A New Chinese Proclamation
(可 惜 這 頁 沒 有 中 文 繙 譯)
The Proclamation (Exodus 34:6-7) in Chinese produced numeric features when 上帝 replaced the other translations for the Hebrew name for God (יהוה). This means there is room for improvement in the Chinese Bible. But rather than starting from scratch, what are the chances that current translations of the Chinese Bible could be pieced together to produce something better?
***Special Note On The Odds For Chinese: The numeric system for Chinese characters is of consecutive numbers. This major difference from all other gematria systems changes the odds. When reading the odds on pages dealing with Chinese, please bear this in mind. For more on this, see Second Experiment: It's Not Easy.***
Is a Chinese version of The Proclamation possible with structured numeric features? The work below shows it is possible despite the odds.
There are three Chinese Bibles to work from: Catholic, Chinese Union, and the Chinese New Version. Exodus 34:6-7 is given below from each of the three versions.
| KJV | Catholic | Chinese Union | Chinese New Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| And the LORD passed by before him | 上主由他面前經過時 | 耶和華在他面前 | 耶和華在摩西面前經過 |
| and proclaimed | 大聲喊說 | 宣告說 | 並且宣告說 |
| The LORD The LORD | 雅威雅威 | 耶和華耶和華 | 耶和華耶和華 |
| God merciful and gracious | 是慈悲寬仁的天主 | 是有憐憫有恩典的神 | 是有憐憫有恩典的神 |
| longsuffering | 緩於發怒 | 不輕易發怒 | 不輕易發怒 |
| and abundant in goodness and truth | 富於慈愛忠誠 | 並有豐盛的慈愛和誠實 | 並且有豐盛的慈愛和誠實 |
| Keeping mercy for thousands | 對萬代的人 | 為千萬人 | 為千千萬萬人 |
| 保持仁愛 | 存留慈愛 | 留下慈愛 | |
| forgiving iniquity | 寬赦過犯 | 赦免罪孽 | 赦免罪孽 |
| and transgression and sin | 罪行和罪過 | 過犯和罪惡 | 過犯和罪惡 |
| and that will by no means clear [the guilty] | 但是決不豁免懲罰 | 萬不以有罪的為無罪 | 一定要清除罪 |
| visiting the iniquity of the fathers | 父親的過犯 | 必追討他的罪 | 追討罪孽 |
| upon the children, and upon the children's children | 向子孫追討 | 自父及子 | 自父及子至孫 |
| unto the third and to the fourth [generation] | 直到三代四代 | 直到三四代 | 直到三四代 |
| N.B. None of the Chinese versions are exact literal translations from the Hebrew. Some words (love, graciousness, mercy, or sin, iniquity, transgression) overlap in meaning in English, and the same occurs in Chinese as well. The KJV places the last word (generation) in square brackets to indicate it does not exist in the original Hebrew. The very last character 代 in all three Chinese translations means generation.It is a translation of the English, not the Hebrew, because it is understoodand makes sense from the context, but it is not an exact literal one to one translation. | |||
A computer can mix and match translations for each part of the passage from the various columns. The result would be a complete phrase. Each combination can be checked for numeric features.
This experiment begins with the second row of the table following the numeric study of the original Hebrew, not with the very beginning of the passage. 上帝 is included as a choice for the Hebrew divine name. The verb 係 is almost identical in meaning to 是 and is another option. Words like mercy, gracious, slow to anger, keeping, forgiving, and iniquity all have overlapping meaning with many Chinese words, and some of these have been added as choices as well.
I have included two of my own phrases: 慢慢地至怒 (slow to anger), and 父親的不正試煉落子及孫 (the father's imperfections are tried/tested on the sons and grandsons).
To keep the number of combinations to a manageable level some choices below have been restricted to just two choices, or eliminated altogether.
| 宣告說 | The Catholic version was eliminated because it did not accurately reflect the Hebrew. In keeping with simplicity, the CUV was kept as the only option. |
| 上帝上帝 耶和華耶和華 雅威雅威 | Three Chinese Christian terms translate the Hebrew יהוה for God. |
| 是 係 | The verb isor to behas two character choices in Chinese. |
| 有 0 | The word hasalso doubles in meaning as isand can be included or excluded, producing two choices. |
| 憐憫 仁慈 寬仁 | Mercy, or compassion can be translated in more than these three ways. |
| 慈悲 慈愛 恩典 | The same applies to gracious.These words can sometimes mean mercy and compassion as well. |
| 的神 | There being no other godword, this is the only choice. |
| 不輕易怒 緩於怒 慢慢地至怒 | The CUV and CNV have not easily angered.The Catholic is more accurate with slow to anger.The third entry is a more contemporary way of saying slow to anger. |
| 並有 並且有 富於 | There are three options for and having. |
| 豐盛的慈愛和誠實 慈愛忠誠 | Two selections for abundant in love and faithfulness are from the Catholic and CUV. |
| 為千萬人 | The Hebrew text has to thousandsbecause at that time the human population was small. In view of the billions today versus Solomon's one in a thousand, I have opted for ten million. |
| 存留 留下 保持 維持 | The Catholic 保持 is more accurate in expressing maintainingthan the CUV and CNV, but I have kept them as options, and included a fourth with the same sense. |
| 慈愛 仁愛 | These two options for loveare only a fraction of the words possible. |
| 赦免 寬赦 宥 寬容 寬恕 饒恕 | There are six possible options for forgiving, |
| 不正 罪孽 過犯 | and three options for iniquity. |
| 過犯 違犯 犯罪 破戒 罪行 | Five choices for transgressionconvey the deliberate act. |
| 和罪 和違背 和罪惡 和罪過 和錯誤 | There are at least five choices for sin.(N.B. In Chinese, all these words for iniquity, transgression and sin overlap in meaning and could have been placed in the other rows.) |
| 萬不以有罪的為無罪 一定要清除罪 但是決不豁免懲罰 | Three choices cover the most obscure part of the passage: by no means clear[the guilty]. |
| 必追討他的罪自父及子至孫 追討罪孽自父及子至孫 父親的不正試煉落子及孫 | The Bible translations for visiting the iniquity of the fathers–are from the Catholic and Protestant versions, along with my own understanding of the matter. |
| 三四伐 | One choice reflects the Hebrew third and fourth[generation]. |
宣告說|上帝上帝 耶和華耶和華 雅威雅威|是 係|有 0|憐憫 仁慈 寬仁|慈悲 慈愛 恩典|的神|不輕易怒 緩於怒 慢慢地至怒|並有 並且有 富於|豐盛的慈愛和誠實 慈愛忠誠|為千萬人|存留 留下 保持 維持|慈愛 仁愛|赦免 寬赦 宥 寬容 寬恕 饒恕|不正 罪孽 過犯|過犯 違犯 犯罪 破戒 罪行|和罪 和違背 和罪惡 和罪過 和錯誤|萬不以有罪的為無罪 一定要清除罪 但是決不豁免懲罰|必追討他的罪自父及子至孫 追討罪孽自父及子至孫 父親的不正試煉落子及孫|三四伐
The red lines are the major sections of the passage. Within each section are the various options (coloured blue and green). The number zero stands for a word that could be dropped.
From the above data, the computer generated 62,985,600 combinations.
Number of features 12 13 14 Combinations found 76 3 2
Of the two with the highest number of features, one used the term 上帝, and the other 耶和華. The phrase with 上帝 is mostly constructed with pieces from the three Chinese Bible translations. The phrase with 耶和華 is more different.1
The result with 上帝 (66 words).
宣告說上帝上帝係有仁慈恩典的神不輕易怒並且有慈愛忠誠為千萬人留下仁愛寬容過犯違犯和罪萬不以有罪的為無罪必追討他的罪自父及子至孫三四伐.
Proclaim (and) speak: SeungDai SeungDai is a God having/of mercy/benevolence and grace, not easily angered, and having love/benevolence(to the deprived/young), loyalty/faithfulness/constancy towards tens of millions of people; leaving/flowing down (with) kindness, disposed to forgive error/mistake, transgression and sin; but never holding the guilty guiltless, pursuing (his) guilt from father with/to son to grandson, three four generations.
This result with 上帝 actually has more features.
Total: 141953 = 72 x 2897.
Odd positioned words: 94031 = 72 x 19 x 101.
Even positioned words: 47922 = 2 x 3 x 72 x 163. SF: 182 = 2 x 7 x 13.
Odd positioned segments of 2 words: 66640 = 24 x 5 x 72 x 17.
Even positioned segments of 2 words: 75313 = 72 x 29 x 53.
Odd positioned segments of 3 words: 72849 = 3 x 7 x 3469.
SF: 3479 = 72 x 71.
Even positioned segments of 3 words: 69104 = 24 x 7 x 617.
Odd positioned segments of 11 words: 73129 = 7 x 31 x 337.
Even positioned segments of 11 words: 68824 = 23 x 7 x 1229.
Odd positioned segments of 22 words: 78246 = 2 x 35 x 7 x 23.
Even positioned segments of 22 words: 63707 = 7 x 19 x 479.
Odd positioned segments of 33 words: 66871 = 7 x 41 x 233.
Even positioned segments of 33 words: 75082 = 2 x 7 x 31 x 173.
Odd valued words: 57995 = 5 x 7 x 1657.
Even valued words: 83958 = 2 x 3 x 7 x 1999.
Sixteen words are divisible by 7.
The positions of these words: 507 = 3 x 132.
The sum of these words is naturally divisible by 7 and is not a
feature, but the real feature is in the sum of the factors:
17164 = 22 x 7 x 613. SF: 624 = 24 x 3 x 13.
There are two sets of words symmetrically positioned from the beginning
of the phrase and from the end of the phrase. The first set starts from
the 5th word (counting from the beginning or end) and ending at the 32nd
word (also from beginning or end). The sum of these two groups:
124852 = 22 x 74 x 13.
A similar set of 12 words start from the 15th to the 26th words (counting
from the beginning or end). The sum of these words:
62426 = 2 x 74 x 13.
Note how both sets have a 2, four 7s and a 13 as common factors. The
second set is exactly half the size of the first set. The positions
defining these two sets are a feature on their own: 5 + 32 + 15 + 26 = 78.
And 78 = 2 x 3 x 13.
The features are wonderfully balanced like Yin and Yang, demonstrating order and structure. In total, there are 18 features. There are probably many more features that could be discovered. At the very least, the odds of this happening are one in 25,853,744.
This is an improvement in the number of numerical features, but is it an improvement in translation?
Context is everything. If the numeric section was left in place with the rest of verse 6, 宣告說 would mean and he proclaimed.
If the numeric section is taken out, removing the beginning of verse 6, this widens the meaning to proclaim and speak
a more general statement than the original Hebrew. In Chinese it could even be a command. It no longer matters who is speaking. It is a witness to God’s character.
上帝: This is the proper term for the one supreme God in Chinese.
不輕易怒: The original translations into Chinese were 緩於發怒 (Catholic), and 不輕易發怒 (Protestant). 緩於發怒 and 不輕易發怒 could simply mean God is slow to anger, or not easily angered, but these phrases could also mean a stronger anger: rage or tantrum. 發怒 has the sense of temper tantrum
or even rage.
There being no such sense in the original Hebrew, dropping 發 in favour of 不輕易怒 is more accurate.
The Catholic Chinese Bible has the phrase 對萬代的人 (to ten thousand generations of people). The CUV has 為千萬人 (to ten million people), and the CNV has 為千千萬萬人 (to millions and hundred millions of people). The original Hebrew just mentions thousands. Our number experiment worked fine with the CUV phrase. This is an update from the ancient Hebrew, but not overly extravagant as the Catholic or CNV. It accounts for the billions today, but is mindful of Solomon's ratio of one in a thousand.
All three Chinese Bibles have 直到, meaning straight through to
the third and fourth generations. These two words were dropped, but the sense is still maintained in the context: 自父及子至孫三四伐 from the father(s) including the son(s) to the grandson(s) three four generations
. This phrase is more like the Hebrew. The Hebrew basically reads on the children, and on the children's children to the third and fourth.
There is no straight through to
though the sense could be implied.
Improvement in translation may not always coincide with improvement in numerical features, but in this case it seems to have worked out. How appropriate that it works so well in God’s proclamation of His character.
A Second Level Of Coincidences
This version of The Proclamation has a second level of numeric coincidences unlike most other verses in Chinese. These are ChangJie Numbers.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 宣 告 說 上 帝 上 帝 JMAM HGR YRCRU YM YBLB YM YBLB 142 170 151 9 33 9 33 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 100- 1- 40- 1 30- 80- 60 8- 60- 20- 60- 3 8- 1 8- 10- 5- 10 8- 1 8- 10- 5- 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 係 有 仁 慈 恩 典 的 OHVF KB OMM TVIP WKP TBC HAPI 156 17 72 815 397 530 379 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 70- 30- 6- 50 7- 10 70- 1- 1 500- 6- 9- 300 90- 7- 300 500- 10- 20 30- 40- 300- 9 15 16 17 18 19 20 神 不 輕 易 怒 並 IFLWL MF JJMVM APHH VEP TTC 159 51 208 400 706 1020 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 9- 50- 5- 90- 5 1- 50 100- 100- 1- 6- 1 40- 300- 30- 30 6- 400- 300 500- 500- 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 且 有 慈 愛 忠 誠 為 BM KB TVIP BBPE LP YRIHS IKNF 11 17 815 720 305 111 68 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 10- 1 7- 10 500- 6- 9- 300 10- 10- 300- 400 5- 300 8- 60- 9- 30- 4 9- 7- 2- 50 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 千 萬 人 留 下 仁 愛 HJ TWLB O HHW MY OMM BBPE 130 605 70 150 9 72 720 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 30- 100 500- 90- 5- 10 70 30- 30- 90 1- 8 70- 1- 1 10- 10- 300- 400 35 36 37 38 39 寬 容 過 犯 違 JTBI JCOR YBBR KHSU YDMQ 619 250 88 44 809 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 100- 500- 10- 9 100- 20- 70- 60 8- 10- 10- 60 7- 30- 4- 3 8- 200- 1- 600 40 41 42 43 44 犯 和 罪 萬 不 KHSU HDR WLLMY TWLB MF 44 290 109 605 51 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 7- 30- 4- 3 30- 200- 60 90- 5- 5- 1- 8 500- 90- 5- 10 1- 50 45 46 47 48 49 以 有 罪 的 為 VIO KB WLLMY HAPI IKNF 85 17 109 379 68 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 6- 9- 70 7- 10 90- 5- 5- 1- 8 30- 40- 300- 9 9- 7- 2- 50 50 51 52 53 54 無 罪 必 追 討 OTF WLLMY PH YHRR YRDI 620 109 330 158 277 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 70- 500- 50 90- 5- 5- 1- 8 300- 30 8- 30- 60- 60 8- 60- 200- 9 55 56 57 58 59 60 他 的 罪 自 父 及 OPD HAPI WLLMY HBU CK NHE 570 379 109 43 27 432 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 70- 300- 200 30- 40- 300- 9 90- 5- 5- 1- 8 30- 10- 3 20- 7 2- 30- 400 61 62 63 64 65 66 子 至 孫 三 四 伐 ND MIG NDHVF MMM WC OI 202 90 288 3 110 79 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 2- 200 1- 9- 80 2- 200- 30- 6- 50 1- 1- 1 90- 20 70- 9
ChangJie total: 16653 = 3 x 7 x 13 x 61. SF: 84 = 2 x 2 x 3 x 7. SF: 14 = 2 x 7.
Odd valued characters: 7735 = 5 x 7 x 13 x 17. SF: 42 = 2 x 3 x 7.
Even valued characters: 8918 = 2 x 7 x 7 x 7 x 13.
Odd valued symbols: 299 = 13 x 23.
Even valued symbols: 16354 = 2 x 13 x 17 x 37.
Amazingly, the ChangJie numbers mirror the first level of numbers from the characters. They are paired and balanced as a second witness to the authenticity of the Bible transmitting God’s words.
Conclusion
The odds of the generated phrase having as many features as it did was one in 25 million. The ChangJie numbers changes this to one in 420 billion! Such a phrase should not have been found so easily in 62 million combinations. It should have taken several trillion or more. It cannot be coincidence when it keeps happening.
The above result was based on the Chinese Catholic Bible, the Chinese Union Version and the Chinese New Version. These translations were heavily based on the English understanding of the scriptures. These translations were not based on the original Hebrew. What would happen if a translation was based more on the actual Hebrew? For more on this, see the next part.
中 國 要 回 歸 上 帝
(For more on China and America in prophecy: Bible Issues.)
Notes
This is the second result, which uses 耶和華. It has 72 words and fewer features than the one above. It also has two phrases which are not found in any of the three Chinese Bible translations: 慢慢地至怒 (slowly gets angry) and 父親的不正試煉落子及孫 (the father's faults are tested in the son and grandson).
宣告說耶和華耶和華是有憐憫慈悲的神慢慢地至怒並有豐盛的慈愛和誠實為千萬人存留仁愛寬容罪孽過犯和罪過萬不以有罪的為無罪父親的不正試煉落子及孫三四伐.