Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("say")

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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 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.

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

Translation commentary on Luke 22:15

Exegesis:

epithumia epethumēsa lit. ‘with desire I desired,’ hebraistic phrase in which the dative epithumia serves to strengthen the meaning of the main verb epethumēsa.

touto to pascha phagein ‘to eat this passover meal,’ cf. on v. 8.

pro tou me pathein ‘before my suffering,’ ‘before I suffer,’ articular accusative and infinitive in a temporal construction. The infinitive pathein is used in the same unspecified way as in 9.22, but it is implied that this suffering will end in death (cf. New English Bible).

Translation:

I have earnestly desired, or, “I have wanted so much” (Good News Translation), ‘with the desire of my heart I wanted’ (Bahasa Indonesia RC).

To eat … with you, or, ‘that I should eat … with you.’ In some languages (e.g. Huixtec) ‘I … with you’ is better rendered by inclusive ‘we.’

Suffer, cf. on 9.22.

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 22:15

22:15a

I have eagerly desired: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as I have eagerly desired is more literally “With desire I have desired,” as in the King James Version. This idiom emphasizes how intensely Jesus had desired to eat this Passover meal with his apostles.

Some other ways to translate the emphasis are:

• Use a different idiom in your language that has the same meaning. For example:

With all my heart I have longed (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

• Use a different way to express the emphasis in your language. For example:

How earnestly I have desired
-or-
I have looked forward to this hour with deep longing (New Living Translation (1996))

Translate this idiom in a natural and emphatic way in your language.

22:15b

to eat this Passover with you: In Greek this phrase is more literally “this Passover to eat with you.” Jesus was eager to eat this Passover meal with his apostles. Another way to translate it is:

that we(incl) should eat this Passover ⌊meal⌋ together

before My suffering: In this context the phrase before My suffering refers to Jesus’ death and to all the sufferings that he would endure before and during it. It is good to translate the phrase in a way that can refer to various types of suffering and also refer to death. For example:

before the agony that I ⌊must endure⌋
-or-
after that, I will suffer.
-or-
before I suffer ⌊and die⌋ (Translator’s Reference Translation)

The verb suffering also occurred in 9:22. See how you translated it there.

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