In Ghari different words are used for a husband divorcing a wife and a wife divorcing a husband. (Source: David Clark)
In Mairasi the term that is used means “discard.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
See also divorced (woman).
Τοῖς δὲ λοιποῖς λέγω ἐγὼ οὐχ ὁ κύριος· εἴ τις ἀδελφὸς γυναῖκα ἔχει ἄπιστον καὶ αὕτη συνευδοκεῖ οἰκεῖν μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ, μὴ ἀφιέτω αὐτήν·
12To the rest I say—I and not the Lord—that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.
In Ghari different words are used for a husband divorcing a wife and a wife divorcing a husband. (Source: David Clark)
In Mairasi the term that is used means “discard.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
See also divorced (woman).
Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 7:12:
The Greek that is translated in English as “brother” or “brother and sister” (in the sense of fellow believers), is translated with a specifically coined word in Kachin: “There are two terms for brother in Kachin. One is used to refer to a Christian brother. This term combines ‘older and younger brother.’ The other term is used specifically for addressing siblings. When one uses this term, one must specify if the older or younger person is involved. A parallel system exists for ‘sister’ as well. In [these verses], the term for ‘a Christian brother’ is used.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae)
In Matumbi is is translated as alongo aumini or “relative-believer.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
In Martu Wangka it is translated as “relative” (this is also the term that is used for “follower.”) (Source: Carl Gross)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is often translated as Mitchristen or “fellow Christians.”
See also brothers.
The Hebrew adonai in the Old Testament typically refers to God. The shorter adon (and in two cases in the book of Daniel the Aramaic mare [מָרֵא]) is also used to refer to God but more often for concepts like “master,” “owner,” etc. In English Bible translations all of those are translated with “Lord” if they refer to God.
In English Old Testament translations, as in Old Testament translations in many other languages, the use of Lord (or an equivalent term in other languages) is not to be confused with Lord (or the equivalent term with a different typographical display for other languages). While the former translates adonai, adon and mare, the latter is a translation for the tetragrammaton (YHWH) or the Name of God. See tetragrammaton (YHWH) and the article by Andy Warren-Rothlin in Noss / Houser, p. 618ff. for more information.
In the New Testament, the Greek term kurios has at least four different kinds of use:
In the first and fourth case, it is also translated as “Lord” in English.
Most languages naturally don’t have one word that covers all these meanings. According to Bratcher / Nida, “the alternatives are usually (1) a term which is an honorific title of respect for a high-ranking person and (2) a word meaning ‘boss’, ‘master’, or ‘chief.’ (…) and on the whole it has generally seemed better to employ a word of the second category, in order to emphasize the immediate personal relationship, and then by context to build into the word the prestigeful character, since its very association with Jesus Christ will tend to accomplish this purpose.”
When looking at the following list of back-translations of the terms that translators in the different languages have used for both kurios and adonai to refer to God and Jesus respectively, it might be helpful for English readers to recall the etymology of the English “Lord.” While this term might have gained an exalted meaning in the understanding of many, it actually comes from hlaford or “loaf-ward,” referring to the lord of the castle who was the keeper of the bread (source: Rosin 1956, p. 121).
Following are some of the solutions that don’t rely on a different typographical display (see above):
We have come to rely on another term which emphasizes God’s essential nature as YHWH, namely jukurrarnu (see tetragrammaton (YHWH)). This word is built on the same root jukurr– as is jukurrpa, ‘dreaming.’ Its basic meaning is ‘timelessness’ and it is used to describe physical features of the land which are viewed as always being there. Some speakers view jukurrarnu in terms of ‘history.’ In all Genesis references to YHWH we have used Kaatu Jukurrarnu. In all Mark passages where kurios refers to God and not specifically to Christ we have also used Kaatu Jukurrarnu.
New Testament references to Christ as kurios are handled differently. At one stage we experimented with the term Watirirririrri which refers to a ceremonial boss of highest rank who has the authority to instigate ceremonies. While adequately conveying the sense of Christ’s authority, there remained potential negative connotations relating to Warlpiri ceremonial life of which we might be unaware.
Here it is that the Holy Spirit led us to make a chance discovery. Transcribing the personal testimony of the local Warlpiri pastor, I noticed that he described how ‘my Warlaljamarri called and embraced me (to the faith)’. Warlaljamarri is based on the root warlalja which means variously ‘family, possessions, belongingness’. A warlaljamarri is the ‘owner’ or ‘possessor’ of something. While previously being aware of the ‘ownership’ aspect of warlaljamarri, this was the first time I had heard it applied spontaneously and naturally in a fashion which did justice to the entire concept of ‘Lordship’. Thus references to Christ as kurios are now being handled by Warlaljamarri.” (Source: Stephen Swartz, The Bible Translator 1985, p. 415ff. )
Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient Greek Septuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew adonai was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments: “Another case is the use of kurios referring to Jesus. For Yahweh (in English Bibles: ‘the Lord‘), the Septuagint uses kurios. Although the term kurios usually has to do with one’s authority over others, when the New Testament authors use this word from the Septuagint to refer to Jesus, they are making an extraordinary claim: Jesus of Nazareth is to be identified with Yahweh.”
See also Father / Lord.
It is grammatically possible to understand the rest (Good News Bible‘s “others”) as neuter, as in Jerusalem Bible: “the rest is from me and not from the Lord” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible). However, the context strongly suggests that Paul is speaking to a series of different groups: “the unmarried and the widows” (verse 8), “married” (verse 10), and the rest (verse 12). It is therefore necessary to decide who the rest are. This phrase is as vague in Greek as it is in English. But in the light of the following text, the rest probably refers to married couples of which one member has since become a Christian but not the other member. This situation was not covered by “the Lord’s command.”
The context shows plainly that brother means “a Christian man,” the opposite of an unbeliever. The word for unbeliever does not refer in the New Testament to someone who is unfaithful in marriage. Here Paul is using it naturally, not insultingly, to mean a non-Christian.
The situations that Paul describes in verses 12-13 and 14-15 (as in verse 9) are probably real; the word if implies the meaning “as in the case.”
Consents translates a compound verb meaning “is quite content.” The words consents or “agrees” (Good News Bible) in English imply a positive response to a suggestion made by someone else, but this is not implied in Greek.
The same verb divorce is used here and in verse 13.
Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
7:12a To the rest I say this
Now I am talking to you other believers ⌊who are married to people who are not believers⌋.
7:12b (I, not the Lord):
This command is from me, not from the Lord Jesus.
-or-
Since the Lord Jesus did not tell us ⌊if we should stay married to unbelievers or not,⌋ I will tell you what I think is the right thing for you to do.
-or-
The Lord Jesus did not give us any command/teaching about this, but I will give you my teaching/command.
-or-
These are my own teachings/instructions to you. The Lord Jesus did not say anything on this topic.
7:12c If a brother has an unbelieving wife
If a Christian man is married to a woman who does not believe ⌊in Jesus Christ⌋,
-or-
Suppose/Perhaps a follower of Christ has a wife who is not a follower,
-or-
Some of you Christian men have wives who are not believers.
7:12d and she is willing to live with him,
and she does not want to leave him,
-or-
and she wants to continue being his wife.
-or-
If your wife is willing to live with you,
7:12e he must not divorce her.
then he should not send her away.
-or-
Then tell him that he should not divorce her.
-or-
then do not divorce/leave her.
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