David

The name that is transliterated as “David” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign signifying king and a sling (referring to 1 Samuel 17:49 and 2 Samuel 5:4). (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff.)


“Elizabeth” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

In German Sign Language it is only the sling. (See here ).


“David” in German Sign Language (source )

The (Protestant) Mandarin Chinese transliteration of “David” is 大卫 (衛) / Dàwèi which carries an additional meaning of “Great Protector.”

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about David (source: Bible Lands 2012)

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 Psalm 11:1 - 11:2

For the verb translated take refuge, see comments at 2.12; most translations in English are like Revised Standard Version (see also 31.1; 71.1). The interrogative how? is a rebuke: “How dare you…?” or, as Good News Translation, “How foolish of you!” The psalmist knew that his safety lay in trusting Yahweh, not in running away, as his friends (you) had suggested. Line b in verse 1 may be taken as an exclamation, as in Good News Translation, or as a question, as in Revised Standard Version. In some languages the exclamatory force will require a strong statement; for example, “You are very wrong when you say to me.” In some languages you of line b is inappropriate, since no antecedent has been introduced as a referent. One may then say “How foolish my friends are to advise me and say….”

To me is in Hebrew “to my nefesh” (see discussion at 3.2).

The last part of verse 1 in the Masoretic text is “fly (imperative, second person singular) to your (plural) mountain, bird.” The second person singular form is the qere, supported by ancient versions and many Hebrew manuscripts; the ketiv is the second person plural. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers the qere, “you (singular) flee,” and takes the singular “bird” to be collective, meaning “birds.” The possessive pronominal suffix “your” with “mountain” is plural: “your (plural) mountain.” So Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends the following translation: “flee (imperative plural) to your mountains, birds.” But in the context this doesn’t make much sense, since this command is directed to the psalmist. Most translations, like Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, follow the ancient versions, making a slight change in the Hebrew text.

In some languages the simile Flee like a bird may not suggest the elements of silence and speed. In such cases it will be better to say “Escape silently to the mountains as a bird flies.”

For lo in verse 2a, Revised Standard Version, is an obsolete English phrase. The Hebrew phrase introduces the reason for the preceding command: “You must do this because….” Some, like New International Version and New Jerusalem Bible, try to retain the Hebrew by translating “For look,” but this is not a natural expression in English.

The threats of the wicked are likened to the actions of hunters, who prepare to shoot their arrows at animals (see 7.12). The figure here is quite elaborate: they bend their bows, they have fitted the arrows to the bowstring, in order to shoot at the upright in heart. The bending of the bow in Revised Standard Version refers to stringing the bow, readying it for shooting. In order to fit the string onto the bow, the string was first attached to one end of the bow. Then, with that end of the bow on the ground, the hunter pressed his foot against the lower part of the bow, to bend it so that he could slip the other end of the string over the upper notched end of the bow. When the bent bow was released, the string was pulled tight. In order to avoid giving the impression that bend the bow meant drawing or pulling back the string with fitted arrow, it may be necessary to say, for example, “the wicked string their bows” or “wicked people bend their bows to string them.” Good News Translation does not speak of bending the bow but says “have drawn their bows,” which refers to tensing the bow with fitted arrow. The psalmist is using here a three-clause parallelism which is somewhat of a narrative, in that it depicts a process; they first string the bow, fit the arrow to it, and then shoot. In languages in which this process is commonly known, no problem should arise. However, in cases where the translator must use long, descriptive phrases to describe the process, the images run the risk of being obscure and so emphasized that the reader may lose track of their relation to the rest of the poem. In languages in which bow and arrow are unknown, the translator may have to supply an equivalent weapon. If no such figure is available, the translator will have to say something like “wicked people are always ready to secretly harm good people” or “evil people are always waiting in hiding to injure good people.”

In the dark: the wicked, hiding in a dark place (Dahood “ambush”), shoot their arrows at “good men” (literally upright in heart, as in 7.10). The word translated upright is used often in Psalms of pious, godly, law-abiding people.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .