καὶ ἡμεῖς μὲν δικαίως, ἄξια γὰρ ὧν ἐπράξαμεν ἀπολαμβάνομεν· οὗτος δὲ οὐδὲν ἄτοπον ἔπραξεν.
41And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.”
The following are statues of Jesus and the two criminals in front of Hl. Dreieinigkeitskirche (Holy Trinity church) in Hamburg St. Georg. This is an approximate copy of the original of the end of the 15th from within the church .
Source: photograph by Uwe Rohwedder on Wikimedia Commons
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 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.
In just a few cases (such as Goliath and the criminals on the cross next to Jesus referring to themselves), the rude pronoun ore (おれ) instead of the commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is used. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
See also second person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.
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.
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, translators typically select the inclusive form (including the criminals talking among themselves).
Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 23:41:
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 third person singular and plural pronoun (“he,” “she,” “it” and their various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. While it’s not uncommon to avoid pronouns altogether in Japanese, there are is a range of third person pronouns that can be used. In these verses a number of them are used that pay particularly much respect to the referred person (or, in fact, God, as in Exodus 15:2), including kono kata (この方), sono kata (その方), and ano kata (あの方), meaning “this person,” “that person,” and “that person over there.”
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Exegesis:
kai hēmeis men dikaiōs ‘and we (are) justly (condemned),’ ‘for us it is just.’
axia gar hōn epraxamen apolambanomen ‘for we receive worthy of what we have done,’ i.e. ‘we get what we deserve.’ apolambanō means here ‘to receive what is due.’
houtos de ouden atopon epraxen ‘but this man has done nothing wrong.’
atopos lit. ‘out of place,’ here in a moral sense, ‘improper,’ ‘wrong,’ ‘wicked.’
Translation:
We refers to the speaker and the one addressed, but should not include Jesus. Ekari makes this clear by saying ‘we two’; elsewhere one may have to use, ‘you and I.’
We are receiving the due reward of our deeds (or, ‘our works’ salary,’ in Zarma, or, ‘a judgment matching our works,’ in Fulah) may have to be variously recast, cf. e.g. ‘we are getting (or, they give us) what we deserve for what we did’ (cf. Good News Translation), ‘what (or, the punishment) we suffer is in-accordance-with what we did,’ ‘we are being caused to pay for as many sins as we sinned’ (Tzeltal), “we deserved what we have got” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation).
This man has done nothing wrong. In Huli one would use here a suffix denoting that the statement is made on the grounds of visible evidence, such as what the man had seen during the trial, or, of Jesus’ behaviour earlier.
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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