Sus Translation Selections in the Psalms
A translator is almost always an interpreter. Even the most loyal word-for-word translator invites a thought-for-thought translation (which is not inherently evil, rather functionally good or evil depending upon the context) every time they engage in translation. They take liberties with their translations and often translate the same word differently, at best to match the context, which takes away from at least part of the meaning of the original.
In Holy Writ, we see wind, Spirit, and spirit as totally unrelated in English, and yet those familiar with the original languages (hebrew, aramaic, greek) would beg to differ. They see one root from which all of these spring forth. The same can be said of holy, saints, sanctification, sanctuary, holy place et cetera. Beware of the interpretation.
One place where we Ge'ez Rite boast too dramatically, and often inaccurately, is in how many times we show up in Holy Writ. The secret is, it's almost always negative. To begin with, Holy Writ is a self-scathing and an other-scathing collection of edited writings that render unto the lord what is properly his, namely glory.
Ethiopian is an accurate transliteration of the term found in the Greek NT, and the closest equivalent to the Hebrew term Cush that the translators (Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi says they are the same as the authors/editors of Holy Writ) of the OT Septuagint found. But, Cush is still the original word. And when studying this word, you will find that your stomach may churn and the pillars of your ideology may collapse all around you.
There are many examples we can go to, but let's look at one choice of Amharic translators in the Psalms of David, which should be recited and read-aloud daily, to combat the devils, as it reflects the full range of human emotions for the sake of glorifying the lord.
In Psalm 67(68):31 the Amharic translators take the word Cush to be Ethiopia (the land of the dark-skinded), to insinuate that their people(s) were prophesied to stretch their hands unto the lord. That's true, and a good thing, but the least I can say is that this is not a square-hole to a square-peg of the modern Ethiopian nation-state built by the Emperors Téwodros and Minyilik II. Secondly, I can say that this is a reminder that we were not the original 'chosen' (randomly selected) people(s), rather the furthest known people(s).
In Psalm 7, we see a prayerful tirade against Cush, but the Amharic translators select Kuz or Kooz rather than Ethiopia, the Benjamite as a transliteration. Think, practice, tinker. Holy Writ is deserving of your time and due diligence.
May the lord reveal his mysteries to us all, and be unashamed of us upon his second coming.