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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 (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
In these verses, the Greek that is translated as “need” or similar in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-iriyō (お入り用), combining “need” (iriyō) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 19:31:
Noongar: “If people ask why you are untying the donkey, tell them, ‘The Lord wants it’.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “If people ask you why your are untying it, say: ‘Because the Lord needs it.’ ‘” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “If someone asks why you untie it, say ‘The Lord needs it.’ ‘” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And if someone asks you why you are untying it, you say, ‘Our Lord Jesus needs this.’ ‘” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “If someone inquires of you, ‘Why are you untying that?’ say, ‘Our (excl.) Lord needs it.’ ‘” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “If there is someone who comments on it to you as to why you are untying it, say, ‘The Lord needs it.”” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Bariai: “And if anyone asks the two of you, ‘Why is it that you’re untying its rope?’ then speak to him like this, ‘The Chief has work with it.’ ‘” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Kupsabiny: “And when/if somebody ask you why you are untying the donkey, tell him that, ‘The Lord wants/needs it.’‘ ” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Mairasi: “But if the people ask you: ‘Why are you guys untying this keledai [donkey]?’ they will say, then tell that person [who asked]: ‘It is Above-One [Lord]’s throat’ you must say’ says Yesus to them.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
Hiligaynon: “If someone asks you(pl) why you(pl) are untying the ass, you(pl) answer him that the Lord needs-(it).’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
The Hebrew adonai in the Old Testament typically refers to God. The shorter adon (and in two cases in the book of Daniel the Aramaic mare [מָרֵא]) is also used to refer to God but more often for concepts like “master,” “owner,” etc. In English Bible translations all of those are translated with “Lord” if they refer to God.
In English Old Testament translations, as in Old Testament translations in many other languages, the use of Lord (or an equivalent term in other languages) is not to be confused with Lord (or the equivalent term with a different typographical display for other languages). While the former translates adonai, adon and mare, the latter is a translation for the tetragrammaton (YHWH) or the Name of God. See tetragrammaton (YHWH) and the article by Andy Warren-Rothlin in Noss / Houser, p. 618ff. for more information.
In the New Testament, the Greek term kurios has at least four different kinds of use:
referring to “God,” especially in Old Testament quotations,
meaning “master” or “owner,” especially in parables, etc.,
as a form of address (see for instance John 4:11: “Sir, you have no bucket”),
or, most often, referring to Jesus
In the first and fourth case, it is also translated as “Lord” in English.
Most languages naturally don’t have one word that covers all these meanings. According to Bratcher / Nida, “the alternatives are usually (1) a term which is an honorific title of respect for a high-ranking person and (2) a word meaning ‘boss’, ‘master’, or ‘chief.’ (…) and on the whole it has generally seemed better to employ a word of the second category, in order to emphasize the immediate personal relationship, and then by context to build into the word the prestigeful character, since its very association with Jesus Christ will tend to accomplish this purpose.”
When looking at the following list of back-translations of the terms that translators in the different languages have used for both kurios and adonai to refer to God and Jesus respectively, it might be helpful for English readers to recall the etymology of the English “Lord.” While this term might have gained an exalted meaning in the understanding of many, it actually comes from hlaford or “loaf-ward,” referring to the lord of the castle who was the keeper of the bread (source: Rosin 1956, p. 121).
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Following are some of the solutions that don’t rely on a different typographical display (see above):
Iyansi: Mwol. Mwol is traditionally used for the “chief of a group of communities and villages” with legal, temporal, and spiritual authority (versus the “mfum [the term used in other Bantu languages] which is used for the chief of one community of people in one village”). Mwol is also used for twins who are “treated as special children, highly honored, and taken care of like kings and queens.” (Source: Kividi Kikama in Greed / Kruger, p. 396ff.)
Binumarien: Karaambaia: “fight-leader” (Source: Oates 1995, p. 255)
Warlpiri: Warlaljamarri (owner or possessor of something — for more information tap or click here)
We have come to rely on another term which emphasizes God’s essential nature as YHWH, namely jukurrarnu (see tetragrammaton (YHWH)). This word is built on the same root jukurr– as is jukurrpa, ‘dreaming.’ Its basic meaning is ‘timelessness’ and it is used to describe physical features of the land which are viewed as always being there. Some speakers view jukurrarnu in terms of ‘history.’ In all Genesis references to YHWH we have used Kaatu Jukurrarnu. In all Mark passages where kurios refers to God and not specifically to Christ we have also used Kaatu Jukurrarnu.
New Testament references to Christ as kurios are handled differently. At one stage we experimented with the term Watirirririrri which refers to a ceremonial boss of highest rank who has the authority to instigate ceremonies. While adequately conveying the sense of Christ’s authority, there remained potential negative connotations relating to Warlpiri ceremonial life of which we might be unaware.
Here it is that the Holy Spirit led us to make a chance discovery. Transcribing the personal testimony of the local Warlpiri pastor, I noticed that he described how ‘my Warlaljamarri called and embraced me (to the faith)’. Warlaljamarri is based on the root warlalja which means variously ‘family, possessions, belongingness’. A warlaljamarri is the ‘owner’ or ‘possessor’ of something. While previously being aware of the ‘ownership’ aspect of warlaljamarri, this was the first time I had heard it applied spontaneously and naturally in a fashion which did justice to the entire concept of ‘Lordship’. Thus references to Christ as kurios are now being handled by Warlaljamarri.” (Source: Stephen Swartz, The Bible Translator 1985, p. 415ff. )
Mairasi: Onggoao Nem (“Throated One” — “Leader,” “Elder”) or Enggavot Nan (“Above-One”) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Obolo: Okaan̄-ene (“Owner of person(s)”) (source: Enene Enene)
Lotha Naga: Opvui (“owner of house / field / cattle”) — since both “Lord” and YHWH are translated as Opvui there is an understanding that “Opvui Jesus is the same as the Opvui of the Old Testament”
Seediq: Tholang, loan word from Min Nan Chinese (the majority language in Taiwan) thâu-lâng (頭儂): “Master” (source: Covell 1998, p. 248)
Thai: phra’ phu pen cao (พระผู้เป็นเจ้า) (divine person who is lord) or ong(kh) cao nay (องค์เจ้านาย) (<divine classifier>-lord-boss) (source: Stephen Pattemore)
Arabic often uses different terms for adonai or kurios referring to God (al-rabb الرب) and kurios referring to Jesus (al-sayyid الـسـيـد). Al-rabb is also the term traditionally used in Arabic Christian-idiom translations for YHWH, and al-sayyid is an honorary term, similar to English “lord” or “sir” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
Tamil also uses different terms for adonai/kurios when referring to God and kurios when referring to Jesus. The former is Karttar கர்த்தர், a Sanskrit-derived term with the original meaning of “creator,” and the latter in Āṇṭavar ஆண்டவர், a Tamil term originally meaning “govern” or “reign” (source: Natarajan Subramani).
Burunge: Looimoo: “owner who owns everything” (in the Burunge Bible translation, this term is only used as a reference to Jesus and was originally used to refer to the traditional highest deity — source: Michael Endl in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 48)
Yagaria: Souve, originally “war lord” (source: Renck, p. 94)
Aguacateco: Ajcaw ske’j: “the one to whom we belong and who is above us” (source: Rita Peterson in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 49)
Konkomba: Tidindaan: “He who is the owner of the land and reigns over the people” (source: Lidorio 2007, p. 66)
Chichewa: AmbuyeAmbuye comes from the singular form Mbuye which is used to refer to: (1) someone who is a guardian or protector of someone or group of people — a grandparent who has founded a community or village; (2) someone who is a boss or master over a group of people or servants and has absolute control over them; (3) owner of something, be it a property, animals and people who are bound under his/her rule — for people this was mostly commonly used in the context of slaves and their owner. In short, Mbuye is someone who has some authorities over those who call him/her their “Mbuye.” Now, when the form Ambuye is used it will either be for honorific when used for singular or plural when referring to more than one person. When this term is used in reference to God, it is for respect to God as he is acknowledged as a guardian, protector, and ruler of everything. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation).
Hdi uses rveri (“lion”) as a title of respect and as such it regularly translates adon in the Old Testament. As an address, it’s most often with a possessive pronoun as in rvera ɗa (“my lion” = “my lord” or “sir”). So, for example, Genesis 15:2 (“O Lord God”) is Rvera ɗa Yawe (“My lion Yahweh”) or Ruth to Boaz in Ruth 2:13: “May I find your grace [lit. good-stomach] my lion.” This ties in nicely with the imagery of the Lord roaring like a lion (Hosea 11:10; Amos 3:8; Joel 3:16). Better still, this makes passages like Revelation 5:5 even richer when we read about rveri ma taba məndəra la Yuda, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah”. In Revelation 19:16, Jesus is rveri ta ghəŋa rveriha “the lion above lions” (“lord of lords”). (Source: Drew Maust)
Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient GreekSeptuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew adonai was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments: “Another case is the use of kurios referring to Jesus. For Yahweh (in English Bibles: ‘the Lord‘), the Septuagint uses kurios. Although the term kurios usually has to do with one’s authority over others, when the New Testament authors use this word from the Septuagint to refer to Jesus, they are making an extraordinary claim: Jesus of Nazareth is to be identified with Yahweh.”
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 most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.
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®).
dia ti luete ‘why are you untying it?,’ implying that this question is asked while they are untying the colt.
houtōs ereite hoti ‘you will speak thus,’ with hoti introducing direct speech.
ho kurios autou chreian echei ‘the Lord needs it.’ autou is placed before chreian on which it depends, as an objective genitive. For kurios cf. on 1.6 (3). For chreian echein cf. on 5.31.
Translation:
‘The Lord has need of it’. These words spoken by Jesus are a case of quotation on two levels. This somewhat intricate pattern requires careful handling in some languages, e.g. in Warao. — The Lord is used by the disciples as a reverent title for Jesus, but in the Gospel of Luke Jesus never explicitly and expressly declares himself to be the Lord. A specific problem arises in honorific languages, which usually do not allow a speaker to refer to himself with reverent terms, even if he does so in an utterance of which others are the presumed speakers. The translator may feel himself compelled, then, to use a rendering that is more or less contrary to the linguistic etiquette in the receptor language; or he may have to reword the passage in such a way that Jesus becomes the presumed speaker on the second level also, e.g. (in indirect discourse), .’.. say, that I, the one whom you call the Lord, have need of it,’ or (in direct discourse), .’.. give him this message from me, or, this is my message (to him), “I, whom people call the Lord, have need of it” .’ If the rendering of “the Lord” has to be a possessed form, on may say ‘our Lord’ (inclusive, if the owner is assumed to be one of Jesus’ adherents; or exclusive, if this is not the case, or if the inclusive would reveal too much of the owner’s relation with Jesus). — Has need of, or, ‘must use it,’ ‘wants to ride on it,’ ‘has business with it’ (Zarma), or with a shift, ‘it will serve for our Lord’ (Tzeltal).
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.
If anyone asks: The phrase If anyone asks refers to an event that might happen when the disciples went to take the donkey. Jesus implied that someone might ask the disciples why they were taking the donkey. This event had not yet happened when Jesus said this. Another way to translate this phrase is:
Someone may ask you
Why are you untying it?: Here Jesus quoted what someone might say to the disciples. People might ask the disciples why they were untying the colt. They would ask this because they knew that the colt did not belong to the disciples. In some languages it may be more natural to use indirect speech. For example:
If anyone asks you why you are untying it
19:31b
tell him, ‘The Lord needs it’: Here Jesus told the two disciples what to say to anyone who asked them why they were untying the colt. In some languages it may be more natural to use indirect speech here. For example:
tell him that the Master needs it (Good News Translation)
In Mark 11:3 the text includes a phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “and will send it back here shortly.” Jesus wanted to use the donkey for only a short time. In some languages it may be helpful to indicate this in some way. For example:
The Lord needs ⌊to use/ride⌋ it.
Lord: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Lord means “master” or “the one who has authority over others.” It was a title that the disciples and early Christians gave to Jesus. Here the author does not tell us whether or not the owners of the donkey knew who Jesus was. You should translate Lord with a general term of respect that the disciples could use to refer to Jesus. See Lord, Context 2, in the Glossary. Several versions translate Lord here as:
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