Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, yudanete (委ねて) or “entrust” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”
Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Luke 22:24-30:
A heated debate broke out among the followers of Jesus —
each of them saying, “I’m the greatest!”
But Jesus interrupted and said:
“Foreign kings order their subjects around,
while claiming to be everyone’s friend.
Don’t be like that! I’ve come as your servant,
and if you want to be truly great, then become a servant yourself.
You may think a king is superior to a servant,
but I’ve been a servant to you.
“You’ve been faithful friends in all my troubles,
so I’ll let each of you rule as a king,
just as my Father has promised.
Not only will you eat and drink with me in the Ultimate Kingdom —
you’ll each have authority of your own.”
The Greek that is translated with the capitalized “Father” in English when referring to God is translated in Highland Totonac with the regular word for (biological) father to which a suffix is added to indicate respect. The same also is used for “Lord” when referring to Jesus. (Source: Hermann Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. )
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. In the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017, God the Father is addressed with mi-chichi (御父). This form has the “divine” honorific prefix mi– preceding the archaic honorific form chichi for “father.”
If, however, Jesus addresses his Father, he is using chichi-o (父を) which is also highly respectful but does not have the “divine” honorific. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
kagō diatithemai humin … basileian ‘and I assign to you dominion.’ kagō means here ‘I on my part.’ basileian is object of both diatithemai and dietheto and has in both cases the same general and abstract meaning, i.e. ‘dominion,’ ‘royal power.’
kathōs dietheto moi ho patēr mou ‘just as my father assigned (dominion) to me.’
(V. 30) hina esthēte kai pinēte epi tēs trapezēs mou ‘in order that you may eat and drink at my table,’ i.e. that you have fellowship with me at the Messianic banquet, cf. on 5.30. The clause indicates the intended result of the assigning of the royal power to the disciples: they will reign in fellowship with Christ in his kingdom.
en tē basileia mou ‘in my kingdom,’ i.e. ‘when my Messianic kingdom has come.’
kai kathēsesthe epi thronōn ‘and you will sit on thrones,’ syntactically no longer dependent upon hina and describing, together with what follows, the situation in which the royal power will be exercised.
tas dōdeka phulas krinontes tou Israēl ‘judging the twelve tribes of Israel,’ referring to the eschatological judgment. phulē also 2.36.
Translation:
One may have to render v. 29 in two sentences, e.g. ‘my Father appointed a kingdom for me; I on my part appoint (it) for you in the same way,’ or to keep to the clause order of the Greek, e.g. ‘I appoint a kingdom for you in the same way as my Father (on his part) appointed it for me,’ ‘I determine that you receive kingship, just as the Father granted it to me’ (cf. Balinese, where an honorific term for God’s act is required).
My Father, cf. on 2.49.
Appointed a kingdom for me, i.e. caused me to be king/ruler, or, to have royal power/rule/dominion, cf. “made me King” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation), ‘gave me to rule’ (Chol), ‘gave me the right (or, the position) to rule’ (cf. Good News Translation, Otomi).
I appoint for you will require similar adjustments, ‘I cause you to be king,’ etc., or, ‘the same (or, that also) I cause you to be,’ etc.
(V. 30) That you may eat …, or as a new sentence, ‘(so/then) you shall eat….’
Eat and drink at my table, or, ‘eat and drink at-the-same-table (or, from the-same-dish) with me’ (Bahasa Indonesia RC, Malay), and cf. on “eat (and drink) with” in 7.36.
Sit on thrones. For the noun see on 1.32. If a literal rendering is impossible or culturally irrelevant, one may say, ‘to reign in splendour.’
Twelve tribes of Israel, cf. on 2.36; in Huixtec one must say, ‘twelve groups of our (inclus.) people, we who are descendants of (the patriarch) Israel.’
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.
In Greek the order of words in this verse is more literally “And I confer on you, just as my Father conferred on me, a kingdom.” The Father conferred a kingdom on Jesus, and then Jesus conferred one on his disciples. In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of words in this verse. See the General Comment on 22:29a–b below for an example.
And I: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And I introduces what Jesus will do for his apostles because they have been faithful to him through his trials (22:28). Some other ways to introduce his statement in English are:
So (Contemporary English Version) -or-
And I, in turn/response
Introduce this statement in a natural way in your language. In some languages a conjunction is not necessary.
I bestow on you a kingdom: The clause I bestow on you a kingdom indicates here that Jesus was giving his apostles authority to rule people. The context in 22:30 shows that his apostles will sit at his table, and they will rule the twelve tribes of Israel. They will use their authority in the kingdom that God has given to Jesus. Jesus did not imply that he was giving the apostles a different kingdom from the one that the Father had given him.
Some ways to translate this are:
I will give you the right to rule as kings (Contemporary English Version) -or-
I appoint/assign you to rule ⌊over people⌋ -or-
I give you power/authority to rule
bestow: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as bestow means “to give [someone] a right or authority.” This word is often used when someone makes a covenant/agreement with another person. Jesus implied here that he was officially giving his apostles authority. See the preceding note for translation examples.
kingdom: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as kingdom refers here to the authority to rule people. Some ways to translate this are:
kingly authority -or-
the authority to rule ⌊people⌋
just as: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as just as connects what Jesus was doing for the apostles to what his Father had done for him. It implies that Jesus and his Father God acted in a similar way in 22:29a–b. God gave Jesus authority to rule, and then Jesus also gave his apostles authority to rule. In this context the conjunction focuses on the similar action that God and Jesus did. It does not focus especially on the manner or way of doing this action.
Some other ways to translate this connection are:
like…so also -or-
as (Revised Standard Version) -or-
since
See also the examples in the General Comment on 22:29a–b below. Translate the connection in a natural way in your language.
My Father has bestowed one on Me: The word one refers back to the phrase “a kingdom.” As earlier in 22:29b, it refers to authority. Here, Jesus indicated that God had given him authority to rule. Jesus was not referring to two different kingdoms in this verse. He was referring to the authority that God gave him and that he will share with his disciples.
My Father: Here Jesus referred to God as his Father. In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:
My Father God
General Comment on 22:29a–b
In some languages it may be helpful to reverse the order of words in this verse. For example:
29band just as my Father has given me the right to rule, 29aso I will give you 29bthe same right. (Good News Translation) -or-
29bGod my Father gave me authority to rule. 29aNow I also give you 29bauthority to rule.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.