addressing someone respectfully in direct speech in Japanese

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 appropriate suffix title referred to as keishō (敬称) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017 by either using -san or –sama with the latter being the more formal title.

This is evident in these verses in the Shinkaiyaku Bible from the form anata-sama (あなた様) “you” which is the combination of the nominal “you” anata and the suffix title –sama.

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

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Ezra 4:12)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the exclusive pronoun, excluding King Artaxerxes.

Jerusalem

The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:


“Jerusalem” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)


“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

king

Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:

(Click or tap here to see details)

  • Piro: “a great one”
  • Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
  • Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
  • Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
  • Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))

Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo was determined:

“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”

(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )

See also king (Japanese honorifics).

Translation commentary on Ezra 4:12

In this verse the king is warned about the danger that will come from the completion of the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

Be it known to the king may be a fixed formula for introducing reports. It occurs in both this verse and the following one. An equivalent formula is “It should be made known to the king” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible; similarly Bible de Jérusalem) or more formally, “May the king now please be informed” (New Jerusalem Bible). Other more direct forms may be used, such as “We want Your Majesty to know” (Good News Translation) or “Majesty, we inform you” (Bible en français courant). The content of the report will be introduced in some languages as an indirect quotation.

This is the first time in Ezra that those who returned from Babylonia are referred to as Jews. Technically, this term refers to the descendants of Judah and the inhabitants of the province of Judah, but it is used here for the whole community of the people of Israel. It may be translated “ones of Judah” or a borrowed form may be adopted to refer to the Jews. For example, in Persian the word for Jews is “Yahudian,” which means “people of Judah.” Translators should be careful to avoid using a term that has negative connotations in today’s usage.

Who came up from you to us: The same verb “to come/go up” is used here as was used in Ezra 1.3, perhaps because they traveled in a northerly direction (see the comments on 1.3). But this expression also emphasizes relationships (from you to us), as though subtly implying a certain blame. In some languages translators will need to use a pronoun of politeness in referring to the king, such as a plural “you” or an honorific pronoun.

They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city: Jerusalem is identified as a city, and it is described by two adjectives that are near synonyms. The first adjective is from a verb that relates to action, meaning “to rebel.” The second is from a verb that describes a characteristic, literally “to smell bad” and therefore “to be hateful” or “evil” (Good News Translation). The city of Jerusalem is used here figuratively to represent the people who have lived or who live in it. For some receptor cultures the translator may retain the figure of speech, but in others it may be helpful to describe the inhabitants of the city as people who rebel and who are evil. Good News Translation has reversed the order of the adjectives by placing “evil” first, perhaps because “evil” is more general than “rebellious.”

They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations: The topics of walls and foundations are important in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The walls around a city represent safety and protection for the people who live there. The foundations of the walls represent permanence and stability (see Ezra 3.6). In Ezra-Nehemiah the walls and foundations were made of large rocks that had been hewn in order to fit together and on top of each other. The Aramaic word that is used here for walls occurs only three times in Ezra (4.12, 13, 16). Chouraqui and Osty-Trinquet translate it as “ramparts,” but most translations consider it to be related to Hebrew words meaning “walls” (see Neh 1.3). The vocabulary of some languages will require the translator to distinguish between walls that are a fortification around a city and walls that are a part of buildings.

Although the letter is written in prose form, the reference to walls and foundations shows parallelism in the two clauses of this sentence, which are literally “and the walls they complete, and the foundations they repair.” Chouraqui says “they are finishing the ramparts, they are reinforcing the foundations.” Bible en français courant restructures the sentence for the logical sequence of events, but loses the rhythm: “They are raising the walls again after repairing the foundations.” The reference to finishing the walls places this report in the time of Nehemiah who led the people in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.

The basic meaning of the verb finishing is to complete or to bring to perfection. An appropriate verb must be used for the work on the walls, such as “completing” (New English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “restoring” (New International Version), or “raising” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). The Aramaic has “are finishing” or “are completing” (Revised Standard Version and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project with a B rating) and is recommended to translators. A proposed emendation of the text with the meaning “have begun to finish” is the basis of the Good News Translation translation. At the same time it interprets the repairing of the foundations to be the near completion of the walls.

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Ezra. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .