Following are a number of back-translations of Colossians 3:18:
Uma: “All you who have husbands, submit to your husbands as is appropriate for women who follow the Lord.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “You women you ought-to/must follow your husband’s wish/want/desire. This is right for you to do because you trust our (incl.) Leader Isa Almasi.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “As for you women, submit yourself to your husbands, because this is the proper behavior of a woman who is a believer in the Lord.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “You women, submit-yourselves -to (lit. cause-yourselves -to-be-ruled-by) your spouses, because that is what is fitting to believers in the Lord.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Here is what else I want to say to you. First, as for the women, it is necessary that you submit to your spouse for this is fitting for those who are united/tied-together with the Lord Jesus.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Listen you women, obey your husbands. This is the duty of those who believe in the Lord Jesus.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Martu Wangka: “There are some of you Jesus’s relatives who are women spouses. You should sit well to your men spouses, to those who are like your bosses. Jesus thinks that you should sit well like that.” (Source: Carl Gross)
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:
referring to “God,” especially in Old Testament quotations,
meaning “master” or “owner,” especially in parables, etc.,
as a form of address (see for instance John 4:11: “Sir, you have no bucket”),
or, most often, referring to Jesus
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).
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Following are some of the solutions that don’t rely on a different typographical display (see above):
Iyansi: Mwol. Mwol is traditionally used for the “chief of a group of communities and villages” with legal, temporal, and spiritual authority (versus the “mfum [the term used in other Bantu languages] which is used for the chief of one community of people in one village”). Mwol is also used for twins who are “treated as special children, highly honored, and taken care of like kings and queens.” (Source: Kividi Kikama in Greed / Kruger, p. 396ff.)
Binumarien: Karaambaia: “fight-leader” (Source: Oates 1995, p. 255)
Warlpiri: Warlaljamarri (owner or possessor of something — for more information tap or click here)
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. )
Mairasi: Onggoao Nem (“Throated One” — “Leader,” “Elder”) or Enggavot Nan (“Above-One”) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Obolo: Okaan̄-ene (“Owner of person(s)”) (source: Enene Enene)
Lotha Naga: Opvui (“owner of house / field / cattle”) — since both “Lord” and YHWH are translated as Opvui there is an understanding that “Opvui Jesus is the same as the Opvui of the Old Testament”
Seediq: Tholang, loan word from Min Nan Chinese (the majority language in Taiwan) thâu-lâng (頭儂): “Master” (source: Covell 1998, p. 248)
Thai: phra’ phu pen cao (พระผู้เป็นเจ้า) (divine person who is lord) or ong(kh) cao nay (องค์เจ้านาย) (<divine classifier>-lord-boss) (source: Stephen Pattemore)
Arabic often uses different terms for adonai or kurios referring to God (al-rabb الرب) and kurios referring to Jesus (al-sayyid الـسـيـد). Al-rabb is also the term traditionally used in Arabic Christian-idiom translations for YHWH, and al-sayyid is an honorary term, similar to English “lord” or “sir” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
Tamil also uses different terms for adonai/kurios when referring to God and kurios when referring to Jesus. The former is Karttar கர்த்தர், a Sanskrit-derived term with the original meaning of “creator,” and the latter in Āṇṭavar ஆண்டவர், a Tamil term originally meaning “govern” or “reign” (source: Natarajan Subramani).
Burunge: Looimoo: “owner who owns everything” (in the Burunge Bible translation, this term is only used as a reference to Jesus and was originally used to refer to the traditional highest deity — source: Michael Endl in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 48)
Yagaria: Souve, originally “war lord” (source: Renck, p. 94)
Aguacateco: Ajcaw ske’j: “the one to whom we belong and who is above us” (source: Rita Peterson in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 49)
Konkomba: Tidindaan: “He who is the owner of the land and reigns over the people” (source: Lidorio 2007, p. 66)
Chichewa: AmbuyeAmbuye comes from the singular form Mbuye which is used to refer to: (1) someone who is a guardian or protector of someone or group of people — a grandparent who has founded a community or village; (2) someone who is a boss or master over a group of people or servants and has absolute control over them; (3) owner of something, be it a property, animals and people who are bound under his/her rule — for people this was mostly commonly used in the context of slaves and their owner. In short, Mbuye is someone who has some authorities over those who call him/her their “Mbuye.” Now, when the form Ambuye is used it will either be for honorific when used for singular or plural when referring to more than one person. When this term is used in reference to God, it is for respect to God as he is acknowledged as a guardian, protector, and ruler of everything. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation).
Hdi uses rveri (“lion”) as a title of respect and as such it regularly translates adon in the Old Testament. As an address, it’s most often with a possessive pronoun as in rvera ɗa (“my lion” = “my lord” or “sir”). So, for example, Genesis 15:2 (“O Lord God”) is Rvera ɗa Yawe (“My lion Yahweh”) or Ruth to Boaz in Ruth 2:13: “May I find your grace [lit. good-stomach] my lion.” This ties in nicely with the imagery of the Lord roaring like a lion (Hosea 11:10; Amos 3:8; Joel 3:16). Better still, this makes passages like Revelation 5:5 even richer when we read about rveri ma taba məndəra la Yuda, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah”. In Revelation 19:16, Jesus is rveri ta ghəŋa rveriha “the lion above lions” (“lord of lords”). (Source: Drew Maust)
Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient GreekSeptuagint‘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.”
Submit yourselves represents the Greek hupotassomai, a term used in military contexts of a subordinate’s relationship to his superior in the army hierarchy. It is used of a wife’s relation to her husband in Eph 5.22, Titus 2.5, 1 Peter 3.1, of servants to masters, Titus 2.9, 1 Peter 2.13, of people to state authorities, Rom 13.1. It means “to be subject to, obey, be ruled by.” It carries the implication of subordination, reflecting the standards of the time, which no amount of special pleading can banish. Phillips “adapt yourselves” is an unfortunate attempt to make the command more tolerable in a different age.
A literal translation of wives in direct address may seem not only unusual but almost depreciating in some languages. A more satisfactory equivalent may be “you women who are married.”
Submit yourselves must be rendered in such a way as to avoid any connotation of sexual submission. In some instances, the most appropriate equivalent is “acknowledge your husbands as being the ones who give orders” or “recognize your husbands as leaders in the family” or “… chiefs in the household.” It is also, of course, possible to simply translate “obey your husbands.”
That is what you should do as Christians translates the Greek “as is proper in the Lord” (for other examples of the impersonal anēkō see Eph 5.4, Philemon 8). The Christian wife’s relation to her husband is determined by her status “as a Christian,” which is what the Greek prepositional phrase “in the Lord” means.
As Christians may be rendered as “as persons who are followers of Christ,” but this phrase is often more satisfactorily interpreted as a type of cause, for example, “since you are followers of Christ” or “because you have put your trust in Christ.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Paul instructed husbands and wives, children and parents, slaves and masters
In this section, Paul continued to instruct the Colossians about the way that they should behave in order to please Christ. In this section, however, he was writing about how they should behave at home rather than within the Christian community. He gave instructions to six types of people: wives and husbands, children and parents, slaves and masters. His message was the same for all:
(a) That people should submit to those who had authority over them,
(b) That those who had authority should be considerate toward those under them.
Paul gave instructions to wives in 3:18, to husbands in 3:19, to children in 3:20, to parents in 3:21, to slaves in 3:22, and to masters in 4:1. Make sure you begin each of these verses in the same way.
Paragraph 3:18–19
Theme: Paul gave instructions to husbands and wives: that wives should be subject to their husbands, and husbands should love their wives.
3:18a
Wives: Here Paul was writing specifically to the married women. You may need to use the pronoun “you”(plural) in translating this, for example: “You believers who are married women.” In other languages it may be better to translate this “Each of you who is a married woman.” Use whichever way is most natural in your language.
submit to your husbands: The word submit means that a wife must acknowledge that her husband is the leader in their family, she must put herself under his control. In some languages it may need to be translated as “obey.” This command is in the present tense in Greek. This means that a wife should continuallysubmit to her husband.
3:18b
as is fitting in the Lord: Paul was saying that wives should submit to their husbands because that is the way that women who belong to the Lord should behave. It is behavior that is fitting, appropriate, and correct.
Lord: This refers to the Lord Jesus.
3:19a
Husbands: Here Paul is writing specifically to the married men. You may need to use the pronoun “you”(plural) in translating this, for example: “You believers who are married men.” In other languages it may be better to translate this “Each of you who is a married man.” Use whichever way is most natural in your language.
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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