humble, lowly

The Greek that is usually translated as “humble” or “lowly” in English is translated as

  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “one who doesn’t elevate himself”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “those who think they aren’t worth much”
  • Alekano: “those who stay low” (source for this and above: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.)
  • Mezquital Otomi: “poor brothers”
  • Isthmus Zapotec: “ones who little-honored”
  • Highland Totonac: “just ordinary people”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “poor people who have nothing” (source for this and three above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.).
  • Low German: “those who don’t account to anything in other people’s eyes” (source: translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006)

See also humble (mind).

Magnificat in Busa praise song

The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) was transferred into the traditional style of Busa praise song by Mallam Salihu Bata, praise singer in Kaiama, Kwara State, Nigeria (and back-translated into English) as this:

I praise the Lord God in my heart
I praise the Lord God in my heart
I praise the Lord God and my liver is pleased
      My Lord God saves, he frees my head
      My Lord God saves, he frees my head
He has mercy upon me
He has intently remembered all my concerns
He has intently remembered the concerns of his pitiable slave

Today and in the future everybody calls me the blessed one
      all tribes call me the blessed one

God the mighty King has done great things for me
God the mighty King has done great things for me
God the mighty King has a bright and supreme name
God the mighty King has mercy
      for people who fear him and
      for their children and
      for their grandchildren

He showed his hand of awful power
He scattered proud people
      and their proud plans
He scattered great chiefs
      from their positions
He lifted up the pitiable
He filled the hungry with food
He sent off the moneymen with empty hands
He helped his slave Israel
      as he had covenanted with their forefathers

He has intently remembered Ibrahim’s matters
      and his grandchildren
      and his grandchildren’s grandchildren

All, yes, to all of them he showed His mercy.

Source: Klaus Wedekind in The Bible Translator 1975, p. 245ff.

See also Mary’s Song in Himba.

complete verse (Luke 1:52)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 1:52:

  • Noongar: “He brings down great kings sitting in high places, and he lifts up the weak people.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “He removes kings from their rank. He makes humble people [lit., people of low hearts] high.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “He removes the kings from their kingdoms and he makes great the ones with a humble liver.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “There are high kings whose rank he lowered, and there are also those people whose rank is very small, and he has raised up their rank.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “He also makes-low the high-ones who rule and also makes-high the people who are low.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “There are kings from whom he removed the kingship. And there are ordinary/unimportant people whom God has caused to be great/important.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 1:52

Exegesis:

katheilen dunastas apo thronōn ‘he has torn rulers from (their) thrones,’ the phrase is metaphorical but a literal interpretation is not impossible.

kathaireō ‘to tear,’ ‘to bring down’; the verb suggests vigorous action.

dunastēs † ‘ruler’; the word refers either to human sovereigns or to divine rulers; the former meaning here; hence translations like “kings” (Phillips), “monarchs” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation).

thronos, cf. on v. 32.

hupsōsen tapeinous ‘he has exalted the people of low position,’ contrasting with the preceding clause. Hence hupsōsen is the opposite of katheilen apo thronōn and dunastas is the opposite of tapeinous.

hupsoō ‘to lift up,’ here in the figurative sense ‘to raise to a high position.’

tapeinos ‘of low position,’ cf. on tapeinōsis in v. 48, which suggests a corresponding interpretation.

Translation:

He has put down the mighty from their thrones, or, because of the necessity to render “throne” by a descriptive or non-metaphorical expression (cf. above on v. 32), ‘he causes-to-shrink the authority of princes’ (Balinese), ‘he made low the titles (i.e. reputations) of men who were sitting high’ (Southern Subanen). This may reinforce the contrast between the two lines of this verse, because the renderings to be used are more directly and completely opposite to each other than is the case in the Greek, cf. e.g. ‘he humbles the high, he heightens the humble’ (Tboli), ‘the great ones, he has made them down, those who are not great, he has made them up’ (Apache). The plurals are distributive. — The mighty has also been rendered, ‘great rulers’ (Marathi), ‘possessors of power’ (Telugu, Tamil).

And has adversative meaning, often expressed by ‘but,’ or by simple juxtaposition of the two clauses.

For those of low degree cf. on “low estate” in v. 48.

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 1:52

1:52a

He has brought down rulers from their thrones: The clause He has brought down rulers from their thrones is a figure of speech. It indicates that the Lord has removed rulers from their positions of authority. In this verse, the word thrones represents the authority that kings have. Therefore, this expression means that God has caused people who were kings to be kings no longer.

In some languages, people may not understand this figure of speech. If that is true in your language, here are other ways to translate it:

• Use the figure of speech and also make the meaning explicit. For example:

He has pulled kings from their thrones and taken their kingship from them

• Use a similar figure of speech in your language. For example:

He has taken the kings’ staffs of office from them

• Translate the meaning without the figure of speech. For example:

He has removed kings from their positions of authority
-or-
He has taken away the power of kings

1:52b

but: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as but is often translated as “and.” It connects two ways in which God showed his power: He has brought down rulers from their thrones (1:52a), and he has lifted up humble people (1:52b). These two actions contrast with each other, so but is natural in English. Connect these parts of the verse in a natural way in your language. In some languages a conjunction may not be needed.

has exalted the humble: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as exalted here has the figurative meaning of “to give a high position to.” It has the opposite meaning of the verb “brought down” in 1:52a. The phrase the humble refers to people who were poor and also humble in spirit.

Mary and Elizabeth were examples of humble people whom God exalted. God exalted Mary by giving her the honor of becoming the mother of the Messiah. He exalted Elizabeth by making her the mother of John, who prepared people for the Messiah.

Some other ways to translate exalted the humble are:

exalted the lowly (New Living Translation (1996))
-or-
honored humble people (God’s Word)

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