you insult us

The Greek in Luke 11:45 that is translated as “you insult us” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with dann ziehst du uns in den Dreck or “then you drag us into the mire.”

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Luke 11:45)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding Jesus).

Source: SIL International Translation Department (1999).

teacher

The Greek that is translated as “teacher” (also: “master”) in English is translated in the 1941 Yiddish by Einspruch as rebe (רֶבּי) or “Rabbi” in an effort to identify Jesus as a teacher of the Jews. (Source: Naomi Seidmann in Elliott / Boer 2012, p. 151ff.)

Likewise, a number of Hebrew translations, including the 2018 and 2020 editions by the The Bible Society in Israel also use “Rabbi” (רַבִּי).

See also rabbi.

complete verse (Luke 11:45)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 11:45:

  • Noongar: “One Law Man said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, if you say this, you insult us also!'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “A Yahudi religion teacher said to Yesus: ‘Teacher, with those words of yours(s), you (sing.) are also finding-fault with us (excl.)!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then one of the teachers of the religious law answered Isa he said, ‘Sir, if you speak like that you also shame us (excl.).'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “There were there some teachers of the Law, and they said to Jesus, they said, ‘Chief, as for those words of yours, we were struck also by them.’ (this means that those words were a rebuke to them)” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Whereupon one of the teachers of the law said, ‘Sir teacher, in your (sing.) saying that, you (sing.) are including us (excl.) in being shamed.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “An explainer of law spoke. He said, ‘Teacher, in what you said there, you are insulting/belittling even us (excl.) now.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("say")

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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 are (され) 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, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Luke 11:45

Exegesis:

apokritheis ‘answering,’ cf. on 1.60.

tis tōn nomikōn ‘one of the experts in the law,’ cf. on 7.30.

didaskale ‘teacher,’ cf. on 3.12.

tauta legōn ‘saying that,’ i.e. ‘by saying that.’

kai hēmas hubrizeis ‘you insult us too,’ because the experts in the law belonged as a rule to the party of the Pharisees.

hubrizō (also 18.32) ‘to mistreat,’ ‘to insult.’

Translation:

For lawyers see on 7.30.

Reproach, or, ‘insult,’ ‘affront,’ ‘offend’; Toraja-Sa’dan uses an idiomatic phrase, lit. ‘you lay nothing on your lips,’ i.e. ‘you do not take care what you say,’ ‘you speak rude words.’

Us also, or, ‘us as well as them.’

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.