The Greek, Hebrew and Ge’ez that is typically translated as “eternity,” “forever,” or “forever and ever” in English are translated in Mairasi as “mashed out infinitely.” Lloyd Peckham explains: “Bark cloth required pounding. It got longer and wider as it got pounded. Similarly, life gets pounded or mashed to lengthen it into infinity. Tubers also get mashed into the standard way of serving the staple food, like the fufu of Uganda, or like poi of Hawaii. It spreads out into infinity.” (Source: Lloyd Peckham)
In Lisu the phrase “forever and ever” is translated as ꓕꓲꓽ ꓞꓲꓼ ꓕꓲ ꓑ — thi tsi thi pa, verbatim translated as “one – lifetime – one – world.” This construction follows a traditional four-couplet construct in oral Lisu poetry that is usually in the form ABAC or ABCB. (Source: Arrington 2020, p. 57f.)
In Makonde it is often translated as navyaka or “years and years.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 5:6:
Uma: “And in another verse God also said: ‘You are Priest forever, like the work of Melkisedek long ago.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “In a different verse God also said, ‘You are the one to take the place of Malkisadik the priest of old and your priesthood has no end.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And there’s also a written word of His where He said, ‘Just like Melchizedik, the priest long ago, there is no end to your being a priest.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “There is also that which he caused-to-be-written which says, ‘You (sing.) are a priest forever like the priesthood of Melkizedek.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “And another thing he said in another part of the writing says, ‘As for you (sing.), you will-be priest without ending, like the high/important priesthood of Melquisedec.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “And there is another word written in the Holy Book which says: ‘Now you are the priest forever. You take up the work at which worked the priest Melchizedek.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
The Greek in the referenced verses that is typically translated as “age,” “(for)ever / eternity / eternal / permanent,” “of old / long ago” in English is translated in the German translation by Fridolin Stier (1989) consistenty as “world (or: “cosmic”) time” (Weltzeit).
Sarah Ruden (2021, p. lxii) explains the complexities of the translation of aiōn: “Trickiest of all [the words relating to time] is aion, most simply an ‘age’ or ‘era’ but sometimes denoting either the whole present world or the whole world to come. The same word can allude to all the limits of material existence (or to dangerous worldly distractions in particular), or to their absence in the eternal age to come. Looking forward, especially to ‘ages of ages’ (in the pattern of ‘King of Kings’), the meaning is ‘eternity.’”
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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, itteo-rare-ru (言っておられる) or “saying” is used.
Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed.
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Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or modern English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.
As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.
In these verses, in which humans address God, the informal, familiar pronoun is used that communicates closeness.
Voinov notes that “in the Tuvan Bible, God is only addressed with the informal pronoun. No exceptions. An interesting thing about this is that I’ve heard new Tuvan believers praying with the formal form to God until they are corrected by other Christians who tell them that God is close to us so we should address him with the informal pronoun. As a result, the informal pronoun is the only one that is used in praying to God among the Tuvan church.”
In Gbaya, “a superior, whether father, uncle, or older brother, mother, aunt, or older sister, president, governor, or chief, is never addressed in the singular unless the speaker intends a deliberate insult. When addressing the superior face to face, the second person plural pronoun ɛ́nɛ́ or ‘you (pl.)’ is used, similar to the French usage of vous.
Accordingly, the translators of the current version of the Gbaya Bible chose to use the plural ɛ́nɛ́ to address God. There are a few exceptions. In Psalms 86:8, 97:9, and 138:1, God is addressed alongside other “gods,” and here the third person pronoun o is used to avoid confusion about who is being addressed. In several New Testament passages (Matthew 21:23, 26:68, 27:40, Mark 11:28, Luke 20:2, 23:37, as well as in Jesus’ interaction with Pilate and Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well) the less courteous form for Jesus is used to indicate ignorance of his position or mocking.” (Source Philip Noss)
In the most recent Manchu translation of 1835 (a revision of an earlier edition from 1822), God is never addressed with a pronoun but with “father” (ama /ᠠᠮᠠ) instead. Chengcheng Liu (in this post on the Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology blog ) explains: “In Manchu tradition, as in Chinese etiquette, second-person pronouns could be considered disrespectful when speaking to superiors or spiritual beings. Manchu Shamanist prayers avoided si [‘you’] and sini [‘your’] for this very reason. To use them for God would be, in Lipovzoff’s [one of the two translators] words, ‘the most uncouth and indecent way to speak to the Almighty — as if He were a servant or slave.’ There was also a grammatical problem. In Manchu, si and sini could refer to both singular and plural subjects. For a faith that insisted on the singularity of God, this was potentially confusing. By contrast, repeating ama removed any ambiguity.”
Said is a different word from the one used in the last verse, but the writer often varies his choice of words for reasons of style. There is no difference in meaning.
A literal rendering of He also said in another place could imply that God also said something in a different geographical location. It may be useful to translate this clause as “God’s words are also recorded in another part of the holy writings” or “In another place in the holy writings God also said.”
You will be a priest forever is often expressed negatively as “You will never cease to be a priest.” Psalm 110.4 does not refer to a “high priest” but only to a priest, but there is no difference in meaning.
Melchizedek’s mysterious role will be discussed in detail in chapter 7. In Genesis 14.17-24 it is stated that Melchizedek was a priest, but there is no suggestion that he founded an order or succession of priests. In Good News Translation, priestly is added to explain order. In the priestly order of Melchizedek probably means no more than “like Melchizedek” (see 7.15). It may be rendered as “in the way in which Melchizedek was a priest” or “similar to the manner in which Melchizedek functioned as a priest.”
The writer sometimes quotes the same text several times, making a different point each time. (See comments on 4.7 and 6.20.) This is again true of the quotation from Psalm 110.4. Here and in verse 10 the emphasis is on God, the speaker.
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 .
And in another passage God says: The clause And in another passage God says introduces another quotation from the OT. It refers to another verse of scripture that tells something that God said. It does not refer to a location. Some other ways to translate the clause are:
And in another verse God also said -or-
And there is another word written in the Holy Book which says:
Use the normal way in your language to refer to a specific verse or part of the Scriptures.
5:6b
This part of the verse is a quotation from Psalm 110:4. In Psalm 110 its author speaks about the Messiah (Christ), so the psalm is called a “Messianic psalm.” It indicates that the Messiah is a priest and also a king. Psalm 2 (quoted in 1:8) is also a messianic psalm. It speaks of the Messiah as king. The book of Hebrews indicates that Jesus our Messiah is both king and priest.
You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek: Here the author quotes from the Old Testament. This quotation tells what God spoke to Christ. God spoke to Christ and announced that Christ is a priest forever with the type of priesthood that Melchizedek also had.
Some other ways to translate this statement are:
You are a priest forever, in the way that Melchizedek was a priest. -or-
You will be a priest forever, and your priesthood will be the type of priesthood that Melchizedek had.
priest: The word priest refers to a person who speaks to God for people and makes sacrifices on their behalf so that God will forgive their sins. The author of Hebrews often uses the terms priest and “high priest” to refer to Jesus, as well as to other priests. The word priest is a general word, and it can refer to both ordinary priests and to the high priest.
Some ways to translate priest are:
• Use a descriptive term that focuses on the function of a priest. For example:
sacrificer -or-
man/person who offers sacrifices to God -or-
one who represents people to God
• Use a local word for priest. This option fits best if the local word can be used in a general way to refer to any priest. Test the word carefully throughout Hebrews to be sure that it does not imply a wrong meaning. The word is more likely to fit if the duties of a local priest are similar to the duties of a priest of Israel.
The author used the term priest in this verse for the first time in Hebrews. However, he uses the term often in chapter 7 and a few times in chapters 8–10. The term you use for priest here should be the same as the one that you use in the gospels, for example, in Luke 1:5. If possible, choose a term that can be used in both Old Testament and New Testament contexts.
forever: The word forever refers to a time that continues and never ends throughout eternity. Here it refers to Jesus’ priesthood that will continue forever. He will always be a priest, so he is very different from other priests who lived and died. The word forever is similar to the word “eternal,” which is a key word in the book of Hebrews.
Some other ways to translate “You are a priest forever” are:
you will be a priest for eternity -or-
As for you, you will be priest without ending -or-
there is no end to your being a priest
in the order of Melchizedek: The phrase in the order of Melchizedek indicates that the priesthood of Jesus was of the same type as the priesthood of Melchizedek. It cannot refer here to a sequence of priests, because Melchizedek was the only priest of that type except for Jesus.
Some other ways to translate in the order of Melchizedek are:
like the priesthood that Melchizedek had -or-
in the tradition of Melchizedek’s priesthood -or-
of Melchizedek’s type
Melchizedek: This is the first time that the author mentions Melchizedek. Hebrews is the only NT book that refers to Melchizedek, but Genesis describes him as the King of Salem, and “the priest of the Most High God.” For more information about him, see Genesis 14:18–20. The author will compare Melchizedek and Christ in greater detail in chapter 7.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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