happiness / joy

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “joy” or “happiness” is translated in the Hausa Common Language Bible idiomatically as farin ciki or “white stomach.” In some cases, such as in Genesis 29:11, it is also added for emphatic purposes.

Other languages that use the same expression include Southern Birifor (pʋpɛl), Dera (popolok awo), Reshe (ɾipo ɾipuhã). (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

See also Seat of the Mind / Seat of Emotions, rejoiced greatly / celebrated, the Mossi translation of “righteous”, and joy.

Come and see that he is alive (image)

“Jesus allows himself to be touched by all. This picture shows a selection of all types of people from various regions and even a foreigner.”

Drawing by Sawai Chinnawong who employs northern and central Thailand’s popular distinctive artistic style originally used to depict Buddhist moral principles and other religious themes; explanation by Paul DeNeui. From That Man Who Came to Save Us by Sawai Chinnawong and Paul H. DeNeui, William Carey Library, 2010.

For more images by Sawai Chinnawong in TIPs see here.

See also Thomas with the risen Christ (image).

joy

Click here to view graphically

The Greek, Latin, Ge’ez, and Hebrew that is translated with “joy” or “gladness” in English is translated with various strategies:

  • Baoulé: “a song in the stomach” (see also peace (inner peace))
  • Bambara: “the spirit is made sweet”
  • Kpelle: “sweet heart”
  • Tzeltal: “the good taste of one’s heart”
  • Uduk: “good to the stomach”
  • Mískito: “the liver is wide open” (“happily letting the pleasures flooding in upon it”) (source for this and above: Nida 1952)
  • Mairasi: “good liver” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Noongar: koort-kwabba-djil or “heart very good” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “refreshed heart” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.).

See also Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling,” happiness / joy, and exceeding joy.

complete verse (Luke 24:41)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 24:41:

  • Noongar: “Still they could not believe. They were overjoyed and very surprised; so Jesus asked them, ‘You have bread or meat to eat, don’t you?'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “They could scarcely believe that it was really He. They were amazed carried by the joy of their hearts mixed with confusion. That is why Yesus asked them, he said: ‘do you have any food?'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But they had difficulty to believe that it was really true for they were very glad and they wondered. Then he said to them, ‘Do you have anything to eat here?'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And since they were still doubting, however they were very full of joy, Jesus asked, he said, ‘Have you got any food here?'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “They still didn’t believe because they were excessively amazed and happy, so Jesus also said to them, ‘Is there food here?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But well, there was now so much happiness and amazement in their minds for maybe this truly was Jesus, that’s why it’s like they couldn’t yet believe. Therefore Jesus asked them, saying, ‘Is there something here still which I can eat?'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("say")

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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) 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, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

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 Translator 2002, 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 his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.

In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.

Sung version of Luke 24

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®).

For more information, see here .

Translation commentary on Luke 24:40 – 24:41

Exegesis:

(V. 41) eti de apistountōn autōn ‘because they could not yet believe.’ The genitive absolute may be temporal, or causal, preferably the latter. For apisteō cf. on v. 11.

apo tēs charas ‘because of their joy.’ The article tēs has possessive force. The phrase goes with both apistountōn and thaumazontōn.

echete ti brōsimon enthade ‘do you have anything to eat here.’

brōsimos ‘eatable,’ here in the neuter with ti ‘something to eat,’ ‘food.’

enthade ‘here,’ ‘on/at this place.’

Translation:

(V. 41) For disbelieved, or, ‘could not believe (what he said)’ cf. on 1.20, and for wondered on 1.21.

For joy does not seem to fit in this context; perhaps it may be taken to mean, ‘this was such joyful news to them that they could not believe it’; hence, “for it seemed too good to be true” (New English Bible).

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.