Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 19:20:
Noongar: “Another servant came and said, ‘Your Majesty, here is your one gold coin, take it. I kept your coin and I hid the coin in a cloth.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “‘From there, another servant also came. He said: ‘Here is your (sing.) money, King. I stored it well, I wrapped it with a handkerchief.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Then the one also went to him and said, ‘Sir, here is your gold-coin. I wrapped it well in a handkerchief and stored it.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then the third servant came near and he said, ‘Here is the money that you had me keep; I carefully wrapped it up and put it away,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “‘Another servant then went and said, ‘Sir King, here also is the money you (sing.) gave me. I wrapped it in a handkerchief and just stored it away,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Another person approached and said, ‘Master, here is that money of yours. I wrapped it in a cloth and then hid it so that it wouldn’t be-subtracted-from.” (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 to do this is through the usage of appropriate suffix title referred to as keishō (敬称) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017 by using the formal title –sama. This is distinct from nominal titles such as “master.” This is evident from the forms such as go-shujin-sama (ご主人様) “master” or “lord” which is the combination of the nominal title shujin “master” with the honorific prefix go- and the suffix title –sama.
In some cases, it can also be used as go-shujin (ご主人), i.e. with the honorific prefix go- but without the suffix title –sama. You can find that in Genesis 23:6, 23:11, 23:15, 24:51, 39:8, 39:9, 44:8, 44:9; 1 Samuel 25:17; and 2 Kings 2:16 and 4:26.
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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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person. In these verses, however, the more venerable anata-sama (あなた様) is used, which combines anata with the with a formal title -sama.
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®).
kai ho heteros ēlthen ‘and the other came,’ as if there were only three instead of ten (v. 13). But the first two and the third represent the two different attitudes of diligence and negligence respectively.
idou hē mna sou ‘behold your mina,’ i.e. ‘here is your mina.’
hēn eichon apokeimenēn en soudariō ‘which I kept put away in a facecloth.’ eichon is durative imperfect.
apokeimai ‘to be put away,’ ‘to be stored up.’
soudarion ‘face-cloth.’ ephoboumēn gar se ‘for I was afraid of you,’ durative imperfect.
hoti anthrōpos austēros ei ‘because you are an exacting man.’ This statement is illustrated by the subsequent asyndetic sentence.
austēros (also v. 22) ‘hard,’ ‘severe,’ ‘exacting.’
aireis ho ouk ethēkas ‘you take away what you did not put down,’ a proverbial saying, which refers probably to taking away from the threshing floor corn which one had not brought in and put down for threshing, cf. parallels quoted by Creed. Here it is used in the more general meaning of taking what one has not laboured for, cf. Phillips. This is in accordance with therizeis ho ouk espeiras (cf. on 12.24) ‘you reap what you did not sow.’ In both clauses the present tense is habitual.
Translation:
Another, or, ‘yet another’ (Javanese); or, “the next” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation), “the third” (New English Bible). To use a term that expresses not serial but qualitative differentiation is not advisable.
Which I kept laid away in a napkin, often better rendered as a new sentence, e.g. ‘I kept it put away in a napkin,’ ‘I wrapped it up in a face-cloth and (so) kept it safe.’ — Napkin, or, ‘face-cloth,’ ‘handkerchief,’ often simply ‘piece of cloth.’
(V. 21) I was afraid of you. The phrase of you is sometimes omitted, as virtually redundant.
You are a severe man, or, ‘your character (lit. the you-ness) is severe’ (Tae’). Some renderings of severe basically mean ‘hard’ (Batak Toba), ‘hard hearted’ (Ekari), ‘hard-livered’ (Bahasa Indonesia), ‘rigid’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘stinging’ (Tae’).
You take up what you did not lay down, or to stress the illustrative character of the sentence, ‘you are (like) a man who takes up what he did not lay down, or, what is not his’ (cf. Good News Translation). Other pairs of contrastive terms used are, “draw out—put in” (New English Bible), ‘claim back—deposit’ (Willibrord). An equivalent English saying is, “getting something for nothing” (Phillips).
For to reap and to sow see on 12.24 and 8.5, and references.
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.
Then another servant came and said: This servant was another one of the ten servants who received money from the master. The other seven servants are not mentioned. Some ways to introduce this servant are:
The third came and said (Revised English Bible) -or-
Then another came, saying (Revised Standard Version) -or-
When the last came, he said (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
19:20b
Master: The word Master was also used in 19:16 and 19:18. See the note at 19:16b for translation suggestions.
here is your mina: This servant took the same money that his master had given him and gave it back to his master. He did not use it to gain more money.
The actions of this servant contrast with the first two servants who reported to the king. In some languages it may be natural to indicate this contrast explicitly here. For example:
But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, ‘Master…’ (New Living Translation (2004))
Notice that the New Living Translation (2004) uses indirect speech here to translate the clause here is your mina. Use direct and indirect speech in this story in a way that is natural in your language.
19:20c
which I have laid away in a piece of cloth: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as laid away refers to putting something away to store it or keep it safe. This servant had not invested the money as the master had told him to do. He had only wrapped it in cloth and put it somewhere. This was not even a good way to keep it safe as the servant implied. Some other ways to translate this action are:
I kept it hidden in a handkerchief (Good News Translation) -or-
I kept it wrapped up in a handkerchief (Revised English Bible) -or-
I’ve kept it in a cloth for safekeeping (God’s Word)
a piece of cloth: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a piece of cloth refers to a face cloth or a neck cloth. People used it to protect themselves from the sun and to wipe the sweat off their faces.
In some languages there is a specific word for such an item, like the English word “handkerchief.” In other languages, it is better to use a general expression, as in the Berean Standard Bible.
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