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 religious leaders with the formal pronoun, showing respect. Compare that with the typical address with the informal pronoun of the religious leaders.
The only two exceptions to this are Luke 7:40/43 and 10:26 where Jesus uses the informal pronoun as a response to the sycophantic use of the formal pronoun by the religious leaders (see formal pronoun: religious leaders addressing Jesus).
In most Dutch translations, the same distinctions are made, with the exception of Luke 10:26 where Jesus is using the formal pronoun. In Afrikaans and Western Frisian the informal pronoun is used throughout.
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 show different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
legontes ‘saying,’ here referring to an act distinct from the verb with which it goes, i.e. apēgagon.
ei su ei ho Christos, eipon hēmin ‘if you are the Messiah, tell us (so).’ ei is conditional, not interrogative ‘whether.’
ean humin eipō ou mē pisteusēte ‘if I tell you (i.e. that I am the Messiah), you will not believe me.’ For ou mē cf. on 1.15.
(V. 68) ean de erōtēsō ‘if I ask you,’ either in a general sense (cf. New English Bible) and referring to situations like e.g. 20.41, or specifically, ‘whether you think I am the Messiah,’ preferably the former.
ou mē apokrithēte ‘you will not answer,’ cf. on 1.15. Like ou mē pisteusēte in v. 67 the clause expresses strong conviction on the part of Jesus.
Translation:
If you are. In languages like Thai and Javanese the high priest, by not using honorifics, shows his conviction that Jesus cannot be the Christ. The same holds true for v. 70.
For believe, i.e. ‘believe me (or, it, or, my words),’ cf. on 1.20.
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.
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 show 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). (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
if I ask you a question: Jesus did not say what questions the council members would not answer. So it is good to translate the clause if I ask you in a general way. For example:
if I ask you a question (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
if I question you (New Revised Standard Version)
However, in some languages a general translation may imply a wrong meaning here. It is likely that Jesus referred to questions about what they knew or believed about the Messiah, as in 20:41, 44. They did not answer when he asked them that question.
If it is necessary to supply implied information, phrase it in a general way. For example:
if I ask you a question ⌊about this⌋ -or-
if I ask you anything ⌊about the Messiah⌋
you will not answer: In Greek the statement you will not answer is emphatic. They would certainly not answer him. Other ways to translate this are:
you will not answer me (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English) -or-
you would not answer anyway
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.