The Greek that is translated as “witness” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with Augen- und Ohrenzeugen or “eye witnesses and ear witnesses.”
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).
witness
The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and and Greek that is translated as “witness” in English is translated in these ways:
- “truly have seen” in Highland Popoluca
- “telling the truth regarding something” in Eastern Highland Otomi
- “know something” in Lalana Chinantec
- “verily know something to be the truth” in San Mateo del Mar Huave
- “we ourselves saw this” in Desano
- “tell the truth about something” in Eastern Highland Otomi
- “know something is true because of seeing it” in Teutila Cuicatec (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
- “ones who will confirm that these-things that you have seen are true” in Kankanaey (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- “ones who are to testify about these things, because it all happened before your eyes” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
complete verse (Luke 24:48)
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 24:48:
- Noongar: “You have become witnesses of all these things.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
- Uma: “You are the ones who are the witnesses from/of all that.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “Because you have really seen what happened to me, therefore you shall be the witnesses,’ said Isa.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And it’s necessary that you be the ones to preach all of this, that is written in the Word of God, that has been fulfilled by means of me because you have already seen it happen.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “You are the ones who will confirm that these-things that you have seen are true.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “You are the ones who are to testify about these things, because it all happened before your eyes.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
formal 2nd person plural pronoun (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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
(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 Nepali translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and other people with the medium honorific pronoun timīlē (तिमीले) or timīlēharū (तिमीलेहरू). This disciples respond with a high honorific pronoun. (Source: Chitra Chhetri in The Bible Translator 2009, p. 73ff. )
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
Translation commentary on Luke 24:48
Exegesis:
humeis martures toutōn ‘you (are) witnesses of these things.’ humeis is emphatic and brings out what was implied in v. 47. For martus cf. on 11.48, and Acts 1.8, 21f. The clause refers to the future.
Translation:
You are witnesses of these things, or, ‘you are to give testimony about these things,’ ‘you are to tell the things you have seen,’ ‘you have seen these things and will tell people about them.’
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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