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 Translator2002, 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 Nepali translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and other people with the medium honorific pronoun timīlē (तिमीले) or timīlēharū (तिमीलेहरू). His disciples respond with a high honorific pronoun. (Source: Chitra Chhetri in The Bible Translator 2009, p. 73ff. )
In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 12:54:
Noongar: “Jesus also said to the people, ‘When you see clouds coming in the west, you say straight away, ‘Rain is coming’, and rain comes.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “Yesus also said to the many people: ‘When you see clouds appearing from the west, you say it will rain. It really rains.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Isa also said to the crowds of people, ‘Here in our country when the sky gets dark in the west, you say immediately, it will soon rain, and finally it will rain.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus said again to the people, ‘Here in our (inc.) place, when you see a rain cloud in the west, and you say, ‘It’s going to rain.’ And it really does rain.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Then Jesus also said to the many-people, ‘If you see the clouds coming from the west (lit. going-away of the sun), you say, ‘It will probably rain,’ and it truly rains.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “And then Jesus spoke to that crowd of people. ‘If you have seen that the clouds in the west are thick, you say, ‘Ah, it’s going to rain.’ Well, it truly will rain.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The cardinal directions “east” and “west” are easy to translate into Maan here since the language uses “where the sun comes up” and “where the sun goes down.” For “north” the translator had “facing toward the sun rising to the left,” and for “south” she had “facing toward the sun rising to the right.” So the listener had to think hard before knowing what direction was in view when translating “to the north and south, to the east and west.” So, in case all four directions are mentioned, it was shortened by saying simply “all directions.” Manya uses a similar nomenclature for the cardinal directions. (Source: Don Slager)
Likewise, Yakan has “from the four corners of the earth” (source: Yakan back-translation) or Western Bukidnon Manobo “from the four directions here on the earth” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo back-translation).
Kankanaey is “from the coming-out and the going-away of the sun and the north and the south” (source: Kankanaey back-translation), Northern Emberá “from where the sun comes up, from where it falls, from the looking [left] hand, from the real [right] hand” (source: Charles Mortensen), Amele “from the direction of the sun going up, from the direction of the sun going down, from the north and from the south” (source: John Roberts), Ejamat “look up to see the side where the sun comes from, and the side where it sets, and look on your right side, and on your left” (source: David Frank in this blog post ).
In Lamba, only umutulesuŵa, “where the sun rises” and imbonsi, “where the sun sets” were available as cardinal directions that were not tied to the local area of language speakers (“north” is kumausi — “to the Aushi country” — and “south” kumalenje — “to the Lenje country”). So “north” and “south” were introduced as loanwords, nofu and saufu respectively. The whole phrase is kunofu nakusaufu nakumutulesuŵa nakumbonsi. (Source C. M. Doke in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 57ff. )
“West” is translated in Tzeltal as “where the sun pours-out” and in Kele as “down-river” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel).
In Morelos Nahuatl, “north” is translated as “from above” and “south” as “from below.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
In Matumbi cardinal directions are defined as in relation to another place. “East” for instance typically is “toward the beach” since the coast is in the eastern direction in Matumbi-speaking areas. “North” and “south” can be defined as above or below another place. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
The Hebrew text that gives instructions where to place items in the tabernacle with the help of cardinal directions (north and south) had to be approached in the Bambam translation specific to spacial concepts of that culture.
Phil Campbell explains: “There are no words in Bambam for north and south. In Exodus 26:35, God instructs that the table is to be placed on the north side and the lamp on the south side inside the tabernacle. The team wants to use right and left to tell where the lamp and table are located. In many languages we would say that the table is on the right and the lampstand is on the left based on the view of someone entering the tabernacle. However, that is not how Bambam people view it. They view the placement of things and rooms in a building according to the orientation of someone standing inside the building facing the front of the building. So that means the table is on the left side and the lampstand is on the right side.”
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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.
God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).
Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.
In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.
While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”
In that system, one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and others for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.
Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”
In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)
Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”
In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )
In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)
The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.
Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are Twents as well as Indonesian and Malay. In the latter two languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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).
elegen de kai tois ochlois ‘he also said to the crowds,’ marking the transition to a new point.
hotan idēte [tēn] nephelēn anatellousan epi dusmōn ‘when you see a cloud coming up in the west.’ nephelē is used here in the sense of rain-cloud. The article tēn (if read) is generic.
anatellō ‘to rise’ (of the sun), here ‘to come up.’
dusmē (also 13.29) lit. ‘going down,’ ‘setting’ (of the sun), in the plural ‘the west,’ ‘the western horizon.’
eutheōs legete ‘you say at once, or, promptly.’
hoti Ombros erchetai ‘a rain-storm is coming,’ i.e. ‘it is going to rain.’ hoti introduces direct speech. erchetai, present tense, refers to the immediate future.
ombros ‘rain-storm,’ ‘thunder-storm.’
kai ginetai houtōs ‘and so it happens,’ i.e. as expressed in ombros erchetai.
(V. 55) kai hotan noton pneonta, scil. idēte ‘and when (you see) the south wind blowing.’ For notos cf. on 11.31.
pneō ‘to blow.’
legete hoti Kausōn estai ‘you say: there will be heat.’
kausōn ‘burning,’ ‘heat,’ ‘heat wave.’
kai ginetai ‘and it happens,’ i.e. what you have said.
Translation:
When you see…, you say at once, or, ‘as soon as you see…, then you say’ (Balinese, similarly in v. 55).
A cloud rising in the west, or ‘that clouds are rising in (or, from) the west.’ In Palestine the west, i.e. the side of the Mediterranean, is the normal place for rain-clouds to gather (cf. e.g. 1 Kings 18.44); where the situation is entirely different an explanatory note may be required. The same holds true for “south wind” and “heat” in v. 55. Some idiomatic expressions for rain-clouds rising are, ‘air becomes closed (i.e. with clouds)’ (Tzeltal), ‘sky makes hedges’ (Zarma). For west: ‘where the sun pours-out’ (Tzeltal), ‘down-river’ (Kele).
A shower is coming, or, ‘heavy rain is coming/near,’ ‘a rain-storm is-passing’ (Toraja-Sa’dan).
And so it happens, or repeating the term in the preceding clause, ‘and rain it does’ (cf. New English Bible), ‘and the rain really comes (presently).’
(V. 55) See, or, ‘know/notice’ (Javanese), “feel” (Good News Translation).
The south wind blowing. Idiom may require, ‘it is blowing from the south,’ ‘a wind coming from the south’ (Sundanese), ‘a strong wind from the south’ (Javanese). For south see 11.31.
There will be scorching heat, or, ‘it will be very hot,’ ‘the sun will hurt very much’ (Tzeltal), ‘the heavens will become scorching-hot’ (Kele). In some cases the term for ‘dry season’ can be used (Tae,’ Batak Toba; also in Toraja-Sa’dan, which speaks of ‘the time when the rains cease, or, stay away’).
And it happens, or, again repeating the preceding term, ‘and hot it is’ (cf. The Four Gospels – a New Translation).
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.
Jesus told the people to prepare for what was about to happen
In this section Jesus again spoke to the crowd. He first rebuked them because they understood signs that the weather was going to change, but they did not understand what God was about to do. They did not know what to expect from God by the things that they saw Jesus doing. What he taught, the miracles he did, and the things that were happening to him showed that God had sent him. The people should have known and believed that he was the Messiah, and that they needed to listen to him and repent of their sins (12:54–57). Jesus warned them about this by telling them a parable about a legal dispute. The parable showed that they should reconcile with God before the time of judgment arrived (12:58–59).
Other possible headings for this section are:
Understanding the Times (New Century Version) -or-
Discern What God Wants You to Do in These Days
There is a parallel passage for 12:54–56 in Matthew 16:2–3. There is a parallel passage for 12:57–59 in Matthew 5:25–26.
Paragraph 12:54–57
12:54a–b
Then: This verse begins with a Greek conjunction. The Berean Standard Bible and some other versions (New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004)) translate it as Then in order to show that it introduces the next thing that happened in the story. Some other versions translate this conjunction as “And” (King James Version, New American Standard Bible), while still others do not translate it (Contemporary English Version, English Standard Version, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version). Introduce this next event in a natural way in your language.
Jesus said to the crowds: In the preceding verses, Jesus was speaking mainly to his disciples. Here the Greek text indicates that Jesus began to speak to the whole crowd again. Some ways to indicate this in English are:
Jesus said to all the people (Contemporary English Version) -or-
Jesus turned to the crowd and said (New Living Translation (2004))
Use a natural way in your language to make this clear.
As soon as you see a cloud rising in the west, you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and that is what happens: The rain in Israel comes from the west, from the Mediterranean Sea. So whenever people saw dark rain clouds forming in the west, they would say, “It is going to rain.” And, as they predicted, it would rain. So this verse explains a situation that happened regularly, at various times during the year.
In some languages it may be helpful to make some of this information explicit in the text. For example:
When you see ⌊dark⌋ clouds coming ⌊from the sea⌋ in the west (Translator’s Reference Translation)
Be sure to use expressions that are natural in your language.
In other languages, a footnote may be more appropriate. See the suggested footnote in the General Comment on 12:54–55 at the end of 12:55a–b.
you say, ‘A shower is coming’: In this context the verb say can also apply to a thought that people do not speak out loud. Use a natural verb in your language.
In some languages it may be more natural to translate this quotation as indirect speech. For example:
you predict immediately that it is going to rain
A shower is coming: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as A shower is coming means that a fairly lengthy, heavy, or violent rain will soon start. If you have a specific term for a rainstorm or thunderstorm in your language, you may use it here. You may also use a general term such as “rain.” For example:
It’s going to rain (New International Version)
Some other ways to translate this expression are:
a strong rain will soon arrive -or-
it will soon begin to storm
and that is what happens: The clause and that is what happens means “and it happens”; that is, it rains. If the expression you have used for “you say” in the previous phrase implies an accurate prediction, it may not be necessary to translate this clause explicitly.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.