swear, vow

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “swear (an oath)” or “vow” is translated as “God sees me, I tell the truth to you” (Tzeltal), “loading yourself down” (Huichol), “to speak-stay” (implying permanence of the utterance) (Sayula Popoluca), “to say what he could not take away” (San Blas Kuna), “because of the tight (i.e. “binding”) word which he had said to her face” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “strong promise” (North Alaskan Inupiatun) (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida), “eat an oath” (Nyamwezi — source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext), or sswa nak/”drink an oath” (Jju — source: McKinney 2018, p. 31).

In Bauzi “swear” can be translated in various ways. In Hebrews 6:13, for instance, it is translated with “bones break apart and decisively speak.” (“No bones are literally broken but by saying ‘break bones’ it is like people swear by someone else in this case it is in relation to a rotting corpse’ bones falling apart. If you ‘break bones’ so to speak when you make an utterance, it is a true utterance.”) In other passages, such as in Matthew 26:72, it’s translated with an expression that implies taking ashes (“if a person wants everyone to know that he is telling the truth about a matter, he reaches down into the fireplace, scoops up some ashes and throws them while saying ‘I was not the one who did that.'”). So in Matthew 26:72 the Bauzi text is: “. . . Peter took ashes and defended himself saying, ‘I don’t know that Nazareth person.'” (Source: David Briley)

See also swear (promise) and Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’, or ‘No, No’.

complete Psalm 24

The following is a complete back-translation of Psalm 24 from Nyaneka:

1 Earth and-what is-in-it is the Lord God’s,
world and-things all which-are-in it.
2 Lord world this he-built on-seas
it-is-carried established on-streams of-water.
3 On-the-mountain of-Lord God who can go-up?
In-sanctuary who can stand?
4 It-is-that-one that-one who-have-cleansed hands
and-who-has good heart,
that-one who-does-not-give life his to-idols
who-does-not swear to-idols.
5 This-one will-receive from-Lord God good blessing
with-righteousness the-salvation of-him from-God.
6 The-generation who seek-him like-this will-live,
those who-adore the-God of-Jacob.
7 Open the-gates, heavy-doors of-heads,
the-gates eternal
so-that King who-is-glorified can-enter.
8 King who-is-glorified is-who? \
Lord God, powerful of-force
Lord powerful in-war.
9 Open the-gates, heavy-doors of-heads,
the-gates eternal
so-that King who-is-glorified can-enter.
10 King who-is-glorified is-who?
Lord God of-the-host of-war,
this-one [is] King who-is-glorified.

Source: Christopher S. Tachick in Wendland / Zogbo 2019, p. 84ff.

Translation commentary on Psalm 24:4

Verses 4-6 are the answer to the question in verse 2.

Hands and heart stand for deeds and thoughts, external actions and internal motivations. Clean hands in some languages will have no reference to proper behavior, and in most languages will require recasting, as in Good News Translation “pure in act,” which may be expressed as “those who do right” or “those who have good thoughts.” However, if a figure is available, it should be used.

Line b in the Hebrew text followed by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation is “who does not lift up his nefesh to a lie” (for nefesh see comment at 3.2, and for “lie” see comment at 12.2). Here (as in 31.6; Jonah 2.8) the word “lie” probably refers to “idols” (Good News Translation, New International Version, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy; so Dahood and others). Some, however, take the line to mean “who does not love (or, practice) lies” (see An American Translation, New English Bible); Weiser has “who does not direct his thoughts to wrongdoing.”

It should be noted that most translators follow the text of many Hebrew manuscripts and ancient versions, “his nefesh”; but the Masoretic text has “my nefesh,” which is explained as a synonym for “my (that is, Yahweh’s) name,” and the sense of the line is “who does not use the LORD’s name for false purposes” (see Exo 20.7). In the Masoretic text the ketiv is “his nefesh”; the qere is “my nefesh.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project does not consider this passage. So New Jerusalem Bible translates “who has not taken a false oath by My life”; similarly Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “who does not use God for an evil purpose.”

If the translator follows the idea of worshiping idols, it may be possible to say, for example, “who do not worship images of God” or “who do not pray to likenesses of God.” Idols may sometimes be called “gods made of wood” or “stone gods.”

In the third line swear deceitfully is generally taken to mean “to make false promises” or “to bear false testimony under oath”; it can, however, as a parallel to the preceding line, mean “or use the name of an idol in making a promise” (see Dahood).

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 .