Ayutla Mixtec: “see that which will happen” (source for this and seven above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Tagbanwa: “being caused to dream by God” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Chichewa: azidzaona zinthu m’masomphenya: “they will see things as if face-to-face” (interconfessional translation, publ. 1999) (Source: Wendland 1998, p. 69)
The Greek in the books of Revelation and Acts is translated as obq-rmwible: “look-dream” in Natügu. Brenda Boerger (in Beerle-Moor / Voinov, p. 162ff.) tells the story of that translation: “In the book of Revelation, the author, John, talks about having visions. Mr. Simon [the native language translator] and I discussed what this meant and he invented the compound verb obq-rmwible ‘look-dream’ to express it. Interestingly, during village testing no one ever had to ask what this neologism meant.”
Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
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 exclusive form (excluding Jesus).
Source: SIL International Translation Department (1999).
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 to do this is through the usage of appropriate suffix title referred to as keishō (敬称) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017 by either using -san or –sama with the latter being the more formal title.
In these verses, Jesus is addressed in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as Iesu-sama (イエス様), combining the transliteration for “Jesus” and the suffix title –sama. Note: In Luke 24:23, Iesu-sama is used as a replacement for the pronoun “he.” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )
Apali: “God’s one with talk from the head” (“basically God’s messenger since head refers to any leader’s talk”) (source: Martha Wade)
Michoacán Nahuatl: “clean helper of God” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
Noongar: Hdjin-djin-kwabba or “spirit good” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Wè Northern (Wɛɛ): Kea ‘a “sooa or “the Lord’s soldier” (also: “God’s soldier” or “his soldier”) (source: Drew Maust)
Iwaidja: “a man sent with a message” (Sam Freney explains the genesis of this term [in this article ): “For example, in Darwin last year, as we were working on a new translation of Luke 2:6–12 in Iwaidja, a Northern Territory language, the translators had written ‘angel’ as ‘a man with eagle wings’. Even before getting to the question of whether this was an accurate term (or one that imported some other information in), the word for ‘eagle’ started getting discussed. One of the translators had her teenage granddaughter with her, and this word didn’t mean anything to her at all. She’d never heard of it, as it was an archaic term that younger people didn’t use anymore. They ended up changing the translation of ‘angel’ to something like ‘a man sent with a message’, which is both more accurate and clear.”)
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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) is used as in mi-tsukai (御使い) or “messenger (of God).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 24:23:
Noongar: “but they did not see the body of Jesus. They came back to us, saying they saw angels who told them that he was alive!” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “but they no longer found his body. They came back and told us (excl.) that they had seen an angel who told them that he lived again.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But the body of Isa is no longer there they say, and they say that they have seen angels appearing to them saying to them that Isa is alive now/already.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “They arrived there and did not find his body, and they returned to us and they told us that there were two angels of God who appeared to them. And they said that the angels reported that Jesus was raised from the dead.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “and they reportedly did not find his corpse. Then they right-away returned to relate that angels had reportedly appeared saying that he had come-alive again.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “but they said his body wasn’t there. When they returned, they related that there were angels they said they had seen, who they said told them that Jesus had indeed come alive again.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
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 rare (られ) 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, ikite-rare-ru (生きておられる) or “living” is used.
but they did not find His body: The disciples implied here that the women did not find Jesus’ body because it was not there. They did not imply that the women should have searched for it more carefully. Some other ways to translate this clause are:
when they did not find his corpse -or-
They said his body was missing (New Living Translation (2004))
24:23b–c
They came and told us: The phrase They came and told us implies that when the women left the tomb, they went to Jesus’ disciples to tell them what they saw there. Some other ways to translate the clause are:
They came to us and said -or-
Then they came back ⌊to our group⌋ and told us
told us: The Berean Standard Bible supplies the word us here. It refers to the group of Jesus’ followers whom the women told about going to his tomb. It does not refer only to the two disciples who were walking with Jesus. It does not include the person (Jesus) to whom they are speaking.
they had seen a vision of angels: This clause is another way to say “they had seen angels.” In this context the word vision implies that the angels were sent from God. They normally live in heaven with God, and people do not usually see them. The word vision does not imply here that the women were asleep or in a trance. Another way to translate the clause is:
they had seen angels (New Living Translation (2004))
angels: The word “angel” occurred in 22:43. For more information and translation suggestions, see the notes at 22:43a. See also angel, Meaning 1, in the Glossary.
General Comment on 24:22–23
In some languages it may be more natural to translate the order of events in these verses in a different way. For example:
22bThen early this morning some women among us went to his tomb 23abut did not find his body. 22aThey returned to us with an amazing story. 23bThey said they saw angels 23cwho said he was alive.
Translate the information in these verses in a natural order in your language. If you combine the verses, you may put both verse numbers at the beginning of the verse. For example:
22–23And then this morning some women in our group went to the tomb. They said that they did not find his body, but they saw angels who said he was alive! We were amazed when the women said that.
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