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.

3rd person pronoun with high 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 third person singular and plural pronoun (“he,” “she,” “it” and their various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. While it’s not uncommon to avoid pronouns altogether in Japanese, there are is a range of third person pronouns that can be used. In these verses a number of them are used that pay particularly much respect to the referred person (or, in fact, God, as in Exodus 15:2), including kono kata (この方), sono kata (その方), and ano kata (あの方), meaning “this person,” “that person,” and “that person over there.”

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

See also third person pronoun with exalted register.

Translation commentary on Luke 12:5

Exegesis:

hupodeixō de humin tina phobēthēte ‘I will show you whom you have to fear.’ For hupodeiknumi cf. on 3.7. phobēthēte is aorist subjunctive, here used in a subordinate clause, see below.

phobēthēte ton … echonta … ‘fear him who has….’ Here phobēthēte is aorist imperative, used in a main clause. It is followed by an accusative and this may suggest that here a different type of fearing is implied, i.e. the fear of God, to whom ton … echonta is best understood to refer.

meta to apokteinai ‘after killing,’ takes up meta tauta in v. 4.

exousian embalein eis tēn geennan ‘power to throw into hell,’ dependent upon echonta. The phrase refers to the power to condemn, not the power to destroy. For exousia cf. on 4.32.

emballō ‘to throw into,’ with eis following.

geenna ‘hell,’ place of eschatological punishment.

nai, legō humin ‘yes, or, indeed, I tell you,’ cf. on 3.8. nai is added in order to stress that the subsequent statement serves to affirm emphatically the preceding one.

Translation:

Warn, or, ‘make clear/explain’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), or simply, ‘tell.’

Whom to fear, or, “the only One you need to fear” (Phillips), ‘who (it is) that you really should fear’ (Balinese). For fear with reference to God see 1.50.

Who, after he has killed, has power to cast, or, ‘who has power (first) to kill and then to cast,’ ‘who not only kills, but also has power to cast.’ Kills, or, ‘causes to die’; in Balinese God cannot be said ‘to kill a person,’ but ‘to take-away a person’s life.’ The verb may require an object, e.g. ‘you,’ ‘a man’ (Balinese), ‘your-body’ (Tae’ 1933). Cast, or, ‘hurl down,’ ‘send,’ ‘cause to descend/fall/go.’ Since the persons in question are envisaged now as dead, an object, if required, may have to be a specific term used to refer to dead persons, cf. e.g. Tae’ 1933.

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 12:5

12:5a

But: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But introduces a contrast. In 12:4, Jesus told his disciples whom they should not fear. In 12:5, Jesus told them whom they should fear. Some English versions do not use an explicit conjunction to express this contrast. Express the contrast in a natural way in your language.

I will show you whom you should fear: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as show here means “tell” or “make known.” It does not mean that Jesus would enable the disciples to see God visibly on earth. To make the contrast with 12:4a clear, you may wish to use a verb such as “tell” here, as well. For example:

I will tell you whom you should ⌊really⌋ fear.

The phrase I will show you emphasizes what follows. In some languages it may be more effective to express the contrast with 12:4a without repeating a clause such as “I will show/tell you.” For example:

God is the one you must fear. (Contemporary English Version)

12:5b

Fear the One who, after you have been killed, has authority to throw you into hell: Jesus was talking here about God. Only God has the power and the authority to condemn a person to hell after ending his physical life on the earth. If your readers would not understand that this refers to God, it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:

Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. (New Living Translation (2004))

has authority to throw you into hell: In Greek, this phrase is more literally “has authority to throw into Gehenna.” This phrase refers to God’s power/authority to punish people who deserve to be punished. The Berean Standard Bible supplies the word you as the object here. However, Jesus was referring in general to anyone who deserved to be punished. He was not referring specifically to his disciples.

In some languages it may be better to use a general expression as the object. This will clarify that Jesus was not talking specifically about the disciples. For example:

he has the power to end a person’s life and then to throw that person into hell

hell: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as hell is literally “Gehenna,” the Hebrew name for the Valley of Hinnom. This was a valley south of Jerusalem where people threw the dead bodies of criminals and where garbage was dumped. Fires were always burning there. Jewish people used it as a symbolic name for the place where God will punish wicked people after they die. See hell, sense B, in Key Biblical Terms.

12:5c

Yes, I tell you, fear Him!: Here Jesus repeated what he had already said in 12:5b in order to emphasize how important this message was. Consider how to do this in your language without sounding redundant. Some ways to do this in English are:

Believe me, he is the one you must fear! (Good News Translation)
-or-
God is certainly the one you should fear! (Contemporary English Version)

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