Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("start")

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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, hajime-rare-ru (始められる) or “start” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Luke 12:1

Exegesis:

en hois episunachtheison tōn muriadōn tou ochlou ‘meanwhile, when the (usual) thousands of people gathered.’ en hois, lit. ‘during which,’ with relative pronoun, has demonstrative force and is equivalent to en toutois lit. ‘during these things,’ i.e. the things reported in 11.37-54.

episunagō ‘to bring together,’ ‘to gather,’ here in the passive with intransitive force.

murias ‘myriad,’ ‘then thousand,’ here in the plural, of a very large number without exact definition. The article before muriadōn points to what is usual. The phrase tōn muriadōn tou ochlou is hyperbolical (as in Acts 21.20).

hōste katapatein allēlous ‘so that they actually were treading upon one another.’ hōste with following infinitive indicates the actual result.

katapateō (also 8.5) ‘to tread upon,’ ‘to trample’ (8.5), here of treading upon each other’s feet, or, of trampling under foot, preferably the latter.

ērxato legein pros tous mathētas autou prōton ‘he began to say to his disciples first of all.’ For ērxato cf. on 4.21. prōton does not refer to order but to degree: the crowds are listening too.

prosechete heautois apo tēs zumēs, hēitis estin hupokrisis, tōn Pharisaiōn ‘be on your guard against the yeast, that means, the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.’

prosechō lit. ‘to turn one’s mind to,’ with dative of the reflexive pronoun, ‘to be on one’s guard,’ here followed by apo as indication of that against which one is on one’s guard.

zumē (also 13.21) ‘yeast,’ ‘leaven,’ a substance to produce fermentation, here in a figurative sense, explained by the subsequent relative clause.

hupokrisis ‘hypocrisy,’ ‘outward pretense.’

Translation:

The structure of the introductory clause may have to be recast, e.g. ‘meanwhile (or, while all this happened) the crowd was gathering; there were so many thousands (or, so very many people) that they … Then Jesus….’

Had gathered together, or, ‘had come together (where Jesus was).’

Trod upon one another, or, ‘trampled each other under foot,’ ‘crowded each other out’ (Nieuwe Vertaling), ‘pushed/elbowed each other aside,’ or any other idiom the receptor language uses for an accumulation of people in a crowded place.

First, or, ‘in the first place’ (Sranan Tongo), “speaking primarily” (Phillips).

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. The metaphor indicates here an all-pervading evil influence. This function may have to be made explicit, e.g. ‘the leaven of the Pharisees, that is (or, I mean), their all-pervading hypocrisy,’ or as a simile and with further shifts, ‘the hypocrisy of the Pharisees which pervades all things like leaven (does).’ The utterance does not warn the disciples against tricks of the hypocritical Pharisees but against their becoming hypocrites themselves. Hence beware of may better be rendered by ‘have nothing to do with’ (Shona 1966), ‘watch-out-for’ (Tae’), ‘keep away from,’ ‘do not become involved in,’ or, again with further shifts, ‘do not become such hypocrites as the Pharisees; their hypocrisy is like an all-pervading leaven.’ For leaven, or, ‘yeast,’ in Wantoat one has to substitute ‘salt.’ For hypocrisy see on 6.42.

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 12:1

Section 12:1–12

Jesus warned and encouraged his disciples

In the previous section, Jesus criticized the Pharisees and teachers of the law. They responded by being hostile to him. Here in Section 12:1–12 a large crowd gathered around Jesus and his disciples. Jesus spoke first to his disciples. He warned them that they must not be hypocrites like the Pharisees. His disciples should not be afraid to declare that they were loyal to him. They should not fear people, but they should fear and respect God, and they should never insult the Holy Spirit. Jesus encouraged them to remember that they were valuable to God. He assured them that the Holy Spirit would help them when people persecuted them.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it. Another possible heading for this section is:

Warnings and Encouragements (New International Version)

Some versions have divided this section into three shorter sections. Each section has one or more parallel passages. If you choose to divide this section, here are some examples of headings that you can use.

12:1–3
A Warning against Hypocrisy (Good News Translation) -or- Jesus warned his disciples not to be like the Pharisees

(There is a parallel passage for this section in Matthew 10:26–27.)

12:4–7
The One Whom People Should Fear -or- Jesus told his disciples whom they should fear

(There is a parallel passage for this section in Matthew 10:28–31.)

12:8–12
Confessing and Rejecting Christ (Good News Translation) -or- Don’t Be Ashamed of Jesus (New Century Version)

(There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 10:32–33, 12:32, 10:19–20.)

Paragraph 12:1–3

12:1a

In the meantime: In this context the Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as In the meantime means “at the same time.” It refers back to the events of the previous chapter. Some other ways to translate this expression are:

During that time
-or-
While these things were happening

a crowd of many thousands had gathered: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as many thousands is a general reference to a very large number. Nobody actually counted the number of people in the crowd. Other ways to translate this are:

an enormous crowd had gathered
-or-
a great many people came together

12:1b

they were trampling one another: The clause they were trampling one another indicates that the people in the crowd were stepping on each other’s feet and getting in each other’s way as they tried to get close to Jesus.

General Comment on 12:1a–b

In some languages it may be helpful to translate these verse parts as two sentences. For example:

Meanwhile many people had gathered together. They were so many/numerous that they were trampling on one another.

12:1c

Jesus began to speak first to His disciples: The expression Jesus began to speak first to His disciples indicates that Jesus spoke to his disciples before speaking to the rest of the people. In 12:13 one of the people in the crowd asked a question. After Jesus answered him, he began to tell a parable that was probably addressed to the whole crowd.

disciples: For help in translating the word disciples, see the note at 9:14b.

12:1d

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy: This is a metaphor that compares the hypocrisy of the Pharisees to leaven, or yeast. A small amount of leaven spreads through a lump of bread dough and affects it all. Similarly, the hypocrisy of the Pharisees would spread among the people and affect them all. Some ways to translate this metaphor are:

• Make it clear that “leaven” is used here as a figure of speech. For example:

Be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees—I mean their hypocrisy. (Good News Translation)

• Change the metaphor to a simile and make explicit how hypocrisy is like leaven. For example:

Be careful not to be hypocritical like the Pharisees. Their hypocrisy is like leaven ⌊that spreads through bread dough⌋. ⌊It affects everyone.⌋

Translate this metaphor in a way that is most natural in your language.

Beware: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Beware is a warning. Use an expression that is natural in your language for warning people to watch out for something harmful or dangerous. Some English expressions are:

Be on your guard against (New International Version)
-or-
Don’t let yourself be influenced by (Translator’s Reference Translation)

leaven: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as leaven refers to a substance that makes bread dough rise. A person mixes this substance with water and flour. Then it spreads throughout the flour and makes the dough expand. The dough is then baked into bread.

If people in your area are not familiar with making dough rise, here are other ways to translate leaven:

• Use an expression that describes the leaven. For example:

what spreads to make bread rise
-or-
bread-expanding substance

• Use a term from the national language and indicate its meaning. For example:

leaven that spreads to make bread swell

• Borrow a word and explain it in a footnote. Here is an example of a possible footnote:

Leaven is something that spreads in flour dough and causes it to rise so that after the dough is baked it is soft to eat.

Translate this in the way that is most natural in your language.

Pharisees: For advice on translating the word Pharisees, see the note at 11:37b.

hypocrisy: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as hypocrisy indicates that a person pretends to be different from how he really is. He appears to have a certain purpose or attitude, but actually he has a very different purpose or attitude. In front of other people, the Pharisees talked and acted as though they were righteous and loved God, but their real motives were sinful. In some languages it may be necessary to translate hypocrisy as a verb. For example:

the way they act/pretend like they’re serving God when they really aren’t (Translator’s Reference Translation)

See the note on “hypocrite(s)” in 6:42d and 12:56a.

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