humble form of "ask" (ukagau)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 to do this is through the usage of lexical honorific forms, i.e., completely different words, as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

In these verses, ukagau (伺う), a humble form of kiku (聞く) or “ask/inquire” is used. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also ask / inquire (Japanese honorifics).

Translation commentary on Acts 10:33

At once is the emphatic position in the Greek sentence.

In the presence of God may be rendered as “where God is” or “and God is with us.”

The term ordered suggests “instructed you to say to us” or “has arranged for you to say to us.”

In the second sentence of this verse anything is in the Greek literally “everything.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .