The Greek that is translated as “told a parable” or sometimes just “said” as an introduction to a parable is translated in Dagbani very explicitly as ŋahi ba ŋahili or “parabled a parable.” (Source: André Wilson in The Bible Translator 1972, p. 135ff. )
parable
The Greek that is usually translated as “parable” in English is translated in other languages in a number of ways:
- Piro: “picture with words”
- Pamona: “message in the manner of a comparison”
- Highland Totonac and South Bolivian Quechua: “comparison word”
- Tzeltal: “picture story”
- Yucateco and Central Tarahumara: “likeness word”
- Cashibo-Cacataibo: “story which says like that”
- Chicahuaxtla Triqui and Wayuu: “story told for teaching”
- Navajo: “story from which understanding comes”
- Western Kanjobal: “notice from which comes teaching” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
- North Alaskan Inupiatun: “story with a meaning”
- Kekchí: “changed, or, turned-about word” (source for this and one above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
- Palantla Chinantec: “double talk” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
- Mairasi: “example” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
- Low German: “picture” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006).
- Mandarin Chinese: bǐyù (比喻), lit. “comparison explanation” (source: Zetzsche)
In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines the signs for “tell-a-story” and “compare.” (Source: Anna Smith)
“Parable” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) translates it into English as analogy because “the Greek word has the sense of tossing down something alongside something else. Hence an analogy.”
See also image and figures of speech.
complete verse (Luke 15:3)
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 15:3:
- Mairasi: “That is the reason why Yesus spoke this example, explaining:” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
- Noongar: “So Jesus told them this parable:” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
- Uma: “That is why Yesus spoke to them with this parable.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “Therefore Isa told them this parable, he said,” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Then Jesus told them this parable; he said,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “Therefore Jesus then related this parable to them. He said,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “When Jesus observed that, he caused them to listen to an illustration, saying,” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
pronoun for "God"
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 ta (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential ta (祂) is used.”
In Kouya, Godié, Northern Grebo, Eastern Krahn, Western Krahn, and Guiberoua Béte, all languages of the Kru family in Western Africa, a different kind of systems of pronouns is used (click or tap here to read more):
In that system one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and one 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 in the following way: “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 the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In both 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. ).
See also first person pronoun referring to God.
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Gender of God .
Translation: Chinese
在现代汉语中,第三人称单数代词的读音都是一样的(tā),但是写法并不一样,取决于性别以及是否有生命,即男性为“他”,女性为“她”,动物、植物和无生命事物为“它”(在香港和台湾的汉语使用,动物则为“牠”)。这些字的部首偏旁表明了性别(男人、女人、动物、无生命事物),而另一偏旁通常旁提示发音。
到1930年为止,基督教新教《圣经》经过整整一百年的翻译已经拥有了十几个译本,当时的一位圣经翻译者王元德新造了一个“神圣的”代词“祂”,偏旁“礻”表示神明。一般汉语读者会立即知道这字的发音是tā,而这个偏旁表示属灵的事物,因此他们明白这个字指出,三位一体的所有位格都没有性别之分,而单单是上帝。
然而,最重要的新教圣经译本(1919年的《和合本》)和天主教圣经译本(1968年的《思高圣经》)都没有采用“祂”;虽然如此,许多其他的圣经译本采用了这个字,另外还广泛出现在赞美诗和其他基督信仰的书刊中。(资料来源:Zetzsche)
《吕振中译本》的几个早期版本也使用“祂”来指称“上帝”;这个译本的《新约》于1946年译成,整部《圣经》于1970年完成。克拉默斯(Kramers)指出:“‘他’的这种新写法(即‘祂’)产生了一个小问题,就是在指称耶稣的时候,是否一律使用这个敬语代词?《吕振中译本》遵循的原则是,在称呼耶稣这个人的时候,用一般的‘他’,而在称呼耶稣神性的时候,特别是升天之后的耶稣,则用尊称‘祂’。”
Translator: Simon Wong
Honorary "are" construct denoting God (“return”)
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, kaes-are-ru (返される) or “return” is used.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Honorary "are" construct denoting God (“speak”)
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, hanas-are-ru (話される) or “speak” is used.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Translation commentary on Luke 1:53
Exegesis:
peinōntas eneplēsen agathōn ‘hungry people he has filled with good things.’
peinaō ‘to be hungry,’ here in a figurative sense, as shown by agathōn and by the contrasting ploutountas in the next clause. The omission of the article before peinōntas (as compared with hoi peinōntes in 6.21) shows that no special group or class of people is referred to.
empimplēmi (also 6.25) ‘to fill’ or ‘to satisfy’; both meanings are possible here.
kai ploutountas exapesteilen kenous ‘and rich people he has sent away empty.’
plouteō (also 12.21) ‘to be rich.’
exapostellō ‘to send away’; in Luke the verb occurs always with the adjective kenos ‘empty,’ and is construed with an accusative of object and a predicative accusative; the former indicates who is sent away and the latter indicates in what state.
kenos (also 20.10f) ‘empty,’ of persons ‘empty-handed.’
Translation:
He has filled the hungry with good things, i.e. he gives the hungry plenty of good things; where ‘hungry’ cannot have the extended meaning required here one may have to shift to, ‘he gives to those in want plenty of goods,’ ‘he satisfies with what is good the poor’ (Tboli), ‘the needy are filled with treasures’ (Sundanese). Sranan Tongo has here, ‘the hungry-belly people’; in Toraja-Sa’dan the etymology of the term is ‘not-satiated.’
Rich (also in 6.24; 12.16, 21; 14.12; 16.1, 19, 21f; 18.23, 25; 19.2; 21.1) is in some cases rendered by a derivation of ‘to-be(-available)’ (Tae,’ similarly Navajo, Apache), or, ‘to-be-strong/firm/secure’ (another Apache dialect); a possible descriptive rendering is ‘having much property/money,’ ‘having plenty.’
Has sent empty away, or, ‘sends away with empty hands,’ or, ‘without anything’ (Ekari), ‘carrying nothing’ (Tagalog), ‘just as he is’ (Navajo), ‘smooth (i.e. with nothing on them)’ (Apache), ‘hands and hands’ (Kongo), cf. ‘holding his own hands (i.e. with nothing but his own hands)’ (Punu); or, ‘sent-straight-forward-away,’ implying that the person can take nothing with him (Sediq).
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.
Translation commentary on Luke 15:2 – 15:3
Exegesis:
diegogguzon ‘grumbled,’ presumably in Jesus’ presence.
diagogguzō (also 19.7) ‘to murmur,’ ‘to grumble,’ synonymous with gogguzō (cf. on 5.30).
hoi te Pharisaioi kai hoi grammateis ‘the Pharisees and the experts in the law,’ cf. on 5.17 and 21. By te … kai they are represented as belonging very closely together.
houtos ‘this man,’ contemptuously.
hamartōlous prosdechetai ‘welcomes sinners,’ i.e. into his company. For the inarticulate hamartōlous cf. on v. 1.
sunesthiei autois ‘and eats with them,’ presumably at their invitation and in their homes.
(V. 3) eipen de pros autous tēn parabolēn tautēn ‘then he told them this parable,’ i.e. as an answer to their grumbling. Strictly speaking Jesus does not tell them one parable, but two parables in question-form, which closely resemble each other and from which the same application is drawn in vv. 7 and 10.
Translation:
Murmured, cf. on 5.30.
For receives see 9.5. In this context Sranan Tongo has: ‘sides (lit. keeps/holds) with,’ Bible en français courant: fait bon accueil à.
For eats with them see 7.36; for parable see 8.4.
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.
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