widow

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “widow” in English is translated in West Kewa as ona wasa or “woman shadow” (source: Karl J. Franklin in Notes on Translation 70/1978, pp. 13ff.) and in Newari as “husband already died ones” or “ones who have no husband” (source: Newari Back Translation).

The etymological meaning of the Hebrew almanah (אַלְמָנָה) is likely “pain, ache,” the Greek chéra (χήρα) is likely “to leave behind,” “abandon,” and the English widow (as well as related terms in languages such as Dutch, German, Sanskrit, Welsh, or Persian) is “to separate,” “divide” (source: Wiktionary).

See also widows.

truly truly - I tell you

The Greek that is often translated in English as “truly, truly, I tell you” or similar is translated in the Russian BTI translation (publ. 2015) as Поверьте Мне (Pover’te Mne) or “trust me.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

See also Amen.

complete verse (Luke 21:3)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 21:3:

  • Noongar: “Jesus said, ‘I tell you, this poor widow has given more money than all the other people,” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “Yesus said: ‘Truly I say to you: that widow whose life is pitiful, her gift is greater than the gifts of all those people.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Isa said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow woman dropped in more money than they all.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus then said to his companions, he said, ‘It’s true what I say to you that that widow-woman, according to how God thinks, she offered very much more than all that was offered by the other people,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then Jesus said, ‘This that I tell you is emphatically true that this poor widow has inserted more than all the others inserted.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Jesus spoke, saying, ‘This which I will say to you really is true. That poor widow woman dropped much more than that dropped by all those others.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

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 Translator 2002, 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.

Translation commentary on Luke 21:3

Exegesis:

alēthōs legō humin ‘I tell you truly,’ cf. on 3.8 and 9.27.

pleion pantōn ebalen .’.. has put in more than all.’ pantōn refers to tous plousious in v. 1, as is brought out in v. 4.

Translation:

Truly I tell you, cf. references on 4.24f.

More than all of them, or, ‘most of all.’ More, of course, does not mean here ‘more coins’ but ‘something more valuable’; to make the reader aware of this one may have to add a cue, cf. e.g. “has really put in more than all the others” (Good News Translation).

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.