teacher

The Greek that is translated as “teacher” (also: “master”) in English is translated in the 1941 Yiddish by Einspruch as rebe (רֶבּי) or “Rabbi” in an effort to identify Jesus as a teacher of the Jews. (Source: Naomi Seidmann in Elliott / Boer 2012, p. 151ff.)

Likewise, a number of Hebrew translations, including the 2018 and 2020 editions by the The Bible Society in Israel also use “Rabbi” (רַבִּי).

See also rabbi.

scribe

The Greek that is usually translated as “scribe” in English “were more than mere writers of the law. They were the trained interpreters of the law and expounders of tradition.”

Here are a number of its (back-) translations:

  • Yaka: “clerk in God’s house”
  • Amganad Ifugao: “man who wrote and taught in the synagogue”
  • Navajo (Dinė): “teaching-writer” (“an attempt to emphasize their dual function”)
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “book-wise person”
  • San Blas Kuna: “one who knew the Jews’ ways”
  • Loma: “educated one”
  • San Mateo del Mar Huave: “one knowing holy paper”
  • Central Mazahua: “writer of holy words”
  • Indonesian: “expert in the Torah”
  • Pamona: “man skilled in the ordinances” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Sinhala: “bearer-of-the-law”
  • Marathi: “one-learned-in-the-Scriptures”
  • Shona (1966): “expert of the law”
  • Balinese: “expert of the books of Torah”
  • Ekari: “one knowing paper/book”
  • Tboli: “one who taught the law God before caused Moses to write” (or “one who taught the law of Moses”) (source for this and 5 above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Noongar: Mammarapa-Warrinyang or “law man” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Mairasi: “one who writes and explains Great Above One’s (=God’s) prohibitions” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Chichewa: “teacher of Laws” (source: Ernst Wendland)
  • North Alaskan Inupiatun: “teachers of law”
  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “writer”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “person who teaches the law which Moses wrote”
  • Alekano: “man who knows wisdom” (source for this and four above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
  • Saint Lucian Creole French: titcha lwa sé Jwif-la (“teacher of the law of the Jews”) (source: David Frank in Lexical Challenges in the St. Lucian Creole Bible Translation Project, 1998)
  • Chichimeca-Jonaz: “one who teaches the holy writings”
  • Atatláhuca Mixtec: “teacher of the words of the law”
  • Coatlán Mixe: “teacher of the religious law”
  • Lalana Chinantec: “one who is a teacher of the law which God gave to Moses back then”
  • Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “one who know well the law” (Source for this and four above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Huixtán Tzotzil: “one who mistakenly thought he was teaching God’s commandments”(Huixtán Tzotzil frequently uses the verb -cuy to express “to mistakenly think something” from the point of view of the speaker; source: Marion M. Cowan in Notes on Translation 20/1966, pp. 6ff.)
  • Sumau: “law-knowing men” (source: this blog post by Todd Owen)
  • German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “theologian” and the 1998 translation by Walter Jens: “interpreter of scriptures” (Schriftausleger)
  • English translation by Scot McKnight (The Second Testament, publ. 2023): Covenant Code scholar

In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines the signs for “expert” and “law.” (Source: Anna Smith)


“Scribe” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL , used with permission)

addressing Jesus in Nepali

The various Greek terms that are translated as “Lord,” “teacher,” or “rabbi” in English are translated in the Simple Nepali Holy Bible (2008) as guru-jyuu (गुरुज्‍यू). Guru simply means “teacher” and the honorific suffix -jyuu is added to it. Instead of guru-jyuu one can also simply use guru, which does not sound impolite. However, guru-jyuu is more respectful and thus preferable. (Source: Chitra Chhetri in The Bible Translator 2009, p. 73ff. )

See also rabbi, teacher, and Lord.

complete verse (Luke 20:39)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 20:39:

  • Noongar: ” Some Law Men said, ‘You replied well, Lord.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “After that, several religion teachers said to Yesus: ‘Your (sing.) answer is very good, Teacher.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Some of the teachers of the religious law said to Isa, ‘Sir, that answer of yours is good.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then some of the other teachers of the Law said, they said, ‘That’s really true what you are saying.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then some of the teachers of the law said, ‘What you (sing.) have answered is admittedly indeed correct.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Some of the explainers of law said, ‘That reply of your was really good, Teacher.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

answer (Japanese honorifics)

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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 Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “answer” in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-kotae (お答え), combining “come” (kotae) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Luke 20:39

Exegesis:

apokrithentes lit. ‘answering,’ cf. on 1.60.

tines tōn grammateōn ‘some of the experts in the law,’ cf. on 5.21. They were the theological and religious opponents of the Sadducees.

kalōs also 6.26.

Translation:

You have spoken well, or, “that was a fine answer” (An American Translation), expressing approval of Jesus’ confutation of the Sadducees.

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.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 20:39

Paragraph 20:39–40

20:39a

Some of the scribes answered: This is the first time that the scribes are mentioned in this section. In some languages a word like answered may wrongly imply that the scribes asked the question in this section. However, it was the Sadducees who asked it. The Sadducees and the scribes were members of different groups who had different beliefs.

Consider how to mention the scribes in a natural way. You should not imply that the Sadducees and scribes were the same group of people. One way to introduce them here is:

Some scribes ⌊were there listening to Jesus’ answer.⌋ They said….

scribes: These scribes were probably Pharisees. Pharisees believed that God does cause people who have died to live again, and they often argued with the Sadducees about this. See the note at 19:47b–d and teacher of the law in the Glossary for more information.

20:39b

Teacher, You have spoken well!: The scribes used the phrase You have spoken well to show that they agreed with what Jesus said in 20:34–38. They were telling him that he had given a good answer to the Sadducees’ question. They were happy that he had shown the Sadducees to be wrong. Other ways to translate this are:

Teacher, you have given a good answer! (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Teacher, what you have said is really true/right.

For help in translating Teacher, see the note on 20:21a.

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