Chichewa “spoiled wine” (vinyo wosasa — the word “wosasa” is used to refer to any food or drink that has become bad and produces bad smell because it has either overstayed or exposed to bacteria and other infections) (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Bariai: “sour wine juice” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “soldier” in English didn’t have a direct equivalent in Enlhet so it was translated with “those that bind us” (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. ) and in Noongar it is mammarapa-bakadjiny or “men of fighting” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
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 23:26-43:
As Jesus was being led away,
some soldiers grabbed a man named Simon Cyrene,
who was on his way home from the fields —
they put the cross on his shoulders,
and forced him to drag it behind Jesus.
A large crowd was following along,
among them some women,
weeping and wailing for him.
Jesus turned toward the women and said:
“Cry for yourselves, not for me, women of Jerusalem!
Someday everyone will agree,
‘It’s better to be barren than blest with children.’
If sparks ignite so quickly when someone is innocent,
a volcano will surely erupt when the nation rebels,
causing people to beg for mountains and hills
to rush to their rescue.”
Two criminals were led out to be executed with Jesus,
and when they reached the place called “Skull,”
each of them was nailed to a cross,
with Jesus in between.
“Father,” prayed Jesus, “forgive these people —
they don’t know what they’re doing.”
While the crowd was stunned and staring at the spectacle,
the soldiers gambled for his garments,
as their leaders hurled spiteful insults,
“He saved others! If he’s God’s Favorite,
then let him save himself.”
“So you’re king of this nation,” mocked the soldiers,
offering Jesus a goblet of wine. “Ok, save yourself!”
On the cross above Jesus was posted a sign:
“Here Hangs Your National Hero!”
One of the dying criminals also insulted Jesus,
“Aren’t you God’s Favorite? Save yourself and us!”
The other criminal replied with a sharp rebuttal,
“Don’t you fear God? This man’s innocent,
but we’re guilty as sin.”
Then turning to Jesus, he said,
“Remember me when you come into power!”
“Today you’ll be with me in paradise,”
Jesus assured the man.
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 23:36:
Noongar: “The soldiers also mocked Jesus. They came to Jesus and gave him bad wine,” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “The soldiers also mocked him. They came close to him and they caused-him-t-drink sour wine,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “The soldiers also made fun of him. They went close to him and gave him a drink to drink.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the soldiers also, they also jeered at him. They got near to him to make him drink wine.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “The soldiers also made-fun-of him. They approached to extend-upward to him homemade-vinegar” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “He was also being mocked by the soldiers. They approached him bringing a sour drink to cause him to drink.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).
Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.
In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.
While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”
In that system, one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and others for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.
Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”
In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)
Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”
In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )
In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)
The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.
Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are Twents as well as the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In both languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
enepaixan de autō kai hoi stratiōtai ‘the soldiers also made fun of him.’ For empaizō cf. on 14.29. The aorist tense is best understood as being for the sake of variety. stratiōtēs also 7.8.
proserchomenoi, oxos prospherontes autō kai legontes ‘coming up, offering sour wine and saying.’ The mocking by the soldiers consists of (1) the offering of the sour wine, and (2) their words related in v. 37. The act denoted by proserchomenoi leads up to (1) and (2).
oxos ‘wine vinegar,’ ‘sour wine.’ As this is a cheap and common beverage, to offer it to someone who pretended to be king was, in the eyes of the soldiers, an act of mockery.
(V. 37) ei su ei ho basileus tōn Ioudaiōn ‘if you are the king of the Jews,’ same construction and meaning as in 4.3, which see.
Translation:
Mocked, see on 14.29.
Coming up and offering … and saying, often better as a co-ordinated sentence, ‘they came up, offering … and saying,’ ‘they came up and offered … and said.’ To come up, or, ‘near,’ ‘to come closer to Jesus.’
Vinegar, or, ‘sour wine’; for ‘wine’ cf. on 1.15.
(V. 37) If you are, or, ‘if you really are,’ ‘you say that you are,’ cf. 4.3.
Jews, see on 7.3.
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.
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