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 22:35

Exegesis:

kai eipen autois ‘and he said to them,’ marking the transition to a new subject.

hote apesteila humas ‘when I sent you out,’ referring to one specific event in the past (as brought out by hote and by the aorist tense of apesteila), i.e. that of 10.3ff.

ater ballantiou kai pēras kai hupodēmatōn ‘without a purse and a knapsack and sandals,’ cf. on 10.4.

mē tinos husterēsate ‘did you lack anything?,’ cf. on 15.14. mē in interrogative clauses does not presume an affirmative or negative answer.

outhenos (scil. husterēsamen) ‘(we lacked) nothing.’

Translation:

With no purse or bag or sandals, or, ‘not taking with you a purse or bag or sandals,’ or using different verbs, ‘not having with you a purse, not carrying-on-the-back a knapsack, not wearing sandals.’ For the nouns see on 10.4 and references.

Did you lack anything, or, ‘were you ever short of anything,’ ‘was there anything you wanted but could not get’ (Tae’ 1933).

Nothing, or, filling out the expression, ‘we lacked nothing.’

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.