Poetic translation of Psalm 3:1-3

The following are two poetic translations of Psalm 3:1-3 produced in a workshop for translating the psalms so that they can be performed musically.

The first translation is in Meetto and the second in Kom.

Meetto:

1. Pwiya, enci thale eenani aka
 Lord, many are those (who are) my enemies

 Enci thale ankilupattha.
 Many are those who rise against me.

2. Ankuluma ari enci ni aneera
 Those who are against me are many and they say

 “Nluku awe khanonkavihera.”
 “His God will not help him.”

3. Nanso we Pwiya, thi we mwakiho aka,
 But you, Lord, it is you (who are) my shield/protection,

 Thi we utthapa waka, thi we ikuru caka.
 It is you (who are) my joy/glory, it is you who lifts my head.

Kom:

1. Mbàynì̶sɨ lali meyn a mɨ ibàm a Bôbo Fì̶yìnì dvî̶  kɨ tèyn.
 Many enemies have stood up behind me Lord.

 Ghelɨ awo abɨ-a jɨŋ meyn kàli mà nô sɨ idvì̶,
 Many bad people have surrounded me,

 Nà cho ’ àvɨ àkema.
 And are persecuting me.

2. Àŋena nɨn bê na, “Fì̶yìnì fì̶ nɨn gâmtì̶ wì ŋweyn.”
 They are saying that “God will not help him.”

3. Mɨtì wa ghɨ àbâ’ a mɨ atu a Bôbo,
 But you are an umbrella over me Lord,

 Ma wà ni meyn ma na ko ’nɨ-à.
 And you have made me to have honour.

 Wà lisi meyn ìwumi sɨ a mɨ atu.
 You have taken away shame from my head.

Source: June Dickie in The Bible Translator 2023, p. 192ff.

female second person singular pronoun in Psalms

In Garifuna the second person singular pronoun (“you” in English) has two forms. One is used in women’s speech and one in men’s speech. In the Garifuna Bible the form used in men’s speech is typically used, except when it’s clear that a woman is quoted or in Psalms where the women on the translation team insisted that the form used in women’s speech (buguya) would be used throughout the whole book.

Ronald Ross (in Omanson 2001, p. 375f.) tells the story: “Throughout most of the translation, [the distinctions between the different forms of the pronouns] presented no problem. Whenever the speaker in the text was perceived as a man, the male speech forms were used; and when a woman was speaking, the female speech forms were used. True, the women members of the translation team did object on occasion to the use of the male forms when the author (and narrator) of a book was unknown and the men translators had used the male speech forms as the default. Serious discord arose, however, during the translation of the Psalms because of their highly devotional nature and because throughout the book the psalmist is addressing God. The male translators had, predictably, used the male form to address God, and the male form to refer to the psalmist, even though women speakers of Garifuna never use those forms to address anyone. The women contended that they could not as women read the Psalms meaningfully if God and the psalmist were always addressed as if the readers were men. The men, of course, turned the argument around, claiming that neither could they read the Psalms comfortably if the reader was assumed to be a woman.

“Initially there seemed to be no way out of this impasse. However a solution was found in the ongoing evolution of the language. There is a strong propensity for male speech and female speech to merge in favor of the latter, so the few remaining male forms are gradually dying out. Moreover, male children learn female speech from their mothers and only shift to the male speech forms when they reach adolescence to avoid sounding effeminate. However they use the female form buguya when addressing their parents throughout life. So the women wielded two arguments: First, the general development of the language favored the increasing use of the female forms. Secondly, the female forms are less strange to the men than the male forms are to the women, because the men habitually use them during early childhood and continue to use them to address their parents even in adulthood. Therefore, the female pronominal forms prevailed and were adopted throughout the book of Psalms, though the male forms remained the default forms in the rest of the translation.”

See also female first person singular pronoun in Psalms and addressing God.

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 3:3

Shield is a common metaphor for protection, often used of God (see 7.10; 18.2). The phrase about me completes the idea of protection. The large shield was big enough to protect the whole body from the enemy’s sword or arrows. The translation here can be “you are my protecting shield,” “you are a shield to protect me.” If the metaphor does not make sense, a simile may be used: “you are like a shield that protects me,” “you protect me like a shield.” In languages which lack a term for shield or any other protective device used in battle, the translator may employ a descriptive phrase; for example, “the thing that protects.” On the other hand a nonfigurative expression may be better; for example, “You, LORD, are the one who protects me from danger.”

It is more common in parallel lines for the first line to be nonfigurative and the second to contain the figure. Verse 3 is an exception with figures in both lines. If one takes both lines as a unit, the meaning may be expressed “LORD, you are not only a shield for me, but you also make me victorious and give me courage” or “LORD, you are like a shield, you even give me the victory and renew my strength.”

Yahweh is also called my glory. The Hebrew word for glory has a variety of meanings, one of which is “honor, reputation,” which fits well in this context. Since the king’s honor was dependent upon his being victorious over his enemies, it is possible that here this specific meaning is intended; so Good News Translation “you give me victory.” New International Version has “you bestow glory on me.” Simply to translate “my glory,” as New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible do, carries no meaning in English. Briggs proposes “the one in whom I glory”; Moffatt “thou whom I do glorify”; Knox “my champion.” Toombs takes it to mean the psalmist’s “worth as a man,” for which he is indebted to the LORD. It is more likely, however, that the meaning is “victory” (Good News Translation) or “honor,” which can be expressed by “you give me great honor.”

The lifter of my head: “you hold my head high.” This phrase is a metaphor for restoring confidence, courage, and hope to one who is discouraged. Delitzsch comments: “He comforts and helps him.” Briggs takes it to mean victory, while Kirkpatrick thinks it means that the LORD saves him and restores him to his throne. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translates “You are the one who encourages me.” Bible en français courant says “you supply me with dignity and pride.” Another possibility is “you maintain my honor and hold my head high.”

The translator is encouraged always to use meaningful figures of speech, provided they translate correctly the meaning of the text. Sometimes metaphors which are newly made or have become obsolete are of little communicative value and may give the reader an entirely wrong understanding. Many languages use metaphors to express “to comfort” or “to encourage”; for example, “to make the heart cool” or “to strengthen the insides.” In such cases it will be necessary to add a causative element; for example, “You cause my insides to rest” or “You make my heart sit coolly.”

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 .