acrostic in Psalms 9/10

Psalms 9 and 10 constitute one psalm in the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate translations. Accordingly all Orthodox and some Catholic translations also treat it as one psalm. One indication that it might in fact have been intended to be one psalm is the fact that both Psalm 9 and 10 together constitute one acrostic, a literary form in which each verse is started with one of the successive 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. According to Brenda Boerger (in Open Theology 2016, p. 179ff. ) there are three different reasons for acrostics in the Hebrew text: “for ease of memorization,” the representation “of the full breadth and depth of a topic, all the way from aleph to taw (tav),” and the perception of “the acrostic form as aesthetically attractive.” (p. 191)

While most translations mention the existence of the acrostic in a note or a comment, few implement it in their translation. The Natügu translation is one such exception. Boerger (see above) cites a strong tradition in singing the psalms and the fact that Natügu, like Hebrew, also has 22 possible initial letters as motivating factors to maintain the acrostics in that language.

Click or tap here for both Psalm 9 and 10 successively in Natügu

Psalm 9
1 Awi Yawe! Naglqpx-atwrnr-ngrne nim.
Ale-zvzq da kcng tzkctipxng, x napipxxng.
2 Angrlvzx drtqm.
Bilvzx nim kc tqmyalz-esz’ngr.
3 Brngzvxitx nzyzlukr enqmi rnge mz nzmc-krde nim.
Bz x tao-ngrde nzulrm.
4 Clvetio-lzbqx x rpiq kx tubqx.
Clveq leplz amrlx mz nzwxbuo-krme mz tron, x ayzlu-ngrbzme da badr.
5 Dalr nrlc nzmailzlr kxdrka’-ngrng.
Delc napnanati-ngrn nidr x
Drtqdr na-amrbrtx-alobzme.
6 Doa ngr alwx lcng nzyrkrtrpeng.
Enqmi rngeng trpengr nzdcpx-krdr mz drtwr leplz x mztea nyzdr amznrpe-ngrnq.
7 Eu, a’ Yawe ngini-alom King.
Elalvzx nzwxbuo-krme mz tron nyzm murde nzayzlu-krbzme da mz leplz tubq.
8 Eu, murde nzaclve-krm nrlc tubq-esz’ngr,
Esakrlrngr nzpipx-krm nztubqkr leplz o trtingr.
9 Gct, nim lrpalvc nyz kxnzobqszong.
Glxx kx nim me nzrlakitrkr mzli kx prtzngr da.
10 Gct, krkcng tzkrlzlr nim nzabrtrpzlr drtwrdr bam.
Itoto x doa amrlx kcng tzrtangrtilr nim, trmrbrtru mz drtwrm.
11 Itoto x nigu amrlx napipxbzku mz kxnzmnc-mrbrng da kcng tqale Yawe.
Jerusalem ngi mzteadau nyzde mrkc tqmnc-ngrde. Na-angrlvzku nide.
12 Jzsle krkcng tzrnibqting leplz mz nzayzlu-kr-mopwzle badr da kcng tqtrka tzalelr.
Kxnzmncng mz drtq kxetq sa na-ayzlu-kzpzle badr natq ngr nzyrni-krbzlr bade.
13 Kxetu, nayc mz drtwrm ninge x mcom kxmu nzaetq-krm enqmi rngeng drtqnge.
Kxrpalz, bzkq rlrpx-ngrn nzbz-krnge.
14 Kxarlapx, naelalz-ngrm drtwrnge nzarlapx-krm ninge.
Leplz kxkqlu Jerusalem sa naxlrlr nzglqlz-krnge nim.
15-16 Lalztqmamu! Yawe aelwapx-lzbqngr mz nztubqkr nzayzlu-krbzle da mz leplz.
Murde lr mrkzbleng nztao-moung mz gq kx nzekqtilr.
Mz br kx nzatu-kapqlr, nzdwatr-moung elr.
Mz trtxki kx nzamwilr, nzprtz mou kxdrka’-ngrng elr.
17 Mz nzesablqti-krdr Gct,
Nabz-ngrdr leplz ngr nrlc.
18 Nzmu nakxpung, trtxpnzngr nzmrbrtitrkr drtwr Gct nidr.
Nzobqtipxngr kxtrnzrngiscung trtxpnzngr nzbotxpx-krde.
19 Natulzme Yawe, mz nzaryplapx-krm lr mrkzbleng amrlx.
Na-aelwapx-ngrn kx drtwr kxnzetung amrlx ngi brmrda.
20 Namwxlrtilr x na-amrluelr nim.
Nakrlzlr kx nidr leplz txneng, x sa nabzng.

Psalm 10
1 Opxm kx mncme rlru, Yawe.
Opxm kz kx mnc-kapqq mzli kc tqkxpu-ngrgr.
2 Obqm! Kxdrka’ngr glqpx-lzbqmile nzayoti-krde leplz kxnzkxpung.
Pnz drtwrnge kx sa namwati-lzbq mz br scde.
3 Pipxle kx nzaotikr drtwrde da kxtrka zlwz ngi da kxmrlz mz nzbilvz-zvz-krdele.
Pivxile Yawe x pxtxpx-ngrde nide, a’ amrlzle leplz kx nztrkibrng.
4 Rblx nzrtangrti-krde Gct murde glqpx-lzbq.
Rblx nzrmcti-krde Gct murde mz drtwrde trtxpnzngr Gct.
5 Rlr! Xplrmi-zlwzle nzmncngr kxtrka, a’ pxtxpx-ngrde me pnz drtwrm.
Suti txpwz drtwrde nzyrpalelvz-krde enqmi rdeng.
6 Sc tqrpipele kx, “Trpnzngr da kxtrka kx naprtzm bange,
X trpnzngr nzodatingr ninge kalr.”
7 Sc tqglqlz-zvzle alwx x nzpokiangr.
Natqdeng amrlx ngi dalr nzrpikitingr, nzrpibqtingr, x nzrpilzngr. Rom 3:14
8 Trmrlzu nzmnc-kapq-aepztr-krde mztea mz nzrnibq-krde kx nabzdr lq.
Tu zvz mz nzaenzli-krde ncblo kxesz’nebz.
9 Tqtu-kapq apule laion kc
Tqtcngzpxm mz gq nyzde mz nzkivzti-krde ncblo kx trxplru.
10 Vz zvz nzxplr-zlwz-krde.
Vz zvz nzatrkati-krde nzmnckr kxnzkxpung.
11 Vz-rbr kxdrka’ngr mz nzrpi-krde kx, “Gct trobqpepuu bange.
Wzx a’ trkrlzleu da kcng trka tqalex.”
12 Wztitxpxbz nzwzkr ncblo kxdrka’ngr, kx Yawe, mz nzayrplapx-krm nide.
Wai-ngrn da lc murde bzkq mrbrtr mz drtwrm kxnzkxpung.
13 Wai-ngrdele kxdrka’ngr pxtxpx-ngrde nim.
X rpile kx, “Gct trtxpnzngr nzayrplapx-krde ninge.”
14 Xlqkqamu nimu kxdrka’-ngrng, murde Gct mcle da kxtrka lcng amrlx tqaleamu.
X oliqtile nzokatr-krde kxnzkxpung kcng tzrtangrtilr nide.
Xlrle nidr murde nide kc tqokatr zvz kxnzobqszong.
15 Yawe, katxpxbz zmatq ngr kxdrka’-ngrng.
Yrpalelvz nidr x ayrplapxng mz da kxtrka kcng tzalelr, navz x naesaki zpwx.
16 Yawe, nim King.
Yc zvz nzaclve-krm nrlc.
Yrlqtxpx mz drtc’ nyzm krkcng trnzangiolru nim.
17 Zmatq ngrm etu-esz’ngr, murde krlzpe-kaiq nike narlxtibz kxnztubqng.
Zbq kalvz axplrq nidr x kabzme badr nike nzrlxtilr.
18 Zbo ngr leplz kxnzobqszong x kxnzkxpung, sa na-arlapxbzmeng mz zmatq ngr leplz mz nrlc ka.
Zmwxlr amrlx sa na-aesaki-zvzq.

© 2008, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. All rights reserved.

pronoun for "God"

God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).

Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.

In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.

While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff.) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal ta (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential ta (祂) is used.”

In Kouya, Godié, Northern Grebo, Eastern Krahn, Western Krahn, and Guiberoua Béte, all languages of the Kru family in Western Africa, a different kind of systems of pronouns is used (click or tap here to read more):

In that system one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and one for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.

Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff) explains in the following way: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”

In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)

Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”

In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff.)

In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)

The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.

Some Protestant English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible, but most translations, especially those published in the 21st century, do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In both languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).

See also this chapter in the World Atlas of Language Structures on different approaches to personal pronouns.

Translation: Chinese

在现代汉语中，第三人称单数代词的读音都是一样的（tā），但是写法并不一样，取决于性别以及是否有生命，即男性为“他”，女性为“她”，动物、植物和无生命事物为“它”（在香港和台湾的汉语使用，动物则为“牠”）。这些字的部首偏旁表明了性别（男人、女人、动物、无生命事物），而另一偏旁通常旁提示发音。

到1930年为止，基督教新教《圣经》经过整整一百年的翻译已经拥有了十几个译本，当时的一位圣经翻译者王元德新造了一个“神圣的”代词“祂”，偏旁“礻”表示神明。一般汉语读者会立即知道这字的发音是tā，而这个偏旁表示属灵的事物，因此他们明白这个字指出，三位一体的所有位格都没有性别之分，而单单是上帝。

然而，最重要的新教圣经译本（1919年的《和合本》）和天主教圣经译本（1968年的《思高圣经》）都没有采用“祂”；虽然如此，许多其他的圣经译本采用了这个字，另外还广泛出现在赞美诗和其他基督信仰的书刊中。（资料来源：Zetzsche）

《吕振中译本》的几个早期版本也使用“祂”来指称“上帝”；这个译本的《新约》于1946年译成，整部《圣经》于1970年完成。克拉默斯（Kramers）指出：“‘他’的这种新写法（即‘祂’）产生了一个小问题，就是在指称耶稣的时候，是否一律使用这个敬语代词？《吕振中译本》遵循的原则是，在称呼耶稣这个人的时候，用一般的‘他’，而在称呼耶稣神性的时候，特别是升天之后的耶稣，则用尊称‘祂’。”

Translator: Simon Wong

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.

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight

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 91:3 - 91:4

The dangers listed in verses 3-5, 6 seem to include both human and nonhuman forces. The latter appear to include demons, but there is no agreement on their identification. In its footnote to verses 5-6, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible points out that the ancient Greek, Aramaic, and Syriac versions used “demon(s)” or “(evil) spirit” in verse 5b.

In verse 3 Good News Translation “all hidden dangers” in line a translates “the bird-catcher’s trap” (Revised Standard Version the snare of the fowler). Many languages will prefer to retain the image of “hidden traps” rather than Good News Translation‘s more generic “hidden dangers.”

“All deadly diseases” in line b translates “the pestilence of destruction” (Revised Standard Version deadly pestilence). The word for “destruction” is used in 5.9b. (King James Version “noisome pestilence” means “a stinking plague.”) The reference is probably to epidemics. Some, however, following the Septuagint and other ancient versions, use other vowel marks with the Hebrew consonants of the word pestilence to get the word “word,” and understand the phrase to mean a plot, or a false accusation, or a witch’s spell.3-4 Hebrew Old Testament Text Project agrees with the change: “from the word (of calamity).” In support of its decision it cites factor 12, “scribal errors.” Dahood uses still other vowels to get the meaning “venomous substance”; New English Bible translates the text “raging tempest.” It seems best, however, to follow the example of Revised Standard Version (and Good News Translation) here.

The first two lines of verse 4 are synonymous: his pinions and his wings are figures of God’s protection. In many languages it will be necessary to recast the imagery in the form of a simile; for example, “he will cover you like a bird covers its young under its wings.”

In verse 4c God’s faithfulness in keeping his promises is the source of security; shield (see 5.12 and comments) and buckler provide protection. The Hebrew word translated buckler occurs only here in the Old Testament; it is variously defined as “tower, bulwark, wall.” Briggs and New Jerusalem Bible explain the term as the participle of the verb “to surround,” and New Jerusalem Bible translates “an encircling shield.” It is recommended that translators follow Revised Standard Version buckler, which was a small shield carried in the hand or worn on the arm, for protecting the body. His faithfulness is a shield must sometimes be recast as two clauses; for example, “God is faithful and will protect you like a shield” or “God keeps his promises and will protect and defend you.”

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 .