gospel

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In choosing a word for the Greek that is typically translated as “gospel” in English, a number of languages construct a phrase meaning “good news,” “joyful report” or “happiness-bringing words.” In some instances such a phrase may be slightly expanded in order to convey the proper meaning, e.g. “new good word” (Tzotzil), or it may involve some special local usage:

  • “good story” (Navajo (Dinė))
  • “joyful telling” (Tausug)
  • “joyful message” (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • cohuen ñoñets or “message of God” (Shilluk) (source: Nida 1964, p. 237)
  • “good news” (Yanesha’) (source: Martha Duff in Holzhausen 1991, p. 11)
  • “voice of good spirit” (San Blas Kuna) (source: Claudio and Marvel Iglesias in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 85ff. )
  • suviśēṣattinṟe (0സുവിശേഷം) or “good narrative” (Malayalam)
  • susmachar (ସୁସମାଚାର) or “good matter” (Odia)
  • suvārteya (ಸುವಾರ್ತೆಯ) or “good word” (Kannada) (source for this and two above: Y.D. Tiwari in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 132ff. )
  • the German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) translates as “all-transformative good news” (alles verändernde gute Botschaft), also “good news,” and the German translation by Fridolin Stier (1989) as “message of salvation” (Heilsbotschaft)
Vitaly Voinov tells this story about the translation into Rutul (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight):

“In Rutul, it was only during the most recent consultant checking session that I realized that the Rutul word for Gospel – Incir (from Arabic إنجيل — Injil) — sounds and looks exactly like the word that means ‘fig’ in Rutul. This is a case of homonymy, in which two completely non-related words from differing historical sources have come to sound exactly alike. Most Rutul speakers know that incir means ‘fig’ because they grow this fruit in their yard or buy it at the market every week. However, because the religious sphere of discourse was heavily disparaged during the Soviet era, most people simply never encountered Incir with the meaning of ‘Gospel.’ This meaning of the word, which Rutuls of the pre-Soviet era knew from the Koran, simply fell into disuse and never had much reason for returning into contemporary Rutul since there is no Christian church established among the people. So if the translator continues to use the term Incir as the rendering for ‘Gospel,’ he runs the risk that most readers will, at best, read the word with a smile because they know that it also means ‘fig,’ and, at worst, will completely misunderstand the word. The seemingly ‘easy’ solution in this case is for the translator to use a Rutul neologism meaning ‘Joyful Message’ or ‘Good News,’ [see above] instead of Incir; but in fact it is not all that easy to make this change if the translator himself insists on using the historical word because at least some Rutuls still understand it as meaning ‘Gospel.’ This is a situation in which the translation team has to gradually grow into the understanding that a fully intelligible translation of Scripture is preferable to one that maintains old words at the cost of alienating much of the readership.”

For “good news,” see also Isaiah 52:7.

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Gal. 1:9)

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, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding the readers of the letter).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (Galatians 1:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of Galatians 1:9:

  • Uma: “While we (excl.) were still there with you, we (excl.) once said something like that, and I repeat it again now: if there is one who brings a different Good News from what you have received, he will definitely be cursed by God!” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “We (excl.) have said this before and I repeat it now that if someone proclaims/preaches saying (that it is) good news but it is different from the true teaching we (excl.) have proclaimed to you, he really will go to hell.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “We told you this before but I’m going to say it again now, that if there’s anyone who preaches what he calls Good News, but it’s not the true doctrine which we preach to you, may he be placed in hell.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “This is what we (excl.) told you previously, but I repeat-it nonetheless: if even anyone preaches something different from the good news that you originally/formerly received, may he be punished in hell forever.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For did we (excl.) not already say and now, I am repeating again, that if there is someone who teaches you something different from this Good News that we (excl.) taught you that you believed, it’s necessary that God punish him with unlimited punishment.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “I have told you this before and again I will tell you. If someone should arise to tell you another good news that is not the same as the word you already believe, this one who tells you a different word will go to punishment.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (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 way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

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

Translation commentary on Galatians 1:9

It is possible that we have said it before could refer to the statement in verse 8 (New American Bible “I repeat what I have just said”). Most translators and commentators, however, understand this statement to refer to a previous occasion in the past, when Paul was with the Galatians, in contrast with the present when he is not personally with them but is communicating with them by letter. This previous occasion is probably the initial visit of Paul to Galatia. If one takes the position that Paul is writing to congregations in the Roman province of Galatia, then perhaps a more or less accurate record of this visit can be found in Acts 13.13–14.26. In a number of languages, however, one cannot be ambiguous in the use of the adverb before. One must either choose the immediate reference to what is said in verse 8 or to what was said on a prior occasion. If one chooses the latter, it may be necessary to indicate something of the time lapse of the verb in question. Here, depending on one’s understanding of the date for the writing of the letter to the Galatians, one must choose between “several months before” or “a few years before.”

The we, as in verse 8, may be understood as referring to Paul himself (New English Bible, New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible, Phillips, Moffatt). An alternative is to understand we as referring not only to Paul but to his missionary companions when he visited the Galatians. This is apparently what Good News Translation prefers, and therefore it preserves the plural form in translation. In languages which would not employ the so-called “editorial we,” it may be better to employ the first person singular “I,” particularly if one understands that by we Paul is referring to himself alone.

The Greek word for if in the phrase if anyone indicates that Paul is no longer dealing with a supposition or a hypothetical situation (as in verse 8) but with the actual situation of the Galatian churches, and so it may be translated “whoever” or “anyone who.” Anyone is general, but the reference is, of course, to the some people of verse 7.

The one you accepted is literally “that which you received.” The word “received” contains the element of appropriating something for oneself. The good news had not merely been preached to the Galatians; they had not merely “heard” it (Jerusalem Bible, Phillips), but they had received it and made it their own. The Greek verb used in this context was a technical one in Judaism for “receiving a tradition.”

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .