father and mother (order)

“In Papiamentu the most natural order of the collocation ‘father and mother’ is mama i tata (‘mother and father’). This probably reflects the matriarchal or matrilineal nature of the Curaçaon society, and in fact, of the whole region. The mother (grandmother, aunt, great-aunt) plays a pivotal role in the web of family and social relations. Even when both parents are still alive and have a good marriage, the children will usually speak not of ‘my father’s house,’ but always of ‘my mother’s house.’

“When discussing the sensitivities surrounding the translation of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16) and the many references to them in the NT, this difference between the target language and the source language emerged. It had been taken for granted in other texts. The discussion in the Papiamentu translation team, working on the Papiamentu Common Language (PAPCL) translation, that is, the Beibel Papiamentu Koriente (1995), shows the complexity and sensitivity of the issue. Given the liturgical significance of the Ten Commandments for several churches, what seemed to be a trivial matter soon became a rather crucial decision.

“At first, following the aim of producing a natural translation, there was a general consensus to follow the natural mother-father word order. However, when reviewers from outside the translation team were told that the original order in Hebrew or Greek was often different, a heated debate developed. The underlying assumption in this discussion was that the natural order in Papiamentu reflects not only the preeminent role of women, but also — and perhaps more significantly — the lack of responsibility of the males (fathers) in the home. Thus the main question was whether the Bible translation, in following the natural language pattern, would not be endorsing the social reality of dysfunctional families, a reality caused by absentee and/or negligent fathers. In other words, the dilemma for the translation team was: Would not the translation be sanctioning this ‘deficient’ image of manhood and fatherhood by the mother-father sequence? This was accepted as being the case, and consequently the biblical pattern (father-mother) was interpreted as providing a necessary corrective to the social situation. (…)

“In practice the policy just described resulted in the following practical decisions:
“Maintain the original ‘patriarchal’ order:

  • Genesis 2:24 (NRSV): ‘Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother’ [PAPCL: su tata i mama]
  • Deuteronomy 5:16: ‘Honor your father and your mother’ [PAPCL: tata i mama]
  • [and numerous others]

“Alternatively, in some (less well-known) passages ‘father and mother’ has been translated as mayornan (‘parents’). This solution has the benefit of putting the focus on the equal function of the partners towards their offspring, not focusing on either gender.

“Unfortunately, the natural collocation (mother-father) seems to be so natural that, contrary to the established policy to follow the Hebrew father-mother order, the Papiamentu mother-father still appears in, for example, Judges 14:9; Proverbs 23:25; Luke 2:33; 14.26; Matthew 19:5; Mark 10:7, 19. And the last three cases, in the New Testament, are direct quotations from the Old Testament! This might serve as a warning for translators who are following an idiomatic approach, to be careful with constructions that are very much ingrained in the psyche of the translators.” (Source: Marlon Winedt in The Bible Translator 2007, p. 56ff. )

Note that in Deuteronomy 22:21 “father’s house” is translated as “parents’ house” in the PAPCL translation.

complete verse (Ephesians 6:2)

Following are a number of back-translations of Ephesians 6:2:

  • Uma: “In the Holy Book this rule is written: "We should honor our mother and father." From the ten commands, this is the first command that has a promise.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “God says in his law, ‘Honor your mother and father.’ This is the first command that he joined a covenant/promise to:” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “There is something God has commanded us in which He says, ‘Respect your father and your mother.’ And as for this commandment, it is the first commandment which has a promise added to it for” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because the command of God which is the first to have what he promises as a reward to the one who obeys, it says, ‘Honor your (sing.) father and mother” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Consider that law of God which says, ‘Respect your (sing.) father and mother.’ This law is really important and if we obey it we will be included in its accompanying promise which says,” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “This is the first of the words in the law of God of which the person who does what it says will encounter the blessing of God. This word says: ‘ Respect your father and respect your mother.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

For the Old Testament quote, see Exodus 20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16.

addressing one’s mother humbly / neutrally in Japanese

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 important aspect of addressing someone else in one’s or someone else’s family is by selecting the correct word when referring to them. One way to do this is through the usage of an appropriate title within a conversation as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

When the speaker humbly refers to his or her mother in the presence of respected interlocutor(s), haha (母) is often used as in the case of Abraham referring to his mother before Abimelech (Genesis 20:12). This form is very appropriately chosen as Abraham is speaking to Abimelech the king of Gerar. While haha can carry this humbling effect in reference to the speaker’s mother, in some types of dialogues/utterances such as in poetry (Song 3:4) and proverbial teachings (e.g. “honor your father and mother” in Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16 et al.), haha is used without the humbling effect. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Ephesians 6:1 – 6:3

Good News Translation it is your Christian duty to represents the prepositional phrase “in the Lord” (see Col 3.18). There are some important Greek manuscripts that omit the phrase, and New English Bible omits it; all other editions of the Greek New Testament include it (Good News Bible has it within brackets). The manuscript evidence is strongly in favor of the phrase, but it does seem rather redundant with the additional for this is the right thing to do. For other occurrences of the phrase in Ephesians see 2.21; 4.1, l7; 5.8; 6.10, 21.

It may be difficult in some languages to speak of Christian duty, but the sense of obligation which is involved in this statement, to obey your parents, may be expressed in some languages as “as believers you should obey your parents” or “as followers of the Lord you should obey your parents” or “because you belong to the Lord you should obey your parents.”

The clause for this is the right thing to do may simply reinforce the concept of obligation by saying “for this is what you should do” or “for you are doing what is right if you do this.”

The writer, in support of his instruction, quotes the commandment about respecting parents (Exo 20.12; Deut 5.16) almost precisely as it is found in the Septuagint, except that the quotation here does not include the final clause “that the Lord your God is giving you.”

The Greek verb translated respect is used of the attitude Christians should have toward the Roman Emperor (1 Peter 2.17) and toward Jesus Christ and his Father (John 5.23). It means to consider worthy of honor, respect, obedience.

In a number of languages respect is expressed as “to regard as being important.” In other instances it may be necessary to employ a rather extended phrase, for example, “think of them as deserving to be honored.” Sometimes respect is expressed in terms of the extent of attention which is paid to a person, for example, “you should pay attention to everything your father and mother say.”

At the end of verse 2 the writer adds a comment, “which is the first commandment with a promise,” to show that it is in the interests of children to respect their parents.

Rather than employing a relative clause such as “which is the first commandment,” it may be better to introduce a completely new statement, but only at the end of verse 3, for example, “this is the first commandment that promises a benefit” or “… promises that something good will come to one who obeys” or “… to those who obey.”

In verse 3 the writer quotes the promise: so that all may go well with you, and you may live a long time in the land. In Exodus 20.12 the land is, of course, the land of Canaan, which Yahweh gave to the Israelites, as the following relative clause makes clear, “which the Lord your God gives you” ( Revised Standard Version). Here, however, the land is not the Promised Land; as Robinson points out, here it probably means “the earth” (so Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, and others). In translation, however, it is not necessary to say explicitly “and live a long time on earth”; all that is needed (in English, at least) is “and live a long time.” Salmond takes it in the restricted sense of the land in which one lives, that is, one’s country, but this seems rather improbable.

It is important that the translation not sound as if the commandment quoted in verse 2 is the first commandment. The translation must emphasize that it is the first commandment that has a promise with it. In some languages it is necessary to begin with a statement of this fact, “The first commandment that has a promise added is the one that says, ‘Respect your father and mother.’ The promise that is added to it is, ‘So that all may go well with you and you may live a long time in the land.’ ” Sometimes commandment needs to be expanded to something like “commandment that God gave.”

So that all may go well with you may be rendered by “so that you will prosper in everything” or “so that everything that is good will happen to you.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1982. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 6:2

6:2a

“Honor your father and mother”: The command Honor your father and mother is a quote from the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16). Most English translations put quote marks around these words, or make some kind of mark to show that it is a quote. You should introduce this quote in a way similar to the quote in 5:31a. For example, you could say:

It is written in God’s Book

Honor: The word Honor means to “respect, esteem greatly and act accordingly.” See the note above for 6:1–2 for more information.

your father and mother: In Greek, this command is singular: “Honor your (sing.) father….” This command is not just for one person, of course, but is meant for all people. In Hebrew, all of the commands in the Ten Commandments are singular. This is a common way in the Hebrew language to give commands that are meant for everyone. You should translate this command in a way that is natural in your language.

6:2b

(which is the first commandment with a promise): Here, Paul interrupts his quotation from the Old Testament to add a comment. It is not part of the quotation. The Berean Standard Bible makes this explicit by enclosing 6:2b in parentheses. Other versions such as the New International Version use dashes to show that this clause is not part of the quotation.

One other way to translate this clause is to put it at the end of 6:3. For example:

6:3a–b that everything may go well for you, and you may have a long life on earth.” 6:2b This is an important commandment with a promise. (God’s Word)

Translate this clause in a way that is natural in your language to show that it is not a part of the quotation.

Paul meant that out of all the commandments that God gave, this is the first time he added a promise to his command. Take care that your translation does not say that the command to honor one’s parents is the first commandment in the Ten Commandments. (It is not. It is the fifth commandment.)

General Comment on 6:2–3

It may be clearer to change the order of 6:2a and 6:2b, so that this verse connects better with 6:3 (see 6:2–3 in Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English):

2b The first commandment which the Lord gave and joined a promise to it is this: 2a “Honor your father and mother, 3 so that things may be good for you and you may live for a long time.”

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Sung version of Ephesians 6

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