complete verse (Luke 12:34)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 12:34:

  • Noongar: “Because your hearts will always live in the country where your wealth lives!” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “For wherever the storing-place of our goods [is], there also are our hearts [are].” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “For wherever you store up your wealth, there also stays your liver.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And wherever is placed those things which you cherish, there also will be your breath.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because where your wealth is, that also is where your minds are.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Because it’s true, wherever your wealth is, of course there always is your mind/inner-being.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

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

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.

Translation commentary on Luke 12:34

Exegesis:

hopou gar estin ho thēsauros humōn, ekei kai hē kardia humōn estai ‘for where your treasure is there your heart also will be,’ expressing the general principle underlying the injunction of v. 33. The future tense of estai is consequential. kardia is here used in the sense of the seat of emotions, wishes and desires.

Translation:

It may be preferable to reverse the clause order, e.g. ‘your heart will be in the place where your wealth is, or, in the same place as your goods/riches are (stored up).’

There will your heart be also, or, ‘there your heart will return’ (Zarma, viewing the persons in question as having been there first to deposit the treasure). If one has to shift to the emotion implied in “heart”, one may say something like, ‘to that place also your desire will go out,’ ‘there you (yourselves) will wish to be also.’

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 12:34

12:34

For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For introduces the reason why the disciples should store up treasure in heaven rather than on earth. This is what Jesus told them in 12:33c. Be careful not to imply a wrong connection to a different part of 12:33. Some English versions do not translate a connector here. In some languages it may be helpful to repeat some information from 12:33. For example:

⌊Provide this treasure in heaven⌋ because…

In other languages you may be able to use a more general phrase that refers back to all of 12:33. For example:

Remember/Realize that…

where your treasure is, there your heart will be also: The expression where your treasure is, there your heart will be also means that the place where your treasure is located is the place that you will think about. If a person has stored riches on earth, he will think about them and put efforts into protecting and increasing them. If a person has stored up riches in heaven, he will think about heaven and devote himself to God. Other ways to translate this verse are:

For what you consider to be your wealth is what you will truly love/value and think about.
-or-
Where a person puts his treasure, he will also direct his thoughts.

In some languages it may be more natural to reverse the order of the two clauses in this verse. For example:

For your heart will always be where your riches are. (Good News Translation)
-or-
You will dedicate your life to whatever you consider to be most valuable. (adapted from the TRT footnote)

heart: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as heart is used here in a figurative way. The Jews often spoke of the heart as the part of a person in which thoughts and feelings occur.

In some languages people use a different part of the body, such as the mind, throat, liver, or stomach, in this way. In other languages people use a non-figurative expression, as in the TRT example above. You should use an expression that is natural in your language.

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