The Greek that is typically translated as “tempt” or “temptation” in English is translated in Noongar as djona-karra or “reveal conduct” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang) and in Tibetan as nyams sad (ཉམས་སད།), lit. “soul + test,” or in some cases as slu (སླུ།) or “lure / lead astray” (for instance in 1 Cor. 7:5 or Gal 6:1) (source: gSungrab website )
“to beg” or “to ask,” (full expression: “to ask with one’s heart coming out,” which leaves out selfish praying, for asking with the heart out leaves no place for self to hide) (Tzotzil)
“to raise up one’s words to God” (implying an element of worship, as well as communication) (Miskito, Lacandon) (source of this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
Shilluk: “speak to God” (source: Nida 1964, p. 237)
Mairasi: “talk together with Great Above One (=God)” (source: Enggavoter, 2004)
Ik: waan: “beg.” Terrill Schrock (in Wycliffe Bible Translators 2016, p. 93) explains (click or tap here to read more):
What do begging and praying have to do with each other? Do you beg when you pray? Do I?
“The Ik word for ‘visitor’ is waanam, which means ‘begging person.’ Do you beg when you go visiting? The Ik do. Maybe you don’t beg, but maybe when you visit someone, you are looking for something. Maybe it’s just a listening ear.
When the Ik hear that [my wife] Amber and I are planning trip to this or that place for a certain amount of time, the letters and lists start coming. As the days dwindle before our departure, the little stack of guests grows. ‘Please, sir, remember me for the allowing: shoes, jacket (rainproof), watch, box, trousers, pens, and money for the children. Thank you, sir, for your assistance.’
“A few people come by just to greet us or spend bit of time with us. Another precious few will occasionally confide in us about their problems without asking for anything more than a listening ear. I love that.
“The other day I was in our spare bedroom praying my list of requests to God — a nice list covering most areas of my life, certainly all the points of anxiety. Then it hit me: Does God want my list, or does he want my relationship?
“I decided to try something. Instead of reading off my list of requests to God, I just talk to him about my issues without any expectation of how he should respond. I make it more about our relationship than my list, because if our personhood is like God’s personhood, then maybe God prefers our confidence and time to our lists, letters, and enumerations.”
In Luang it is translated with different shades of meaning (click or tap here to read more):
For Acts 1:14, 20:36, 21:5: kola ttieru-yawur nehla — “hold the waist and hug the neck.” (“This is the more general term for prayer and often refers to worship in prayer as opposed to petition. The Luang people spend the majority of their prayers worshiping rather than petitioning, which explains why this term often is used generically for prayer.”)
For Acts 28:9: sumbiani — “pray.” (“This term is also used generically for ‘prayer’. When praying is referred to several times in close proximity, it serves as a variation for kola ttieru-yawur nehla, in keeping with Luang discourse style. It is also used when a prayer is made up of many requests.”)
For Acts 8:15, 12:5: polu-waka — “call-ask.” (“This is a term for petition that is used especially when the need is very intense.”)
Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 22:46:
Noongar: “He said to them, ‘Why are you lying asleep? Get up and ask God that you do not fall into temptation.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “He said to them: ‘Why are you asleep! Get up and pray that you not receive undergo temptation.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “He said to them, ‘Why do you sleep? Stand up and pray to God so that you will not be carried-away by temptation/tempters.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray so that you may not be defeated by the temptation which is upon you.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Then he said, ‘Why are you sleeping? Get-up/Wake-up so-that you will pray so-that you won’t be-tempted-and-yield.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “He awoke them and said, ‘Why are you sleeping now? Get up and pray so that you won’t be defeated by evil/evil-spirit when your believing-in/obeying me is tested.'” (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.
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 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.
ti katheudete ‘why are you sleeping?,’ expressing astonishment rather than inquiring after a reason. katheudō, cf. on 8.52.
anastantes proseuchesthe ‘rise and pray,’ i.e. rise from your lying position and stand on your feet, cf. on v. 41.
Translation:
Why do you sleep?, or, ‘how is it possible that you are asleep?,’ ‘do you really sleep now?.’
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.
Why are you sleeping?: This is a rhetorical question. Jesus rebuked his disciples for sleeping after he told them to pray in 22:40. In 22:31 Jesus had told them that Satan wanted to tempt them. It was not right for them to sleep at that time when they needed to pray. In 22:46b Jesus again told them to pray.
Some ways to translate this rebuke are:
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
Why are you asleep? (Contemporary English Version)
• As a statement. For example:
It is not good that you are sleeping ⌊now⌋.
In some languages it may not be clear why Jesus rebuked his disciples. If that is true in your language, it may be necessary to include implied information here. For example:
Is it good that you are sleeping ⌊in this time of temptation⌋? -or-
Why are you sleeping? ⌊You should be praying.⌋
He asked: In the Greek text, this clause occurs at the beginning of this verse. It is more literally, “and he said to them.” The Berean Standard Bible has placed the clause after the rhetorical question. Place it where it is natural in your language. If you translate the question as a statement, use an appropriate verb of speech in your language.
The context implies that Jesus woke the disciples. The disciples may have awakened when Jesus returned, or Jesus may have awakened them by the question or in another way. In some languages it may be necessary to include implied information that shows that the disciples awakened and heard the question. For example:
⌊awakened them and⌋ said
22:46b
Get up and pray: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Get up may refer here to waking from sleep or to getting up from the ground. The disciples had been lying on the ground asleep.
The commands Get up and pray indicate that Jesus wanted them to rise from sleeping on the ground and pray. Jewish men often prayed standing up. Some ways to translate these commands are:
Rise and pray (Revised Standard Version) -or-
Wake up and pray (Contemporary English Version) -or-
Stand up and pray
pray so that you will not enter into temptation: Here Jesus repeated the command that he gave his disciples in 22:40. See the notes at 22:40b for translation suggestions.
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