“my heart rests in you” (Wè Southern) (source for this and two above: Nida 1952, p. 127).
In Nepali translations, Jesus is referred to in this expression by God the Father with the medium honorific third person pronoun yinī (यिनी) whereas Jesus addresses God the Father with the high honorific pronoun tapā’ī (तपाई) (see for instance John 17), “so that the subordination of Jesus to God the Father is rightly maintained in Nepali.” (Source: Chitra Chhetri in The Bible Translator 2009, p. 73ff. )
The Hebrew and Greek that is often translated as “As the Lord lives, (I swear)” in English is translated in Dan as “I swear before the true living God” to “not to imply that God could die, contrasting with the dead false gods.” (Source: Don Slager)
Similarly, In Elhomwe it is translated as “before the Lord.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
In the NepaliRevised Version (1977, 1997) it is translated as “taking an oath by the Lord” and in the Simple Nepali Holy Bible (2008) as “I swear by the living Lord.”
Chitra B. Chhetri (in The Bible Translator 2007, p. 64ff. ) comments on this translation: “[In the Nepali context,] theologically, one cannot swear by the life of the deity, because divine beings are not subject to the doctrine of saṃsāra, the binding cycle of life and death, in Hinduism practiced in Nepal. In other words, one cannot speak of life and death of a god. Therefore, one can only swear in the name of the deity. One can, however, swear by the life of a superior human being, because humans are subject to life and death. Syntactically, adjectival usage is natural to the Nepali language in the context in which it is used. It would be natural and meaningful to say adjectivally, ‘I swear by the living Lord.’ However, it would be quite awkward and meaningless to say in a nominal form, ‘I swear by the life of the Lord‘ or a verbal form, ‘I swear that the Lord lives.'”
Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike most other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.
As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.
Here, Jesus addresses Mary, his mother, with the formal, respectful pronoun, whereas she addresses him with the informal pronoun, typically used by parents for their children.
Vitaly Voinov explains how the translation team made those choices: “As in probably all languages with a formal/informal distinction, so in Tuvan, parents always address their children with the informal pronoun. Mary does likewise in the only passage where she directly addresses Jesus (Luke 2:48). It was assumed by the Tuvan translation team that Jesus always treated Mary with proper filial respect as a fulfillment of the fifth commandment (cf. Luke 2:51). This is the case even in John 2, where he addresses her as gunai ‘woman’ [see woman], and at first seemingly turns down her request.”
For these verses, most Nepali translations Mary use the medium honorific pronoun timīlē (तिमीले) when addressing Jesus who responds with the high honorific pronoun tapā’īnharū (तपाईंहरू), honoring his parents. (Source: Chitra Chhetri in The Bible Translator 2009, p. 73ff. )
In most Dutch translations, the same distinctions are made.
In Gbaya, Jesus addresses his mother with the less courteous pronoun. (Source Philip Noss)
The various Greek terms that are translated as “Lord,” “teacher,” or “rabbi” in English are translated in the Simple Nepali Holy Bible (2008) as guru-jyuu (गुरुज्यू). Guru simply means “teacher” and the honorific suffix -jyuu is added to it. Instead of guru-jyuu one can also simply use guru, which does not sound impolite. However, guru-jyuu is more respectful and thus preferable. (Source: Chitra Chhetri in The Bible Translator 2009, p. 73ff. )
Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.
As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.
Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.
In Nepali translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and other people with the medium honorific pronoun timīlē (तिमीले) or timīlēharū (तिमीलेहरू). This disciples respond with a high honorific pronoun. (Source: Chitra Chhetri in The Bible Translator 2009, p. 73ff. )
In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.
