harden heart

The Hebrew that is translated into English as forms of “(to not) harden heart” is translated into other languages with their own vivid idioms; for example, Thai uses “black-hearted” (source: Bratcher / Hattoon, p. 272), Pökoot as makany kwoghïghitu mötöwekwo: “do not let become hard your heads” (source: Gerrit van Steenbergen), or Anuak as “make liver strong” (source: Loren Bliese).

See also hardness of heart, harden, and see Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling.”

desert, wilderness

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The Greek that is translated as “desert” or “wilderness” in English is translated in a number of ways:

Note that in Luke 15:4, usually a term is used that denotes pastoral land, such as “eating/grazing-place” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).

See also wilderness and desolate wilderness.

O that today you would listen to his voice . . .

For the phrase “O that today you would listen to his voice! Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. For forty years I loathed that generation and said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways.’ Therefore in my anger I swore, ‘They shall not enter my rest.'” see Hebrews 3:7, Hebrews 3:8, Hebrews 3:9, Hebrews 3:10, and Hebrews 3:11.

Note that this quote in the New Testament is not taken from the Hebrew Bible but from the Greek Septuagint (LXX) which translates into English as “Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at the embittering, like the day of the trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried; they put to the proof and saw my works. For forty years I loathed that generation, and said, ‘Always do they stray in heart, and they did not know my ways.’ As I swore in my wrath, ‘If they shall enter into my rest!'” (Translation by NETS — for the Greek version see the title’s tooltip)

Translation commentary on Psalm 95:6 - 95:9

In these verses Yahweh is praised as Creator and Lord of his people. Once again the people are exhorted to worship him. The first verb in verse 6, Come, is not the same as the first one in verse 1; it means “enter,” and some see here not just a synonym but a progression. Here the worshipers are called upon to enter the Temple; Traduction œcuménique de la Bible and Bible en français courant have “Enter in”; Dahood “Come in” (see Taylor). The other two verbs in verse 6a are used synonymously, worship and bow down, and they are followed by the verb kneel in verse 6b. The noun phrase our Maker must often be recast as a verb phrase; for example, “he is the one who created us” or “… the one who has given us life.”

In verse 7 Good News Translation “the people he cares for” translates the phrase the people of his pasture, which is paralleled in the next line by the sheep of his hand. Israel is the flock, Yahweh is their shepherd. One Hebrew manuscript and the Syriac have a slightly different text: “We are his people and the flock of his pasture” (as in 100.3c), which New English Bible prefers. In line b the people of his pasture (see comments at 74.1b; 79.13a) at once identifies God as the shepherd and the people as his flock. The meaning may be expressed by “we are the flock of which you are the shepherd.” In the next line sheep makes specific the idea of a flock, which has been already suggested by pasture of the previous line. His hand is a figure for protection and provision; the shepherd protects his sheep and provides for their needs. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers the idea of guidance: “the flock which he leads.” The expression he is our God must often be shifted to a verb phrase in some languages in which God cannot be “possessed”; for example, “he is the God we worship.” Of his pasture and his hand may be kept as synonyms as in Good News Translation or reduced to one. In some languages it may be best to shift to a simile; for example, “we are his people whom he cares for as a shepherd cares for his sheep” or “we are his people and he cares for us as he cares for sheep.”

In the second part of the psalm, a message from Yahweh is delivered to the people, probably by a prophet or a priest, warning them not to be disobedient, as their ancestors had been. Good News Translation has placed the content of verses 8-11 in quotes. In some languages it will be necessary to make even clearer that God is now the speaker, and to indicate this by placing a subheading before verse 7d; for example, “God speaks to the people.”

The message begins, “If today you would listen to his voice!”–a wish, which Good News Translation expresses by a command (also Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy).7d- It should be noticed that New English Bible, following its textual decision in the first part of verse 7, begins the passage in Hebrew with “his hand,” which it translates “his power,” supplying “You shall know” with which to begin the sentence: “You shall know his power today if you will listen to his voice.”

The warning comes in verses 8-10, reminding the people of the incidents in Meribah and Massah (see Exo 17.1-7; Num 20.1-13; Deut 6.16; 33.8). According to Exodus 17.7 the two names were given to the one place where the people put God to the test by asking for water; but it is possible that two separate incidents have been combined into the one account; or else there were variant traditions of the same event. Meribah means “quarrel” and Massah means “testing” (see the verb in verse 9a). See also 106.32-33; and see 81.7, where it is said that God put the people to the test at Meribah.

It should be noticed that the Hebrew text in verse 8a is “Don’t be stubborn as you were at Meribah,” and only in verse 9a are the ancestors referred to. Good News Translation has accordingly made “your ancestors” the subject in verse 8a, since that is what is meant. The Hebrew phrase “harden the heart” means “be stubborn.”

For the language of verse 9 see 78.18, 41, 56. The two verbs tested and put … to the proof are synonymous. Even though the Israelites had seen what God had done for them, they wanted further proof of his love for them; in this way they put him to the test. Translators should provide cross references to verses 8-9 and a brief explanatory note.

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 .