The Greek that is translated as “King of the Jews” in most English translations is translated in Noongar as Djelyib moortakang Judea-kang or “King of the people of Judea.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
save
The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as a form of “save” in English is translated in Shipibo-Conibo with a phrase that means literally “make to live,” which combines the meaning of “to rescue” and “to deliver from danger,” but also the concept of “to heal” or “restore to health.”
In San Blas Kuna it is rendered as “help the heart,” in Laka, it is “take by the hand” in the meaning of “rescue” or “deliver,” in Huautla Mazatec the back-translation of the employed term is “lift out on behalf of,” in Anuak, it is “have life because of,” in Central Mazahua “be healed in the heart,” in Baoulé “save one’s head” (meaning to rescue a person in the fullest sense), in Guerrero Amuzgo “come out well,” in Northwestern Dinka “be helped as to his breath” (or “life”) (source: Bratcher / Nida), in Matumbi as “rescue (from danger)” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext), and in Noongar barrang-ngandabat or “hold life” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
In South Bolivian Quechua it is “make to escape” and in Highland Puebla Nahuatl, it is “cause people to come out with the aid of the hand.” (Source: Nida 1947, p. 222.)
See also salvation and save (Japanese honorifics).
complete verse (Luke 23:37)
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 23:37:
- Noongar: “and said, ‘Save yourself if you are the King of the Jews!” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
- Uma: “and they said: ‘If you (sing.) are really the King of the Yahudi people, then help yourself [lit, your body]!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “And they said, ‘If you are the king of the Yahudi, help yourself.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And they said, ‘If it’s really that you are the King of the Jews, then save yourself!” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “while saying, ‘Save yourself (sing.) then if it is true that you (sing.) are the king of the Jews.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “And they said, ‘If you really are the King of the Judio, go ahead, free your own body!'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
king
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
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- Piro: “a great one”
- Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
- Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
- Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
- Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
- Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
- Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
- Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
- Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )
See also king (Japanese honorifics).
2nd person pronoun with low register (Japanese)
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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 choice of a second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.
In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.
Sung version of Luke 23
SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 23:37
23:37
“If You are the King of the Jews,” they said, “save Yourself!”: The Berean Standard Bible places the words they said in the middle of what the soldiers said to Jesus. This is good English style. However, in some languages, it may be necessary to put these words where they are in Greek, in the beginning of 23:37. For example:
and they said, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
If You are the King of the Jews,…save Yourself!: Here the soldiers mocked Jesus. They challenged him to prove that he was the king of the Jews by saving himself from dying on the cross. They did not believe that he was the king of the Jews, and they felt sure that he could not save himself from death. They challenged him like that to ridicule him. Some other ways to translate it are:
If you are really the king of the Jews, then save yourself
-or-
Since ⌊you say⌋ you are the king of the Jews, ⌊prove it by⌋ saving yourself
In some languages it may be more natural to reverse the order of the phrases in this verse. For example:
Save yourself then if it is true that you are the king of the Jews.
Consider how you would give a challenge like this in your language.
the King of the Jews: The phrase the King of the Jews also occurred in 23:3. You should translate it in the same way here.
save Yourself!: Here the word save refers to saving from physical death. Some other ways to translate it here are:
deliver yourself
-or-
help yourself
-or-
rescue yourself ⌊from dying on this cross⌋
For more information, see save, Meaning 1, in the Glossary.
they said: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they said is more literally “and saying.” It probably indicates that the soldiers said the words in this verse as they offered Jesus the wine vinegar (23:36b). What the soldiers said and did was all done to mock Jesus. Connect the actions in a natural way in your language.
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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
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