Language-specific Insights

shake the dust off your feet

The Greek that is typically translated in English as “shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them” (Luke 9:5) is translated by the Italian La Sua Parola è Vita translation more explicitly as lasciandola scuotete la polvere dai vostri piedi per mostrare che non avete più niente a che fare con loro e li lasciate al loro destino or “shake the dust off your feet to show that you do not have anything more to do with them and that you leave them to their fate.”

Luke 10:11, translated in English as “Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you” or similar is translated as Non abbiamo più niente a che fare con voi e vi lasciamo al vostro destino. Ecco, riprendetevi anche la polvere della vostra città or “We do not have anything more to do with you and leave you to your fate. Here, take back also the dust of your city.”

Source: Cotrozzi 2019

See also shake off the dust from your feet.

angel of the Lord

The Greek in Luke 1:11 that is typically translated in English as “angel of the Lord” is translated by the Italian La Sua Parola è Vita translation as angelo or “angel.” Cotrozzi (2019) explains: “Apart from a handful of verses where the context makes clear that fallen angels are in view (e. g. Matt 25:41; 2 Cor 12:17; Rev 9:11) the term ‘angel’ refers to a supernatural, spiritual being sent by God. This is the default sense that this term has in Italian, the meaning people think of when they hear this word in isolation. Since the occurrence in Luke 1:11 corresponds to the default case, there is no reason to state explicitly that the angel in question belongs to the Lord. On the contrary, the phrase ‘angel of the Lord’ may be confusing to readers not accustomed to church jargon.”

See also angel.

Greetings favored one! The Lord is with you.

The Greek in Luke 1:28 that is translated as “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you” or similar in English is translated in the interconfessional Italian Common Language Version (Traduzione Interconfessionale in Lingua Corrente, publ. 2014) as Ti saluto, Maria! Il Signore è con te: egli ti ha colmata di grazia or “Hail, Mary! The Lord is with you; he has filled you with grace.”

Carlo Buzzetti (in The Bible Translator 1982, p. 243 ) explains: “The most famous Latin translation, of St. Jerome, reads: Ave gratia plena, Dominus tecum (‘Hail, woman full of grace, the Lord is with you’), and a great many later translations have been influenced by it. So nearly all the Italian Roman Catholic editions of the Gospel say: Ti saluto, piena di grazia. il Signore e con te. However the Italian protestant versions have avoided the formula piena di grazia (‘full of grace’). This expression does not seem to be the best translation of the Greek, and it implies an interpretation which can easily be confessional: the words piena di grazia could be understood as a description of Mary almost independent from God, whereas the Greek word kecharitomene is a passive form. For this reason we read Ben ti sia, o favorita; il Signore sia leco (old Diodati version) or Ti saluto, o favorita dalla grazia, il Signore e teco (Riveduta version), in which favorita (‘favored one’) is preferred as the equivalent of kecharitomene.

“Unfortunately, the word favorita doesn’t belong at all to the common language Italian of today; and the reader who knows it probably gets the wrong shade of meaning and wrong connotations from it. The same thing is true of other participles and adjectives: graziata, gratificata, graziosa … so the Italian translators of [the Common Language Version] decided to bring in the subject (God) which is hidden in the passive Greek form: and they produced the formula Dio ti ha colmata di grazia (‘God has filled you with grace’). There was no confessional difficulty with this expression; on the contrary, the agreement was general.”

mercy

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin terms that are typically translated as “mercy” (or “compassion” or “kindness”) in English are translated in various ways. Bratcher / Nida classify them in (1) those based on the quality of heart, or other psychological center, (2) those which introduce the concept of weeping or extreme sorrow, (3) those which involve willingness to look upon and recognize the condition of others, or (4) those which involve a variety of intense feelings.

While the English mercy originates from the Latin merces, originally “price paid,” Romance languages (Italian, Spanish, Corsican, Catalan, Friulian) and other Germanic languages (German, Swedish, Danish — Barmherzigkeit, barmhärtighet and barmhjertighed, respectively) tend to follow the Latin misericordia, lit. “misery-heart.”

Here are some other (back-) translations:

See also steadfast love and Seat of the Mind / Seat of Emotions.

complete verse (Luke 18:17)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 18:17:

  • Noongar: “Remember! The person who does not accept the Kingdom of Heaven like a child, he will not go in.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “Truly I say to you: If you do not submit to God like children, you will not become his people in his Kingdom.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Truly I tell you,’ said Isa, ‘if the trusting of a person in God is not like the trusting of children, that person will really not be included in God’s ruling.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “It’s true what I say to you, that if there is a person and his trust in God is not like the trust of little children, then he cannot be ruled over by God.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “This that I tell you is true that if you don’t receive God’s ruling you like the way children receive, you will absolutely not be included there.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “This which I will say to you is true, that whoever won’t make himself like a little child in his submitting to the rule of God, he won’t be able to enter that kingdom of his.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Gurung: ” . . . whoever does not submit to God in the way children submit to their parents he will never receive the full blessing of God.” (Source: Warren Glover in The Bible Translator 1978, p. 231ff.)
  • Italian (La Sua Parola è Vita): “Indeed, I tell you that those who do not accept the Kingdom of God as a present with the same humility of a child will never be able to enter it!” (Cotrozzi 2019 explains: “Although some thought of childlike trustfulness may be present, the focus more probably lies on humility as shown by the context with its rebuke of proud Pharisees in 18:9-14.”)

complete verse (Luke 22:44)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 22:44:

  • Noongar: “Jesus began to pain more greatly and he prayed much more earnestly. His sweat fell, dripping to the ground like blood.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “He exerted-great-effort praying, because he felt great suffering/sorrow. His sweat dripped to the ground like blood.]]” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Because his liver was very grieved, he prayed very hard, therefore his sweat was like blood dripping on the ground.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And at that time Jesus became very sorrowful and he prayed all the harder to God, and his sweat dropped out just like blood.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “And in this exceeding hardship of his, he persevered still-more to pray, and his sweat, it was like blood dripping to the soil.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “His inside was churning terribly. Therefore he prayed with great intensity (lit. using up all that was in his mind/inner-being). Pitter-pattering on the ground was his sweat which was dripping which had blood in with it now.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Italian (La Sua Parola è Vita): “In anguish he prayed even more intensely, sweat dripped copiously, as if it were blood from a wound.” (Cotrozzi 2019 explains: “Luke merely wants to highlight Jesus’ emotional strain ‘as so intense that he perspired profusely as a result. The sweat beads multiplied on his body like flowing clumps of blood and dropped to the earth.’”)

grain offering

The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated as “grain offering” is translated in Tatar as “bread gift,” in the Italian Traduzione interconfessionale in lingua corrente (2014) as offerta di vegetali (“vegetable offering”), in the French Parole de Vie (2000) as un produit de la terre (“a product of the earth”) and in German as Speiseopfer (“food offering”). (Source: Lénart de Regt in The Bible Translator 2017, p. 131ff. )

complete verse (Luke 7:8)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 7:8:

  • Noongar: “I also am a man with a boss. He stands over me but many soldiers sit beneath me. I tell this man, ‘Go!’ and he goes; I say to that man, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and I tell my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “Because me, I am also just a commanded-one, and there are also those whom I command. If for example there is my command to a soldier saying to him: ‘Go!,’ he definitely goes. If I call another soldier, ‘Come here!’ he definitely comes. If I say to my slaves, ‘Do that!’ they definitely do it. So also You (sing.) Father, what you (sing.) say there [where the listener is, but not the speaker], will definitely happen here.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “I know for even I am ruled over by the great ones/the ones higher up and I rule over the soldiers. If I say to one, ‘Go,’ he goes. If I say to another one, ‘Come here,’ he comes. And if I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ he does it.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I know, because it’s just like there’s someone who is in charge of me, and there are also soldiers that I’m in charge of and I command the one that he should come to me and he comes. I also send my servant, if I have anything for him to do, and he does it. It’s just the same with you, because what you say will come to pass.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because it’s reportedly the same with him that there are higher-ups who give-orders to him and there are also his soldiers to whom he gives-orders. If he tells one, ‘Go,’ he goes, and if he also says to one, ‘Come,’ he comes, and if he also tells his slave, ‘Do this,’ he does it.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For I am used to verbal orders, because I also have a boss/leader who gives me orders, and there are soldiers to whom I give orders. If I say to one person, ‘Go,’ he really will go. Well if I say to the next, ‘Come here,’ he truly comes to me. It’s like that too with my servant, if I order him, ‘Do this,’ he truly will do it.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Italian (La Sua Parola è Vita): “I too am subject to the authority of my superiors and I myself have authority over my men; I know that if I give an order to any of them or to my servant, they obey me.” (Cotrozzi 2019 explains: “La Sua Parola è Vita quite boldly recasts the verse as indirect speech and generalizes its content to adapt it to Italian ears.”)