complete verse (Luke 10:14)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 10:14:

  • Noongar: “On the Day of Judgement, God will give more mercy to Tyre and to Sidon than you.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “So, on Kiama Day, the punishment of God to you will be greater than his punishment of the Tirus and Sidon people.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When the day of judgment comes the judgment for you will be greater than the judgment for the people of Tiros and Sidon.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Don’t you forget that in the future, on the day when God judges mankind, your punishment will be greater than the people in Tyre and Sidon.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Therefore the punishment of those-from-Tiro and from-Sidon will be less-severe than yours on the day that God judges the many-people.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “It’s true that at the day of judging, much heavier will be the punishment you are sentenced to, heavier that that of the taga Tiro and taga Sidon.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or 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 Translator 2002, 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.

Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.

In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.

2nd person pronoun with low register (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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.

In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

Translation commentary on Luke 10:14

Exegesis:

plēn ‘yet,’ i.e. notwithstanding the fact that Tyre and Sidon have not repented.

anektoteron estai ‘it will be more tolerable,’ cf. on v. 12.

en tē krisei ‘in the judgment,’ i.e. ‘on the day of judgment.’

krisis ‘judgment,’ in Luke always (except 11.42) of the future day of eschatological judgment.

Translation:

For this verse cf. on v. 12.

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 10:14

10:14

But: In this context, the Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But can also be translated as “Nevertheless” or “Even so.” The implied connection is:

But even though the people of Tyre and Sidon did not ⌊see the miracles and⌋ repent

Some English versions, such as the Good News Translation, do not translate this conjunction explicitly.

it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you: See 10:12. As in that verse, the phrase more bearable here means “will receive a less severe punishment.”

at the judgment: The word judgment refers to the future time when God will judge people.

you: The pronoun you refers here to the people of Chorazin and Bethsaida. See the note on 10:13a for more information on how to translate this pronoun.

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