The Greek that is translated as “(your) testimony” is translated as “give testimony in my favor” in Indonesian or “speak on my behalf before them” (Kele).
See also testify (Luang).
complete verse (Luke 21:13)
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 21:13:
- Noongar: “This will bring your chance, so you can tell the Good News.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
- Uma: “At that time, you will have the opportunity to tell them of your belief in Me.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “When you are there before them/in their presence, you will be able to tell them the good news about me.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “This will be the way for you to preach the Good News.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “And thus you will have opportunity to tell the good news to them.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “But that doesn’t matter, for that is as-it-were your opportunity/time to testify for me to them.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
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 21:13
Exegesis:
apobēsetai humin eis marturion ‘it will result for you in a testimony.’ For apobainō cf. on 5.2.
marturion (cf. on 5.14) here either in a passive sense, ‘testimony for you,’ i.e. it will bring you a good reputation, or in an active sense, ‘testimony,’ ‘testifying,’ i.e. it will bring you an opportunity to testify. The latter is preferable.
Translation:
This will be a time for you, preferably, ‘this will lead you,’ ‘its-consequence (will be) that you’ (cf. Balinese), ‘these things will carry you’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘this will give you the opportunity’ (cf. New English Bible).
To bear testimony, i.e. to tell publicly about the things you have experienced while being with me; hence, ‘give testimony in my favour’ (cf. Bahasa Indonesia), ‘speak on my behalf before them’ (Kele); or, shifting to the contents of the testimony, “declare your faith” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation), “tell the Good News” (Good News Translation). For testimony.
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.
formal second person plural pronoun
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 show 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. )