Help - What does this mean

[Gratz]

Thanks

[Daan]

"God is my judge"

Are you planning to get this tattooed?

[imron]

However IMO it's an awkward translation. The 'judge' in the Chinese refers to the specific profession of a judge in a court of law, compared to the English, which to me 'judge' refers more to the act of judging, rather than implying that God is in the legal profession. Imagine the English said something like "God is my court official" and you'll get an approximation of the clumsiness of this particular translation into Chinese.

[renzhe]

Yeah, it sounds like "God is my magistrate".

The 官 means "official" or "public servant" and implies some sort of institution.

[Scoobyqueen]

It might refer to "advocate". There is a passage in the bible

1 John 2:1 “ we have an advocate in the father” and I think the translation for that may be 法官。 Has anyone got a Chinese bible to check this?

[imron]

Not according to this site. I really doubt they would use 法官 in that sense.

[imron]

In fact, a quick search of online copies of the bible shows that 法官 appears a grand total of twice. Both in the Old Testament in Daniel 3:2 and 3:3:

尼布甲尼撒王差人将总督，钦差，巡抚，臬司，藩司，谋士，法官，和各省的官员都召了来，为尼布甲尼撒王所立的像行开光之礼。

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

于是总督，钦差，巡抚，臬司，藩司，谋士，法官，和各省的官员都聚集了来，要为尼布甲尼撒王所立的像行开光之礼，就站在尼布甲尼撒所立的像前。

Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

And as the quotes show 法官 is used very much in the context of the profession, rather than the act of judging.

[Gratz]

Thanks for the reply guys.

Im quessing its not correct then.

But it is ment to mean God Is My Judge.

Would someone mind posting the correct translation for me in a picture with the same layout like i did above

And yeh it will be my tattoo

Thanks all

[muyongshi]

It looks like 审判的主 is what is used in a new testament context in referring to one of the names or titles of God (2 Tim 4:8 ) and in terms of just a general name 审判官 seems to be used (Acts 7:27). So it seems overall that 审判 is used in MOST contexts of the word judge (noun or verb) and do note that judge is more often used as a verb. Don't have time to do a more "thorough" search and cross reference for every possibility. Although I am curious.

Edited September 2, 2009 at 03:41 AM by muyongshi

[Jim]

唯天为我主谳

Sort of pseudo-文言文 I've just made up.

[in_lab]

神 是 公 義 的 審 判 者...

God is a righteous judge... NIV

Psalm 7:11

So, 神是我的審判者 sounds reasonable to me, but I wouldn't take my word for it.

By the way, the King James version is completely different for this passage: God judgeth the righteous...

[in_lab]

唯天为我主谳

I think it's more natural to have "judge" be a verb, like this, but I think adding "唯" changes the whole tone of the statement. It makes it sound like more of a macho, challenging statement.

Edit: But maybe the OP would like that: ("Only God judges me").

[imron]

There's then the question of which translation of God to use. I seem to recall reading that different branches of Christianity and Catholicism use different terms in their Chinese translation, not to mention all the various different colloquialisms, each carrying their own slightly different meaning/emphasis, and if you were going to get a tattoo of such a thing, surely you would want it to correspond to the translation that fit your beliefs.

In this thread alone we've seen four different variations - 神, 主, 天 and 上帝. Which just goes to highlight the difficulty in accurately translating what on the surface seems like a simple sentence, but actually contains words that carry all sorts of weight and meaning in the English, that the Chinese terms might or might not convey. Given the amount of ambiguity, you really should think long and hard before deciding that you want this tattoo in Chinese. If the sentence has meaning for you, tattooing it in English would be a better suggestion.

[Jim]

It makes it sound like more of a macho, challenging statement.

Yep, was aiming for that - I always took the implication of 'God is my judge' to be 'and not you or anyone else!' in a challenging way. That phrase I suggested seems a bit off and ugly though; there must be some really neat way of expressing the idea.

[skylee]

But it is ment to mean God Is My Judge.

In Chinese, I think we usually use 上天 or 上蒼 or 蒼天 to refer to the almighty. The blessed is 蒼天庇佑/上天庇佑, God be my witness is 蒼天為證, swear to God is 對天發誓, etc.

So perhaps you could consider using 上天 or 上蒼 or 蒼天.

[skylee]

Consider -

• 判我者蒼天也
  
• 判我者蒼天
  
• 判我者天
  

[seesaw]

In Chinese, I think we usually use 上天 or 上蒼 or 蒼天 to refer to the almighty.

IMHO, 上天 is not the word Gratz wanted.

上天 is too vague an idea. It is used to refer to "something almighty, with or without mind, if it really exists". While Gratz probably believes in his own specific God, which is clearly defined. And since it's probably the Christian or Jewish God, I suggest he goes on to use the word 上帝, which is the specific Chinese word for the Christain or Jewish God.

[fengyixiao]

Consider 苍天可鉴

苍天可鉴，literally:God/Heaven can judge

[skylee]

I've thought a lot about 鑒/鑑, but I doubt very much if they fit.

[imron]

判我者蒼天也

I like this one.