Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 19:41:
Noongar: “Jesus was approaching Jerusalem. When he could see the great city, Jesus began weeping for Jerusalem.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “Yesus got closer and closer to Yerusalem, until he could see that town. He wept, weeping-over that town.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “When Isa came closer to Awrusalam and could already see the clusters-of-houses, he wept because of his pity for the people of that town.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus and company continued on to the town of Jerusalem. And when he saw that town, he wept over it, because he pitied very much to inhabitants there.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “When plural Jesus approached Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept because of his pity” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “When Jesus was really close now to Jerusalem, that he could see the city well now, suddenly/unexpectedly he wept about it.” (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 (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God or a person or persons to be greatly honored, the honorific prefix go- (御 or ご) can be used, as in go-ran (ご覧), a combination of “behold / see” (ran) and the honorific prefix go-.
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.
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 hōs ēggisen ‘and as he came near,’ i.e. to the city, temporal clause denoting what precedes the events to which idōn and eklausen refer.
idōn tēn polin eklausen ep’ autēn ‘when he saw the city he wept over it.’ For epi meaning ‘over’ with a verb denoting emotions, or expressions of emotion.
Translation:
And when he drew near, or, ‘still nearer,’ as some versions have in view of v. 37. The reference to ‘the city’ is usually better transposed to this introductory clause; hence, ‘when he drew still nearer to the city and looked at it.’
He wept over it, i.e. ‘he wept because of (grief over) it, or, because he pitied it,’ in view of the disasters that would come over it. For the verb see on 6.21.
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.
As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as approached means “to come near.” In 19:37 Jesus was already near the city. Jesus had continued to ride the donkey toward Jerusalem and was now close enough to see the city clearly. Here you may need to use a different expression that indicates that he was now nearer the city than before. For example:
as he/Jesus came even nearer to Jerusalem
the city: The phrase the city refers to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was already mentioned in this part of the verse. Refer back to it in a natural way in your language. Another way to do that in English is to use a pronoun:
saw it
19:41b
He wept over it: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as He wept over it means that Jesus cried as he thought about the city of Jerusalem and its people. He cried because he knew the terrible things that would happen to the people and buildings there in the future.
The reason he cried should be clear from the verses that follow this verse (19:43–44). However, in some languages it may be more natural to indicate it here also. For example:
he cried ⌊in sorrow⌋ as he thought about ⌊what would happen to⌋ Jerusalem -or-
he cried ⌊because he pitied⌋ the city ⌊and its people⌋
wept: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as wept refers to a type of weeping or crying aloud that a person does as he mourns and laments. It does not refer specifically to shedding tears, though tears may accompany this kind of lamenting. Other ways to translate it are:
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