The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “lose heart” or similar in English is translated in Elhomwe idiomatically as “grow tired” and in Makonde as “lose strength in one’s heart.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
forget
The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “forget” in English is translated in Noongar as dwangka-anbangbat, lit. “ear-lose.” (Source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).
See also remember and forget (Japanese honorifics).
complete verse (Hebrews 12:5)
Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 12:5:
- Uma: “And don’t forget the admonition of the Holy Book that speaks to you like a father speaks to his children. It is written like this: ‘My child, consider well the teaching of the Lord, and don’t be discouraged if he admonishes you (sing.).” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “Have you forgotten the words that God spoke to you encouraging you when he called you his children? It is written in the holy-book, it says, ‘My children, pay attention when I teach you. And don’t become tired following me when I punish/discipline you.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Perhaps you have already forgotten the advice God gives to you, his children. For there is a written word of God which says, ‘As for you, my child, when I scold you, you must carefully check up on your behavior. And when I train you, it’s necessary that this not be the cause for you to stop holding on to your trust in me.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “Have you perhaps forgotten what God caused-to-be-written which ought to strengthen the minds of you who are his children? He said, ‘My child, don’t belittle/look-down-on it if the Lord teaches you (sing.). Neither should you (sing.) be discouraged if he admonishes/rebukes/instructs you (sing.).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “It’s like you have now forgotten what God said in the past to you who are his children, which was like a strengthening of your mind/inner-being. This is what he said, ‘Child, regard it as no-joking-matter when God corrects/straightens you (sing.). Don’t weaken when you (sing.) experience (lit. are-reached-by) this correcting of his.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “Do not forget the word God tells us, we being his children. There in the Holy Book is written the word God speaks: ‘Listen, my children. Consider well how it is that God punishes you. Do not let your hearts turn back when God rebukes you for what you do.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
For the Old Testament quote, see Proverbs 3:11 and Proverbs 3:12.
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.)
Lord
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):
- Navajo (Dinė): “the one who has charge”
- Mossi: “the one who has the head” (the leader)
- Uduk: “chief”
- Guerrero Amuzgo: “the one who commands”
- Kpelle: “person-owner” (a term which may be applied to a chief)
- Central Pame: “the one who owns us” (or “commands us”)
- Piro: “the big one” (used commonly of one in authority)
- San Blas Kuna: “the great one over all” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
- Guhu-Samane: Soopara (“our Supervisor”) (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.)
- Balinese: “Venerated-one” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
- Yanesha’: “the one who carries us” (source: Nida 1952, p. 159)
- Northern Emberá: Dadjirã Boro (“our Head”)
- Rarotongan: Atu (“master or owner of a property”)
- Gilbertese: Uea (“a person of high status invested with authority to rule the people”)
- Rotuman: Gagaja (“village chief”)
- Samoan: Ali’i (“an important word in the native culture, it derives from the Samoan understanding of lordship based on the local traditions”)
- Tahitian: Fatu (“owner,” “master”)
- Tuvalu: Te Aliki (“chief”)
- Fijian: Liuliu (“leader”) (source for this and six above: Joseph Hong in The Bible Translator 1994, p. 329ff. )
- Bacama: Həmə miye: “owner of people” (source: David Frank in this blog post )
- Hopi: “Controller” (source: Walls 2000, p. 139)
- 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.)
- Ghomala’: Cyəpɔ (“he who is above everyone,” consisting of the verb cyə — to surpass or go beyond — and pɔ — referring to people. No human can claim this attribute, no matter what his or her social status or prestige.” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn )
- Binumarien: Karaambaia: “fight-leader” (Source: Oates 1995, p. 255)
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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)
- Angami Naga: Niepu (“master,” “owner”)
- 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”
- Ao Naga: Kibuba (“human master,” “teacher,” “owner of property,” etc.) (source for this and two above: Nitoy Achumi in The Bible Translator 1992 p. 438ff. )
- 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)
- 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: Ambuye Ambuye 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 Greek Septuagint‘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.”
See also Father / Lord.
formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)
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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 Hebrews 12:5 – 12:6
See Proverbs 3.11-12. Hebrews as usual follows the Septuagint, which is different from the Hebrew.
Revised Standard Version‘s “And” is omitted by most modern translations, since there is no close connection between verses 4 and 5. It probably has the meaning “What is more,” introducing a new point.
Have you forgotten could be translated “You have forgotten” (New English Bible, New American Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, and older translations). This would make good sense if verse 4 were blaming the readers, suggesting that if they had been faithful some of them would have suffered martyrdom. However, there seems to be no basis for this, so it is best to translate verse 5a as a question. Forgotten renders an unusual and strong word. In order to emphasize the significance of the term forgotten, it may be possible to use some such expression as “Have you disregarded?” or “Have you set aside in your thinking?” If Have you forgotten is understood as a rhetorical question, it may be translated “Don’t forget…” or “I am sure you have not forgotten….”
The moral of these verses is the need to endure God’s discipline even when it is painful. Translator’s New Testament‘s “comfort,” and perhaps even Good News Translation‘s encouraging, are probably too weak. The Greek includes the idea of a call to action (as in 3.13; 6.18; and especially 13.22), which Barclay conveys by “Have you forgotten that challenging passage of scripture…?” The word for encouraging is not related to the word translated become discouraged in verse 3 and be discouraged here. The encouraging words may be rendered as “the words which give you courage.” But a more satisfactory equivalent may be “the words which cause you to have confidence” or “the words which fill your hearts with confidence.”
As a comparison with Revised Standard Version shows, God is implied. The meaning may also be “Scripture encourages you” or “… challenges you.” In this and similar places (for example, verse 12) Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente has “the *Bible says,” the asterisk referring to a glossary note which explains that in the New Testament, the word refers to the Old Testament. This avoids the church-language term “Scripture” but goes against current Christian usage, in which “the Bible” usually includes both Testaments. Jews, however, commonly use the expression “the Bible” in speaking of the Old Testament.
Revised Standard Version‘s “the exhortation which addresses you…” implies that there is someone who makes the exhortation. Most modern translations make it explicit that the encouraging words come either from God (Good News Translation and most common language translations, Knox), from Scripture (New English Bible, Barclay, Translator’s New Testament, Jerusalem Bible), or from both (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “Have you forgotten what God advises you as his sons? He says thus in Scripture…”). The writer did not distinguish sharply between a word of God and a word of scripture. However, it is stylistically better to make “Scripture” the subject of “encourage,” since God is referred to in the third person in the quotation.
The Old Testament setting is that of an older man addressing a younger man as his son. The following verses in Hebrew suggest that the writer understands the passage in the same way. That is, he understands the quotation as being a message from God in a broad sense, like the rest of the Old Testament, but does not think that God is the speaker in the quotation. If so, it becomes easier to understand why God should be spoken of in the third person as the Lord. If this interpretation is followed, certain translation problems are legitimately avoided. Otherwise, if God is understood as the speaker in the quotation, it may be necessary in translation to change third person references to the first person; for example, “when I correct you” for when the Lord corrects you.
In the introduction to the quotation, as his sons, the writer indicates what for his purpose is its keyword, namely sons. He will comment on this word in verses 7-11. The word sons is taken from son in the quotation, but there is no emphasis on maleness, and it may be translated “children.” As is often ambiguous in English. Here it means “in your capacity as sons,” or more simply “because you are sons,” not “like sons.”
The quotation is in poetry form, and there is therefore some parallelism, even in the Septuagint, between the two halves of each couplet.
Pay attention is a positive equivalent of Revised Standard Version‘s more literal “do not regard lightly.” There is a clear parallel between corrects and rebukes.
The Greek noun translated corrects has a range of meanings which includes “upbringing,” “training,” “instruction,” “discipline,” and “punishment.” It includes practically everything involved in bringing up a child. “Punishment” is no doubt included, but “punishes” here could misleadingly suggest that the readers were suffering because God was punishing them for their sins, and this idea is not supported by the context. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “Accept it, my son, when the Lord treats you hard” and continues in verse 6 “For whom the Lord loves, he brings up with strictness.”
Pay attention when the Lord corrects you may be rendered as “pay close attention when the Lord shows you that you are wrong” or “… makes you realize that you have done wrong.”
It is sometimes possible to render corrects you as “makes you recognize when you have done wrong.” This may imply some degree of punishment. In fact, it may be possible to translate “punishes you in order to make you realize that you have done wrong.”
Some commentators think corrects has the meaning of “educate” in verse 5, and “discipline” or “punish” in verse 6, but this is unlikely. Problems of translation will arise in cultures which have a different idea of what is involved in bringing up a child. This is to some extent the case in modern Western society, which would perhaps give a less prominent place to “punishment” within the family. This, however, is part of the cultural strangeness of any ancient text, which the translator should not try to remove.
The word for rebukes sometimes includes the idea of “correction” or even “punishment”; compare Revelation 3.19.
And do not be discouraged when he rebukes you may be translated as “and do not feel like giving up when he criticizes you” or even “… scolds you.”
Corrects in verse 6 renders the verbal equivalent of the Greek noun translated corrects in Heb. 12.5 (see the comments).
Everyone in verse 6a is implied; New English Bible says “those whom he loves.” Everyone in verse 6b, on the other hand, is literally “every son.”
Punishes is literally “whips” (Translator’s New Testament); Phillips has “scourgeth,” New English Bible “lays the rod on.” The writer of Hebrews probably understood the word in this harsh, literal meaning, since he avoids repeating it in his comments.
Good News Translation brings out better than Revised Standard Version the connection between accepts and as a son.
Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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