Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 1:48:
Noongar: “because he remembers (lit.: “ear-hold”) me, his weak worker. Now all people, they will say I am happy,” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “He remembered me, me his pitiful slave. From now, all people will say that I am a woman blessed by God.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “for he has paid attention to me, his humble servant. Because from now on all people of all generations will call me the most happy woman.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because I his servant, whose rank is very low, he still didn’t forget me. And beginning today all mankind will say that I am the woman whose blessing from God is very great.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “because he remembered me who am an unimportant (lit. low) servant of his. Therefore from now on, all people will say that I am fortunate” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Because he is indeed thinking about me, his insignificant servant. And from now on, down through the generations, the way I will be regarded is, a woman caused to be exceedingly happy.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
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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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
Here, tomete (留めて) or “put/keep” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
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. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are Twents as well as the closely related 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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, goran (ご覧) or “see/behold/look” (itself a combination of “behold/see” [ran] and the honorific prefix go- — see behold / look / see (Japanese honorifics)) is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
epeblepsen epi tēn tapeinōsin tēs doulēs autou ‘he looked upon the low position of his slave.’
epiblepō epi with accusative (also 9.38) ‘to look upon with care,’ with the intention of doing something about it; here the verb implies that God has changed or is about to change Mary’s humble situation.
tapeinōsis † ‘low position,’ ‘humiliation’ as a state of being.
idou gar, ‘for behold,’ introduces here a clause that describes what will be the outcome of God’s dealing with Mary.
apo tou nun ‘from now on,’ ‘henceforth’; the expression does not imply that the ‘now’ is the very moment of Mary’s words.
makariousin me ‘will called me blessed.’
makarizō ‘to call someone makarios,’ cf. on v. 45 makaria.
pasai hai geneai ‘all (subsequent) generations.’
genea ‘those descended from a common ancestor,’ ‘family,’ ‘race’ or ‘those born (and living) in the same age,’ ‘generation.’
Translation:
Regarded, or, “tenderly … looked upon” (New English Bible), ‘his eye looked on’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘cast-a-kind-glance (lit. a side look)’ (Telugu), all keeping close to the metaphor of the original. Some non-metaphorical renderings are, ‘placed attention on’ (Kannada), ‘is concerned about’ (Thai), ‘found’ (Ekari), “deigned to notice” (Phillips); for a shift to another metaphor cf. ‘set his hand under’ (Vai, an idiom for ‘had concern for’).
The low estate of his handmaiden, or, reorganizing the syntactic pattern, ‘his lowly servant,’ “his servant, humble as she is” (New English Bible); or, ‘that the condition of his servant was (a) humble (one).’ In some languages the first person reference has to be made explicit, e.g. ‘I the-one-who-works-for-him who-am-not-great’ (Apache), ‘me his humble servant’ (Ekari); cf. also Good News Translation, Bible en français courant. For his handmaiden cf. on v. 38. In several languages ‘servant/slave’ can do duty as a polite substitute for the pronoun of the first person, but in this verse the term is meant to convey more than mere polite humility. The combination of a pronoun of the first person with an appositional phrase (see above) may help to bring this out.
All generations. In the meaning of ‘people of the same age’ the word ‘generation’ may be rendered by, ‘(people of one) layer’ (Chol, Ekari, Tae,’ Batak Toba), ‘one storey of growing’ (Highland Totonac, using a term also denoting a storey or floor of a building), ‘people born/living,’ followed by an indication of time (Dan, Highland Puebla Nahuatl, Southern Bobo Madaré, Amganad Ifugao, Sranan Tongo); some languages are as English in that one term covers both the meaning ‘people of common descent’ and the meaning ‘people born or living in the same age,’ e.g. Bahasa Indonesia, Javanese. The rendering of ‘all generations,’ i.e. those who are or will be born and living in this or subsequent ages, can usually be built on these and similar expressions, cf. e.g. ‘all people in all time’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘all descendants of man’ (Balinese, Apache), ‘all those-who-will-be-being-born as-time-goes-on’ (Navajo); or, changing the syntactic structure, ‘doing-in-succession people will…’ (Toraja-Sa’dan, shifting to a verb related to its word for ‘descent/descendant’).
Will call me blessed, or, ‘a blessed one/woman,’ or, ‘will say that I am (a) blessed (one/woman)’; for “blessed” cf. on v. 45. The aspect is continuative, or repetitive, cf. Toraja-Sa’dan, which combines the main verb with a verbal form meaning ‘to mention-again-and-again.’ Some other renderings are, ‘will praise me, calling me “blessed” ’ (Kannada), ‘will call my name (i.e. will honour me) highly (lit. with good)’ (Sranan Tongo); ‘will mention my happiness/peace’ (Uab Meto); or an expression in direct discourse, e.g. ‘a woman who-is-blessed she-is, they-will-say-about me’ (Apache, similarly in Navajo).
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.
For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For introduces the reason for Mary’s praise in 1:46 and 1:47. It is often translated as “because” in English (as in the NET Bible).
He has looked with favor on the humble state of His servant: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as He has looked…on means that God had thought about Mary with concern. He had acted kindly and graciously to her in spite of her humble state. In this context she implied that God had done that by choosing her to be the mother of the Messiah.
Some other ways to translate this are:
he has looked with favour on his servant, lowly as she is (Revised English Bible) -or-
For he took notice of his lowly servant girl (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
he has shown his concern for his humble servant girl (New Century Version)
the humble state of His servant: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as humble state means “low status.” Mary referred to the fact that she was not an important person. She was just a poor, young girl. Notice that humble here does not refer to humility.
Some other ways to translate this are:
his lowly servant girl -or-
his servant who is so low in status
His servant: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as servant here literally means “female servant/slave.” It is the same word as in 1:38a.
Here Mary again indirectly referred to herself as the Lord’s servant. In some languages you may need to express more directly that she referred to herself. For example:
me, his servant/slave girl -or-
me, his lowly work-girl
1:48b
The Greek text connects 1:48b to 1:48a with a conjunction that is often translated as “for.” This conjunction often introduces the reason or basis for something. Sometimes it introduces an explanation or evidence for a statement. Here the exact relationship between 1:48a and 1:48b is not completely clear. As you think about this, it may be helpful to remember the implied way that God had been mindful of Mary:
48aHe has been mindful of the humble state of his servant ⌊by choosing her to be the mother of the Messiah⌋. 48bAs a result, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
God was mindful of Mary, and because of that, all generations would call her blessed.
The Greek text also includes a word that calls attention to what Mary said in 1:48b. It is the same word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “now” in 1:20, as “Behold” in 1:31, and as “Look” in 1:36. The Berean Standard Bible does not translate the word here, and some other English versions also do not explicitly translate the word or the conjunction. Here are some other ways to translate the connection:
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed (Revised Standard Version) -or-
As a result, from now onwards all generations will call me blessed -or-
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed (New Revised Standard Version)
Translate the connection between 1:48a and 1:48b in a natural way in your language.
From now on: The phrase From now on means:
starting now and for all future time
all generations: The phrase all generations refers to people of all the ages to come, that is, the people from all generations. The word “generation” refers to people who are born in the same general time period. Parents represent one generation and their children represent the next generation.
Some other ways to translate this are:
people of all generations -or-
people in every age group in every time period -or-
generation after generation (New Living Translation (1996)) -or-
people from every age/time
will call me blessed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as will call me blessed is related to the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “Blessed” in 1:45a. It means “to call or consider someone to be blessed, to say that he or she is in a good situation.” In this context it implies that people will recognize that God showed favor/kindness to Mary.
Some other ways to translate this are:
will describe my situation as very desirable/joyful -or-
will consider me blessed/fortunate -or-
will say, “⌊God greatly⌋ blessed her!”
See the note on “blessed” at 1:45a–b. See also the word bless, Meaning 3, in the Glossary.
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