40But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her, then, to help me.”
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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-moto (みもと) referring to the location (of God) in the referenced verses.
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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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
Here, osshatte (おっしゃって) or “say/speak” 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. )
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):
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.)
Binumarien: Karaambaia: “fight-leader” (Source: Oates 1995, p. 255)
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)
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”
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)
Yagaria: Souve, originally “war lord” (source: Renck, p. 94)
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: AmbuyeAmbuye 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 GreekSeptuagint‘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.”
hē de Martha periespato peri pollēn diakonian ‘but Martha was distracted by much service, i.e. by many duties.’
perispaō lit. ‘to drag around,’ here figuratively of duties that keep one going to and fro.
diakonia ‘service,’ here ‘task,’ ‘duty.’
epistasa ‘approaching,’ cf. on 2.38.
ou melei soi hoti… ‘is it nothing to you that…,’ ‘don’t you care/mind that…?’ melei.
hoti hē adelphē mou monēn me katelipen diakonein ‘that my sister has left me alone to serve.’ diakonein is infinitive of result. kataleipō means here ‘to leave without help.’ The clause appears to imply that Mary did not help her sister from the beginning.
eipe oun autē hina moi sunantilabētai ‘tell her then that she should help me.’ oun ‘then’ is inferential and implies ‘if you really care, then….’
sunantilambanomai ‘to help,’ ‘to lend a hand,’ ‘to come to the aid of.’
Translation:
Martha was distracted with much serving refers to Martha’s state of mind, i.e. her feeling very busy, and to the correlated activity, i.e. her doing many things for her guest(s). This has been variously expressed, e.g. ‘all kinds of work to do had gone to M.’s heart’ (Tzeltal), ‘M. was wearing-herself-out how/the-way her feeding them’ (Tboli), ‘because much work fell to M., her agitation flew/flared-up’ (Marathi), ‘M.’s mind was stirred up with excess of service’ (Zarma), ‘she danced to and fro in serving’ (Uab Meto), ‘much work overwhelmed M.’ (Sranan Tongo). To serve see on 4.39.
She went to him, or, better to bring out that Martha comes up to Jesus for a moment only (as indicated by the punctiliar aorist), ‘she came-near for a moment’ (Javanese, Toraja-Sa’dan).
Do you not care that, expecting a negative answer. The phrase has been expressed variously, ‘do you feel it is good that’ (Tzeltal), ‘you haven’t been thinking of the fact that’ (Tboli).
That my sister has left me to serve alone, or, ‘that my sister has left me without help, so that now I must serve alone,’ ‘that my sister leaves to me (all) our (exclus.) work, or, (all) the work we (two) have to do,’ ‘that my sister does not help me work’; or again, ‘that I do all the work and my sister does not do anything (or, my sister nothing).’
Help, or, ‘assist,’ ‘work with’; or ‘do-together-with,’ a derivation of ‘companion/associate’ (Batak Toba).
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.
But: The Greek particle that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But here introduces a contrast between what Mary was doing and what Martha was doing. Indicate this contrast in a way that is natural in your language.
Martha was distracted: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as distracted occurs only here in the NT. In this context it indicates that Martha was busy, worried, or “upset” by all the work that needed to be done. Because of this, she was unable to listen to Jesus. It refers both to her feelings and to the many things that she was doing.
by all the preparations to be made: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as all the preparations to be made is literally “much service.” In this context it refers primarily to the work that was involved in preparing and serving a special meal for their honored guest(s).
Some ways to translate 10:40a are:
Martha was distracted with much serving (Revised Standard Version) -or-
Martha was distracted by her many tasks (New Revised Standard Version) -or-
Martha was upset over all the work she had to do (Good News Translation) -or-
Martha was busy with all the work to be done (New Century Version)
10:40b
She came to Jesus: Martha came to Jesus as a result of the situation described in 10:39–10:40a. Martha had been working by herself for some time. Consider how to express the connection between 10:39–40a and 10:40b in your language. Some ways to do that in English are:
So she went to Jesus -or-
Finally, she went to Jesus (Contemporary English Version)
and said: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as said introduces the rhetorical question that Martha asked in 10:40c. Consider whether in your language it would be more natural to use “said” or “asked” here.
10:40c
Lord: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Lord is the same word that was used in 10:39. The text does not make explicit exactly what Martha implied when she used this title to address Jesus.
Consider whether or not it is natural in your language to use the same title here and in 10:39. You should use a title that indicates great respect. For example:
⌊my⌋ Lord/Chief -or-
Master/Teacher
See Lord, Context 3, in the Glossary.
do You not care: The form of this question in Greek implies that Martha expected Jesus to respond by asking Mary to help her with the work.
This is a rhetorical question. It functions as a complaint, and it indicates that Martha was disturbed and frustrated. It seemed unfair to her that Mary was not helping with the work, and she was frustrated that Jesus allowed that. The question implies that Jesus should have done something to correct the situation.
There are at least three ways to translate this rhetorical question:
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
Lord, doesn’t it bother you that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? (Contemporary English Version) -or-
Lord, do you think it is good that my sister is letting me do all the work by myself?
• As a statement and a question. For example:
Lord, my sister has left me to do the work by myself. Aren’t you concerned about that? -or-
Lord, it seems unfair that my sister has left me to do the work by myself. ⌊Don’t you agree?⌋
• As a statement. For example:
Lord, surely you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself! -or-
Lord, my sister has left me to do the work by myself. I do not understand why you have done nothing about it.
Express Martha’s frustration in a natural way in your language. Notice that some languages use a negative question, as in the Contemporary English Version example. Other languages use a positive question to express the same meaning. Be sure to choose an appropriate form in your language to express Martha’s frustration.
my sister has left me to serve alone: This statement implies that Martha did all the work of serving the guests herself. It implies that Mary had not helped Martha at all. Another way to translate this is:
my sister just sits here while I do all the work (New Living Translation (2004))
my sister: The phrase my sister refers here to Martha’s younger sister Mary. Use a natural way in your language for a woman to refer to her younger sister. In some languages it may be necessary to supply the name “Mary” here.
to serve: In this context the Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to serve refers to doing the necessary household tasks. Here these tasks probably involved cooking and preparing to serve food to the guests.
alone: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as alone here means “by myself” or “without any help.”
10:40d
Tell her to help me!: In Greek, this clause is literally, “Speak, therefore, to her so that she will help me.” The conjunction “therefore” introduces a conclusion. Martha believed that Jesus should care about her situation, so she asked him to tell Mary to help. Some English versions use the words “so” or “then” to imply this. For example:
Tell her then to help me. (New Revised Standard Version) -or-
So kindly ask her to come and work with me.
In some languages, a literal translation may seem as if Martha was rudely ordering Jesus to do something. You should translate this clause in a way that indicates proper respect. For example:
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