mercy

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin terms that are typically translated as “mercy” (or “compassion” or “kindness”) in English are translated in various ways. Bratcher / Nida classify them in (1) those based on the quality of heart, or other psychological center, (2) those which introduce the concept of weeping or extreme sorrow, (3) those which involve willingness to look upon and recognize the condition of others, or (4) those which involve a variety of intense feelings.

While the English mercy originates from the Latin merces, originally “price paid,” Romance languages (Italian, Spanish, Corsican, Catalan) and other Germanic languages (German, Swedish, Danish — Barmherzigkeit, barmhärtighet and barmhjertighed, respectively) tend to follow the Latin misericordia, lit. “misery-heart.”

Here are some other (back-) translations:

See also steadfast love.

cupbearer

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated in English as “cupbearer” is translated in Newari as “new wine vessel holder.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)

Jerusalem

The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:


“Jerusalem” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)


“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

king

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Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:

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  • Piro: “a great one”
  • Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
  • Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
  • Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
  • Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))

Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo was determined:

“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”

(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )

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 Nehemiah 1:11

O Lord, let thy ear be attentive …: Nehemiah concludes his prayer with another plea to God to hear the request he has made on behalf of all the people of Jerusalem. This invocation differs from the first one in verses 5-6 above, since here he addresses God with the title Lord and he asks only for his ear to be attentive, making no mention of God’s eyes. He asks that God “listen” to his prayer as God’s servant and to the prayer of God’s servants. These are identified as people who delight to fear thy name. Having confessed that they had been unfaithful in the covenant relationship, Nehemiah now affirms that they have pleasure in being in awe of God. Fearing God’s name does not have the literal meaning here of being fearful, but rather of respecting or revering (so New English Bible, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version) his name. To fear someone’s name is to be in awe of that person. Good News Translation translates this in contemporary English: “who want to honor you.” Bible en français courant renders it “who find their joy in honoring you.” Compare Deut 28.58; Psa 61.5; 86.11; 102.15.

Give success to thy servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man: These two final requests in Nehemiah’s prayer are in the form of a parallelism. The first request is general, the second is specific. He states his requests with great humility, referring to himself in the third person rather than the first person, and then identifying himself as a servant. In the first part of the parallelism, he asks that God will give success to thy servant today. Nehemiah plans to appeal to the king and therefore he requests that God will make him successful or prosperous in his effort. In the second part, he asks that God will grant him mercy in the sight of this man. He asks for “compassion” or “favor” (New American Bible) in the Persian king’s eyes. New English Bible renders it “put it into this man’s heart to show me kindness.”

This man is not identified although the reader will soon know who is meant. It is possible that the connotations of referring to the king in this manner may be slightly pejorative. Some commentators suggest that by saying this man, Nehemiah makes it clear that God to whom he is praying is greater than this earthly ruler. Good News Translation identifies the person as “the emperor.”

The supplication in this verse is made emphatic by the double use of the particle naʾ (see verses 6 and 8 above). It occurs in the plea that God will listen to him, where Good News Translation and New Jerusalem Bible render it as “now.” Darby represents the emphasis by using a verb of insistence: “I beg you.” It occurs again in the first of his two requests for help. Most translations omit it here, but Darby translates “I pray you.”

Now I was cupbearer to the king: This final sentence provides a closing to the chapter that brings the reader back to verse 1, where Nehemiah was introduced as the son of his father. In this closing he is introduced by his profession or his standing in the court of the king.

Now translates the connective conjunction in Hebrew and may be rendered “At the time” (New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version; similarly Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). At this point in the account Nehemiah uses an emphatic pronoun for I and identifies himself as a cupbearer to the king. This was a position of trust and influence for it gave him access to the king. The cupbearer tasted the food before the king ate and he guarded the royal quarters. One Septuagint manuscript has “eunuch.” This reflects the fact that Persian kings often had eunuchs serve them since they were in contact with the women of the royal household. Eunuchs were men who had been castrated so that they were impotent. But there is no indication in the Hebrew text whether or not Nehemiah was a eunuch. If there is no technical term for cupbearer, translators may use a descriptive expression, for example, “the one who gave drink to the king,” “the king’s drink-bringer” or “the wine-giver to the king.” Some languages may use a particular expression to indicate that this was a position that he held, or that he was chosen for this task.

Some versions present the biographical statement at the end of this chapter as the beginning of the second chapter (so New English Bible). Contemporary English Version restructures this statement to incorporate it as part of verse 1 of the next chapter. It is preferable to retain the traditional presentation following MT, as Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation have done. The translator should use an appropriate discourse marker to introduce the final statement so that it does not stand alone out of context. If possible, there should also be an emphatic pronoun to draw attention to Nehemiah as cupbearer to the king.

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .