28But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who informed you and for the sake of conscience—
The Hebrew and Greek that is rendered in English as “conscience” is translated into Aari as “our thoughts speak to us,” in Nuer it is “the knowledge of their heart” (source: Jan Sterk), in Cheke Holo “to know what is straight and what is wrong” (source: Carl Gross), in Chokwe “law of the heart” (source D.B. Long in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 135ff. ), in Toraja-Sa’danpenaa ma’pakilala or “the admonishing within” (source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 21 ff. ), in Yatzachi Zapotec as “head-hearts,” in Tzeltal as “hearts” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), in Enlhet as “innermost,” in Northern Emberá as “thinking” (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1975, p. 201ff. ), and in Elhomwe as “what reminds the heart” or “whole heart” (“since the idea of conscience is something that reminds the heart”) (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext).
Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 10:28:
Uma: “But if someone says to us: ‘This meat was offered to idols,’ we’d better not eat it because we consider our friend who said that to us, perhaps he will be offended/hurt/sad [lit., his heart will hurt over it] if we eat it.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But for example if there is someone who says that that viand was given to the idols, don’t eat it because of the person who told you. For example if he sees you eating it, he is troubled in his mind, he thinks that you are sinning. Perhaps some of you say, ‘Why shouldn’t I eat just because of a person who is easily troubled in his thinking.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However, if there is a believer who says, ‘This viand has been sacrificed to an idol,’ then don’t you eat that viand because he might be reluctant to eat it and he will become upset (literally, his breath will become painful) if you eat that. Certainly someone will ask, you will say, ‘If it’s allowable that I do anything, why I must avoid an activity that people who really don’t understand properly think is bad?” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “But in-the-event there is someone eating-with (you) there who says to you (sing.), ‘This food was offered in the temple,’ don’t eat it because of him, because in his mind it’s a sin. Because what perhaps will be the use if you (sing.) insist-on (lit. force) your (sing.) freedom to eat and your (sing.) companion thinks it’s a sin?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But if someone says to you, ‘This has been sacrificed as a means of worshipping a pretend god,’ well, don’t eat any of it, out of your pity/compassion for the one who said that to you so that his mind/thinking won’t be agitated.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “But if any person says to you, ‘This meat here has been sacrificed to an idol’ he tells you, then do not eat the meat. Because you must not want to spoil the heart of the person who is afraid to eat the meat which has been sacrificed.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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