apple of one's eye

The now commonly-used English idiom “apple of one’s eye” (meaning to be a cherished person) was first coined in 1382 in the English translation by John Wycliffe (in the spelling apple of his iye). (Source: Crystal 2010, p. 289)

For other idioms in English that were coined by Bible translation, see here.

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 17:8 - 17:10

Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version differ on the division of the strophes; most translations agree with Revised Standard Version, but New American Bible divides as does Good News Translation. It may be better to follow Revised Standard Version.

The first line of verse 8 is literally “Guard me as the pupil, the daughter of the eye”; “pupil” in Hebrew is literally “little man” (as reflected in one’s eye) and apple is an English figure for the Hebrew figure “daughter” (see the same figure in Deut 32.10; Pro 7.2). In Hebrew, as in English and many other languages, the apple of the eye is especially precious and must be carefully protected. Apple of the eye is frequently expressed as “the child of the eye,” “the daughter of the eye,” or “the fruit of the eye.”

The next figure, the shadow of thy wings, is a vivid way of speaking about security (also in 36.7; 57.1; 61.4; 63.7; 91.4). The figure may come from the animal world or from the winged creatures called “cherubim” whose wings stretched over the Covenant Box, symbolizing Yahweh’s presence with his people (Exo 25.18-20).

In some languages it may be necessary to switch from hide me to “protect me”; for example, “Protect me in the shade of your wings.” Where it is necessary to give a fuller expression to make the figurative meaning clear, one can often combine the figure with a simile; for example, “Protect me like a bird protects its young under its wings.”

From the wicked is literally “from the face of the wicked,” which may mean “from the fury of the wicked” (see Anderson). The verb translated despoil is a strong one; it means to completely destroy, devastate (in 91.6a it is used for “plague, pestilence”).

Deadly enemies (An American Translation, Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New English Bible, Bible en français courant, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) translates a phrase “my enemies in nefesh.” Some take nefesh here in the sense of greed (Briggs, Anderson), “my enemies, who in their greed” (New American Bible “my ravenous enemies”). Others take it to refer to the psalmist himself, as in “my enemies … try to kill me” (see comments on “of me” in 3.2). My deadly enemies may require recasting, particularly in languages where “my enemies” is expressed as “people who fight against me” or “people who hate me.” Here one may say, for example, “people who fight me and want to kill me.”

The verb translated surround has the sense of “close in on” (see also 22.16; 48.12).

In verse 10 They close their hearts to pity (Good News Translation “they have no pity”) translates the Hebrew “They have shut tight their fat.” It is generally agreed that this means lack of compassion (see New Jerusalem Bible “engrossed in themselves”); some, however, see it as a figure of rebellion against God (see Isa 6.10, where “a fat heart” stands for stubbornness, unwillingness to obey God). Any reference to obesity should be avoided in translation (see Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “they are stuffed with fat”; Dahood “clogged with their blubber”).

Arrogantly translates a word meaning pride (also in 10.2) and is sometimes expressed figuratively as “having a swollen heart.”

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 .