I have not run away from being a shepherd in your service.” Translators may follow either interpretation.
Nor have I desired the day of disaster: The day of disaster is what will happen to Jeremiah’s enemies; thus Good News Translation has “I did not wish a time of trouble for them.” Disaster translates the word rendered “corrupt” by Revised Standard Version in verse 9. Here it means “trouble” (Good News Translation) or “terrible things.”
Thou knowest; that which came out of my lips was before thy face: Revised English Bible (“You know all that has passed my lips”) and New American Bible (“You know what passed my lips”) join thou knowest directly with that which came out of my lips. In so doing, was before thy face is in a separate clause and given the meaning “you are fully aware of it” (Revised English Bible). Both Good News Translation and Revised English Bible take thou knowest and was before thy face as having essentially the same meaning: “Everything that I said, you know exactly” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).
To retain the emphasis on I and thou, which are in the text, translators can also translate this verse as:
• But, LORD, it was never I who urged you to do terrible things to the people, nor wished some evil to happen to them. You know that, for what words came from my lips were spoken in front of you [or, in your very presence].
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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