complete verse (Galatians 4:21)

Following are a number of back-translations of Galatians 4:21:

  • Uma: “Ee, you who want to submit to the Law of Musa! Just listen to my words! I’ll tell you what is written in the Book of the Law of Musa.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “You, the ones who want to follow the law written by Musa in the holy-book, do you not know as to what the holy-book says?” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “You who want to observe the Law, I tell you what is the interpretation of observing the Law.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “All-right then, you who want your salvation to be based on your following the law of Moses, you ought to think about what that law says.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well now, this is my question to you, you who still want to submit to the laws written in the writing of the past, have you not grasped/understood what that writing was getting at (lit. hitting)?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Everyone who wants to do what all is written in the law followed by the Jews, haven’t you ever heard what is written in the book of the law?” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

law

The Greek that is translated in English as “Law” or “law” is translated in Mairasi as oro nasinggiei or “prohibited things” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Noongar with a capitalized form of the term for “words” (Warrinya) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

In Yucateco the phrase that is used for “law” is “ordered-word” (for “commandment,” it is “spoken-word”) (source: Nida 1947, p. 198) and in Central Tarahumara it is “writing-command.” (wsource: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)

See also teaching / law (of God) (Japanese honorifics).

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. )

Japanese benefactives (kotaete)

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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, kotaete (答えて) or “answer” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”

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

Translation commentary on Galatians 4:21

Let me ask (literally “tell me”) signals the change in tone from the preceding section. It is still direct, but now it is less affectionate and more formal. The abruptness of the expression shows that the idea that Paul is about to present had just occurred to him. Let me ask should not be interpreted as requesting permission; rather it is equivalent to “I want to ask a question of those…,” or “I want to pose a question to those of you….”

Paul is probably not addressing all his readers but only those who want to be subject to the Law. This statement suggests that not all the Galatians have succumbed to the false teachers, but that many have shown by their actions that they desire to be under the Law and are about to adopt the principles and practices which the Law provides. The phrase subject to the Law is literally “under law” and clearly means being obliged to do what the Law requires in order to win God’s approval. In the Greek, “law” does not have an article, and accordingly it is suggested by some commentaries that it means law in general rather than the Jewish Law. It is clear, however, that Paul had in mind the Jewish Law, as this was what the false teachers were presenting to the Galatians. Who want to be subject to the Law may often be rendered simply as “who want to be under obligation to obey what the Law says,” or “who want to be controlled by what the Law says.” Note, however, that in this passage as well as in a great many others, it may be necessary to specify that this is “the Law of Moses,” “the laws of Moses,” or “the laws given by means of Moses.”

In the question do you not hear what the Law says?, some commentaries see a touch of irony: “you want so much to be subject to the Law, so why don’t you listen more carefully to what the Law says?” This is reflected in some translations (Jerusalem Bible “you want to be subject to the Law? Then listen to what the Law says”; New English Bible “tell me … will you not listen to what the Law says?”). Others, however, see no irony but an earnest and sincere desire on the part of Paul to reach his readers and even the false teachers who honestly believe that to obey the Law is to follow God’s will. Do you not hear what the Law says? may be equivalent to “do you really understand what the Law says?” or “… what the laws really mean?” In this particular context hear should be understood in the sense of full comprehension or realization of what is involved. For a language which could not employ a rhetorical question at this point, a strong negative statement may be used, for example, “you do not really understand what the Law is saying.”

Law here is specifically the Law, and would refer either to the whole Old Testament, or to the first five books, known as the Torah or the Pentateuch. The suggestion made by some scholars that this question has reference only to the public reading of scripture is too far-fetched to be taken seriously.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Galatians 4:21

Section 4:21–31

Because the Galatians are spiritual sons of Abraham they are free from slavery

In this section, Paul explained why the Galatians should return to freedom and reject the teaching of the false teachers. He contrasted two sons of Abraham: the son of the slave woman and the son of the free woman. The son of the slave woman represented slavery to the law. The son of the free woman represented the freedom of living in the grace of Christ. Living in slavery to the law is in conflict with living in the grace of Christ. Those who live in the grace of Christ must reject slavery to the law.

Some possible headings for this section are:

Hagar and Sarah
-or-
The covenant of the promise is better than the covenant of the law
-or-
Choose grace, not the law

Paragraph 4:21–23

In this paragraph, Paul explained the difference between Abraham’s two sons.

4:21a

Tell me: This is a command. Paul used this command to focus the Galatians’ attention on what he was going to say next.

Another way to translate this command is:

Listen to me (New Living Translation (1996))

you who want to be under the law: The clause want to be under the law means “want to obey the law of Moses.”

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

you who want to live under the law
-or-
those of you who want to obey the law
-or-
you who want to follow the law ?of Moses? ?for your salvation?

4:21b

do you not understand what the law says?: This is a rhetorical question. Paul used this rhetorical question to challenge the Galatians. He used this rhetorical question to tell the Galatians that they did not listen to and understand the law. They did not understand what they were doing.

Some ways to translate this rhetorical question are:

• As a rhetorical question. For example:

do you know what the law really says? (New Living Translation (1996))

• As a tag question. For example:

You do not understand what the law says, do you?

• As a statement. For example:

It must be that you do not understand what the law says.
-or-
You should understand what the law says.

the law: Here the phrase the law refers to the five books that Moses wrote. Some other ways to translate this are:

the ?Jewish? law
-or-
the law ?of Moses?
-or-
the law ?that Moses gave/wrote?

© 2016 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.