“one storey of growing” (using a term also denoting a storey or floor of a building) in Highland Totonac (source for this and one above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
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)
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 21:32:
Noongar: “‘Remember, all these things will happen before every person now alive will die.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “‘Truly I say to you: all those [just-mentioned] things will happen before all the people who are living at this time die.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Truly I tell you,’ said Isa, ‘not all of the people (living) now will have died yet, when what I said will come.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Remember what I am telling you, that when you see these things taking place, you will not all die until all of these things are fulfilled.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “‘This that I tell you is true that some of the people who exist today will still be living when all that I have said is fulfilled.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “This really is the truth, that this nation of people won’t be wiped out until all of this has been fulfilled.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
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.
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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).
amēn legō humin ‘truly I say to you,’ cf. on 3.8 and 4.24.
ou mē parelthē hē genea hautē heōs an panta genētai ‘this generation shall not pass away till all things have happened,’ implying that the present generation will live to see all things happen. For the strong negation ou me cf. on 1.15. panta refers to all that has been announced in the preceding verses.
(V. 33) ho ouranos kai hē gē pareleusontai ‘heaven and earth shall pass away,’ cf. on 16.17.
hoi de logoi mou ou mē pareleusontai ‘but my words shall not pass away.’ hoi logoi mou refers to Jesus’ words in vv. 6-28. parerchomai means here ‘to lose force,’ ‘to become invalid.’
Translation:
For truly, I say to you see on 4.24; for this generation, or, ‘people of (or, living in) this generation’ see on 7.31.
Pass away. A term that fits both here and in the two occurrences in v. 33 is stylistically preferable, of course, and apparently can often be found; if not, one will have to differentiate according to meaning, e.g. ‘die’ – ‘come-to-an-end’ (twice) (Kituba), ‘be-lost’ – ‘not be-present’ (twice) (Ekari), ‘die – end – become invalid,’ and cf. ‘their (life)time comes to an end … Heaven shall end, earth shall end, but my word shall remain unchanged’ (Tzeltal). See also on 16.17.
Not … till …, if rendered literally, may imply a condition. In such a case one can better use, ‘not … before…’ (Balinese), or, invert the clause and shift to a positive wording, cf. e.g. “all these things will take place before the people now living have all died” (Good News Translation).
(V. 33) Heaven and earth, cf. on 10.21.
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.
Truly I tell you: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Truly I tell you is literally “Amen I tell you.” Jesus used it to introduce a statement that he wanted to emphasize. It indicates that the statement is important and reliable, and people should listen carefully to it. For more information and translation examples, see the note on 18:17a.
21:32b–c
this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened: There are many different ways to interpret this clause and the words and phrases it contains. Here are the three most likely interpretations:
(1) It refers to the people who were alive in Jesus’ lifetime. It indicates that they will not all die until the things that Jesus mentioned have happened. For example:
the present generation will live to see it all (Revised English Bible)
(Berean Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, Good News Translation, New Century Version, Contemporary English Version)
(2) It refers to the people who will be alive at the time when the signs in 21:25–26 begin to happen. For example:
The people living at that time will certainly not all die before those things happen.
(3) It is used more generally to refer to the Jews as a race or specifically to Jewish people who refused to believe in Jesus. For example:
Some of this race/type ⌊of people⌋ will still be alive/existing when these things happen.
Most English versions translate the phrase literally as this generation, as the Berean Standard Bible does, or as “the people of this time.” It is good to translate the phrase so that people can interpret it in different ways. If you must make one of the interpretations explicit, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).
all these things: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates with the phrase all these things literally means “all ⌊things⌋.” There are different ways to interpret the phrase in this context. Two of the major interpretations are:
(1) It refers to signs that happened at the time when Jerusalem was destroyed.
(2) It refers to all the signs and even includes his return.
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). This fits with the interpretation that the Notes recommend for “this generation.” Many people who were listening to Jesus were still alive when Jerusalem was destroyed. However, it is good not to be too explicit in your translation, since there are many ways to interpret this verse.
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