judge vs. condemn

The Greek terms krino and katakrino/katadikazo that are translated as “judge” and “condemn” respectively in English are translated with only one term in Kutu (tagusa). (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

See also do not condemn.

complete verse (1 Corinthians 5:12)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 5:12:

  • Uma: “As for people who are not Kristen, I have no right [lit., seat] to punish them. God will punish them. You yourselves must punish your one-faith relative who is wrong. So, like what is written in the Holy Book: ‘Make the person whose behavior is bad leave/depart your midst,’ don’t permit him to attend-services with you.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “As for the people who do not trust in Isa Almasi, it isn’t for me to observe/check-up-on them. God will judge them. But your fellow trusters in Isa Almasi who-gather-with-you, it is for you to observe/check-up-on them. Because it is written in the holy-book, it says, ‘Cause to leave from you the people who do bad.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However, as for those people who do not believe in Jesus, we have no responsibility to check up on their activities. The one who will check up on them is God. However, it’s necessary that we check up on the activities of our companion believers, because there is a written word of God which says, ‘As for that companion of yours whose doings are evil, don’t you allow him any more to go around with you.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because we have no business to judge those who aren’t our fellow believers, because God will be responsible for that. But you do indeed have a responsibility to judge those who belong-to/are-joined-to your congregation, because there is that which God caused-to-be-written which says, ‘It is necessary that you remove the one who is joined-to/belongs-to you who has done evil.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Because I don’t have authority to pass judgment on people who are not trusting and believing/obeying Cristo. It’s up to God to judge them. Just our fellow believers are whom we judge. Therefore remove now from your group the one doing that disgusting behavior, in accordance with what it says in the writings.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “-” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

SIL Translator’s Notes on 1 Corinthians 5:12

5:12a What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church?

Do I have the authority to judge people who are not a part of the church? ⌊Not at all!⌋
-or-
It is not my responsibility to condemn people who are not believers.
-or-
⌊I did not tell you not to associate with unbelievers who are immoral,⌋ for it is not my/our (incl.) job to decide what to do with people who do not belong to our (incl.) group.

5:12b Are you not to judge those inside?

But certainly you should judge the people who are a part of your church group, shouldn’t you?
-or-
But you should judge/discipline any people who belong to your church group ⌊who do the sinful things which I just mentioned.⌋

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