The Bible tells the story of how all humanity once spoke the same language, until the incident at Babel. There, people refused to obey God’s command to disperse and repopulate the world. Instead, they gathered to build a tower to celebrate the pinnacle of their civilisation. In divine punishment, God gave each clan a different language. Humanity became divided, and gave up building the tower. The clans then spread across the earth to develop a multitude of cultures and nations across history.
But that is not the end of the story—for although God scattered the peoples, He had always planned to gather his faithful to Himself. So ever since Jesus Christ ascended into glory, his followers have zealously told the story of forgiveness and reconciliation to anyone who would hear. And whenever necessary, Christians translated, crossing these Babelic ‘language barriers’. It might be said that Christian translators are faithful in more than one way. They are not only interested in the fidelity of their translations to the original, but are also motivated by their faith in God.
As a result, the Bible has been the most translated literary work since records were kept. And some Christian songs too have been preserved across the centuries even while languages evolved, devolved, were mingled or were mangled. Take for example the well-known hymn “Be Thou my vision,” originally written in sixth-century Ireland as “Rop tú mo Baile.” This song also seems to have been a favourite of many missionaries, who arranged lyrics in foreign languages to fit the same traditional tune. Today, we can find no less than fourteen versions.
*One can actually listen to at least these nine versions on YouTube.
Now I am no missionary myself, but while living in a foreign country and attending a local church, I have experienced the legacies left by missionaries. Soon after arriving in Thailand to study a Master’s degree in Engineering (and practise the foundational Thai language I picked up in Singapore), I joined an old Presbyterian church—I could recognise many of the hymns they sang, only everything was in Thai. As the months passed, I learnt to sing words only religious Thais would use, and I also learnt that the hymnal I held in my hands was a new edition. The older edition had an English counterpart, so that foreigners who did not read Thai could also sing along. But apparently this new one didn’t, and so I offered to put one together. The pastor agreed, and so I began, learning as I went.
Top to bottom: Thai hymns corresponding to the English hymn titles “Be Thou my vision,” “There is a fountain,” and “Come Thou fount of every blessing.”
The process was more arduous than I had anticipated. There were a total of 303 entries in the Thai hymnal. I did not find English counterparts for 27 hymns, because they were originally written in Thai or yet another language—I left those in phonetics. As for the other 276 entries, it was not always as simple as copying and pasting the English version: often, not all the English stanzas had been translated, so I chose the ones which most closely matched the Thai. Some Thai stanzas were amalgams of the English ones, and in rare cases a stanza would turn up with no English counterparts. The art of translation is not an exact science, but as a science student, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was acceptable that many translated songs were not exactly faithful to the original. Isn’t unfaithfulness sin?
I frequently observed that when songs are translated into Thai, poetic depth tends to be lost. It is as though multiple shades of meaning and imagery are compressed into 4-bit colour. English idioms and analogies are bluntly expressed in the Thai versions as the explanation itself, as we shall see. Let’s first take a look at “Be Thou my vision,” then a few other examples of hymns which, when translated to Thai, were altered.
Be Thou my vision
English version | Thai version | Reverse translation |
---|---|---|
Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me save that Thou art; Thou my best thought, by day or by night, Waking or sleeping Thy presence my light.
|
โอเจ้าแห่งดวงจิตเป็นนิมิตของข้าฯ ทุกสิ่งไร้ราคาถ้าไม่มีพระองค์ ทรงดำรงในใจทุกคืนวันมั่นคง ตื่นขึ้นหรือนอนลงพระองค์ทรงนำพา |
O lord of my heart, be my vision Everything is worthless if without my lord Be always in my heart each night and day Waking or sleeping my lord leads and guides |
Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my true word; I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord: Thou my great Father, I Thy true son, Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
|
เชิญเป็นพระปัญญาพระวาจาดำรง ทุกสิ่งมอบพระองค์ทรงเป็นมิตรของข้าฯ พระองค์เป็นบิดาข้าฯ นี้คือบุตรา ขอรวมดวงวิญญาณของข้าฯ กับพระองค์ |
Come be my wisdom and the word always Everything is entrusted to the lord my friend The lord my father, here am I your son Please let my soul be one with my lord |
Riches I heed not or man's empty praise, Thou mine inheritance, now and always: Thou and Thou only, first in my heart, High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.
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อย่าให้ข้าฯ มีใจยินดีในทรัพย์สิน ยึดพระองค์อาจิณสุดสิ้นใจกายา พระองค์เป็นชีวีบัดนี้และเบื้องหน้า เป็นจอมแห่งราชาทรงเป็นสารพัน |
Do not let me rejoice in material things I hold on to my lord always and to the end My lord is life now and forever Is high king and is everything to me |
High King of heaven, my victory won, May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Sun! Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, Still be my vision, O Ruler of all. |
ทรงเป็นจอมราชันมีชัยนิรันดร โปรดอำนวยพรให้ข้าฯ เข้าเมืองสวรรค์ ให้ดวงใจของข้าฯ และพระองค์ผูกพัน เป็นนิมิตสำคัญทรงครอบครองโลกา |
Your majesty is high king with eternal victory Please bless me, that I may enter heaven Let my heart be one with my lord’s Be my important vision, ruler of all earth
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Historically, the lyrics for “Be Thou my Vision” has been modified or rearranged several times as the centuries passed, so it should not be a surprise if the Thai version does not closely match the English. Nonetheless, it may be observed that the Thai version is bland in comparison. In stanza 1, the Lord is referred to as “my light,” but in the Thai version this is translated into a leading and guiding action. In stanza 3, the richer concept of “inheritance” is reduced to something worth holding on to, while God is one’s everything instead of the more specific “treasure". In stanza 4, the phrase addressing God “O bright heaven’s Sun” seems to be replaced by a generic request for blessing.
This translation, in my opinion, is a little disappointing. The lyrics in Thai, while serviceable, lack the vibrancy of the English version.
There is a fountain
English version | Thai version | Reverse translation |
---|---|---|
There is a fountain filled with blood
|
ยังมีน้ำพุโลหิตไหลหลาก |
Yet there’s a fountain of blood overflowing |
The dying thief rejoiced to see
|
โจรนั้นครั้นจวนจะตายได้เห็น น้ำพุกระเซ็นทั่วกาย แม้ฉันจะชั่วกว่าโจรมากมาย บาปฉันก็หลุดเหมือนกัน |
The thief, about to die, did see
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E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream
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ตั้งแต่ฉันเห็นโลหิตหลั่งไหล จากแผลใหญ่บนกางเขน ฉันทราบความรักพระองค์ชัดเจน ยังเห็นติดตาจนตาย |
Since I saw the flowing blood From the big wound on the cross I knew the love of my lord clearly Shall see persistently till death |
When this poor lisping, stamm'ring tongue |
โอลิ้นที่พูดไม่คล่องมาก่อน ดั่งนอนนิ่งในสุสาน จิตยังร้องเพลงเพราะพริ้งกังวาน ว่าฤทธิ์พระองค์ช่วยฉัน |
Oh tongue which did not speak skillfully
|
The translation for this hymn is comparatively good. Even the Thai words used are relatively simple, compared to many other hymns which were translated using difficult or uncommon Thai words. Difficult vocabulary would often appear if the translator was a former Buddhist monk—in Thailand, the monastic class were considered the most learned, but they habitually used royal or religious terms which the commoners would find unfamiliar (much less myself, at my low level of language mastery). However, I do not think they did it because they wanted to exclude the commoners. Rather, this was how they showed ‘proper’ honour and deference to the King of Heaven. I have noticed alternate translations meant for the average Thai to be able to sing comfortably, though the hymnal I worked through had not yet included them in the present edition.
This issue is similar to how some English hymns sound archaic, because of the use of Old English or uncommon words and phrases. We have already encountered the pronouns “Thou” and “Thy.” Consider also the following hymn. Written in eighteenth-century England, it includes some vocabulary which is rare in modern usage, such as “sonnet,” “fold,” “fetter.” Though I learnt this hymn as a child, I did not understand those words until I was older, and only then did the hymn became more meaningful to me.
Come Thou fount of every blessing
When original songs are tampered with
English version | Thai version | Reverse translation |
---|---|---|
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
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ขอพระพรจากเบื้องบนลงมา |
May divine blessing from above come |
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
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ในอดีตโปรดช่วยให้มีชัย ขออาศัยพึ่งทุกวันวาร ขอทรงเมตตาพระพรอำนวย โปรดทรงช่วยจนสิ้นลมปราณ พระเยซูทรงติดตามข้าฯไป ห่วงใยเมื่อหลงทางสวรรค์ พระองค์ทรงเป็นความรักยืนยง ทรงไถ่ด้วยโลหิตอัศจรรย์ |
In the past you were pleased to give victory
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O to grace how great a debtor
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โอพระเยซูผู้พลีชีวี ข้าฯเป็นหนี้พระองค์มากมาย ขอให้พระคุณที่ทรงเมตตา ตรึงดวงใจข้าฯจนวันตาย พระองค์ทรงรักข้าฯเสมอไป แต่ใจข้าฯเผลอลืมพระคุณ ทั้งใจกายขอถวายทรงธรรม์ ดวงชีวันพึ่งพระการุณย์ |
O Jesus who offered his life I am greatly in debt to my lord Let your grace, according to mercy, Bind my heart until I die My lord loves me forever But my heart often forgets his grace Both heart and body – I offer My existence depends on your goodness |
My versified English rendition | Addition in Thai | Reverse translation |
---|---|---|
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
|
พระบิดา พระบุตร พระวิญญาณ |
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, |
As usual, some imagery was lost in translation. The writer of the Thai version also seems to have taken more liberty in changing (or simplifying) many lines, including the very first. Perhaps he did so to facilitate rhyme—unlike many English songs, Thai ones do not have to rhyme (the previous two hymns in translation do not). One notable change was the term “Ebenezer” in the second stanza, which is a biblical word of Hebrew origin (meaning ‘the stone of help’), rendered as “you were pleased to give victory.” The Thai translator may not have considered his congregation to be sufficiently able to grasp the Biblical reference.
I found no English counterpart for the last stanza in the Thai version, so I wrote one. Though, just by reading in Thai, the last stanza stands out because its rhythm and message is very different from the previous stanzas: unlike the original, the addition has repetition; there is also little imagery (such that I chose the words ‘streaming’ and ‘brimming’ to make my rendition a better fit with the original). I suggest that the added stanza was added to teach congregants the key theological concept of the Trinity. Perhaps the author wanted to introduce the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to his flock. This explains why it seems so out of place and, in my opinion, poor song-writing. Despite the apparent unfaithfulness to the original English song, I would have to grudgingly admit that the alterations were probably done out of a faithful desire to praise God. After all, my motivation to write the English rendition was similar—I want English-speakers to be able to praise God in English even as their Thai brethren are doing the same in Thai.
The last song I include is not one found inside the church hymnal, but was presented in church one Sunday. I found it interesting because the original version would never be sung in a conservative church, but after translation, it seems to have become a legitimate hymn.
You raise me up
A song which became more ‘faithful’ after translation
English version | Thai version | Reverse translation |
---|---|---|
When I am down
|
เมื่อข้าอ่อนล้า |
When [I, servant] am fatigued |
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains; You raise me up to walk on stormy seas; I am strong when I am on your shoulders; You raise me up to more than I can be.
|
ทรงชูข้าไว้ ให้ยืนสง่าอย่างมั่นคง ทรงยกให้พ้นโพยภัย อันน่าหวาดเกรง ข้าเข้มแข็งเพราะพระองค์ทรงอุ้มชูไว้ ทรงยกข้า เกินที่ตัวข้าจะได้เป็น |
[royal action] raises [me, servant] safely so that I stand elegantly, firmly
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*italicised pronouns are absent but implied in the Thai lyrics
The inspirational song “You raise me up” was originally by Secret Garden, although the covers by Josh Groban and Westlife popularised it. While the lyrics were written with some Christian influence, it is not distinctly a Christian song because ‘you’ is never identified as God. Instead, ‘you’ is left vague so that one could sing it to parents, mentors, or even significant others. The Thai language has no room for such vagueness, however. Whether referring to the first, second, or third person, Thai uses pronouns which indicate a person’s status. In this translation the word used for “I” is “ข้า,” a formal and respectful pronoun used by someone who is lower in a hierarchy. The word used for “you” is “พระองค์,” a pronoun which translates to “lord,” and the special word “ทรง” is also added in front of some verbs to indicate the majestic origin of the actions. Therefore, in Thai, this is clearly a song intended to convey worship.
In losing the attribute of vagueness, is the translation less faithful than the original? In gaining a clear expression of piety, is the translation more faithful than the original?
Perhaps it is clear by now that the intention of faithful Christian translators was never just to express the exact meaning of a song in another language. After all, their purpose was not to glorify the original author, but to glorify the Creator. So while the translator may greatly esteem the meaning of the original lyrics, even that takes second place to producing a serviceable song for the local church. Of course, translators vary in skill, and some would tolerate a wider margin of difference in their translation than others, yet any changes in meaning must remain within the bounds around the system of belief. Doing otherwise would be truly unfaithful in the Christian context.
Thus the faithfulness of a translated Christian song is not measured by whether it accurately reflects the original, but whether it accurately reflects the truths revealed in the Bible. And while I have noted many imperfections in the translated hymns above, I must also admit that were there a perfect song, nobody could sing it in perfect faithfulness. For a Christian’s faithfulness in worship is not measured by whether he sings in tune to the song, but whether he lives in tune so that he completely means what he sings. But no Christian on earth lives a perfectly sinless life of faith. Yet I believe that God is merciful, and willing to forgive anyone’s unfaithfulness because of Jesus Christ’s faithfulness—and I think the joy and thankfulness that stems from being forgiven is why Christians sing praise, why Christians write songs, and why Christians translate.
The author would like to express gratitude to the ajarns from the Thai language programme at the National University of Singapore who taught him Thai, and to acknowledge the new friends in Thailand who have given him opportunities to continue learning and using the language.