Luke 4:23 – TIPs

doubt

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “doubt” in English versions is translated with a term in Tzeltal that means “heart is gone.” (Nida 1952, p. 122)

In other languages it is represented by a variety of idiomatic renderings, and in the majority of instances the concept of duality is present, e.g. “to make his heart two” (Kekchí), “to be with two hearts” (Punu), “to have two hearts” (Maan), “to stand two” (Sierra de Juárez Zapotec), “to be two” or “to have two minds” (Navajo (Dinė)), “to think something else” (Tabasco Chontal), “to think two different things” (Shipibo-Conibo), “to have two thoughts” (Yaka and Huallaga Huánuco Quechua), or “two-things-soul” (Yucateco).

In some languages, however, doubt is expressed without reference to the concept of “two” or “otherness,” such as “to have whirling words in one’s heart” (Chol), “his thoughts are not on it” (Baoulé), or “to have a hard heart” (Piro). (Source: Bratcher / Nida, except for Yucateco: Nida 1947, p. 229, Huallaga Huánuco Quechua: Nida 1952, p. 123, and Maan: Don Slager)

In Elhomwe the same verb for “to doubt” and “to be amazed” is used, so often “to ask questions in heart” is used for “to doubt.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In Chokwe “kwalajala is ‘to doubt.’ It is the repetitive of kuala, ‘to spread out in order, to lay (as a table), to make (as a bed),’ and is connected with kualula ‘to count.’ [It is therefore like] a person in doubt as one who can’t get a thing in proper order, who lays it out one way but goes back again and again and tries it other ways. It is connected with uncertainty, hesitation, lack of an orderly grasp of the ‘count’ of the subject.” (Source: D. B. Long in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 87ff. )

Capernaum

The name that is transliterated as “Capernaum” in English means “city of consolation.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In Spanish Sign Language it is translated as “town base camp” (referring to information about Capernaum being Jesus’ home base during his ministry in Matthew 4:13 and Mark 2:1) (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )

“Capernaum” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

physician heal thyself

The now commonly-used English idiom “physician heal thyself” (meaning to attend to one’s own faults rather than pointing out the faults of others) was first coined in 1526 in the English New Testament translation of William Tyndale. (Source: Crystal 2010, p. 287)

In Russian, the phrase врач! исцели Самого Себя (vrach! istseli Samogo Sebya) is also widely used as an idiom in every-day life. The wording of the quote originated in the Russian Synodal Bible (publ. 1876). (Source: Reznikov 2020, p. 65.)

For other idioms in English that were coined by Bible translation, see here.

People from his home town rejected him because they could not accept who he claimed to be (image)

“Only qualified, trained leaders know the dharma (truth) yet Jesus made claims that threatened the establishment. He is being chased out of the temple because his people thought him merely a carpenter. They intended to throw him down the cliff but he just passed by.”

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.

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Luke 4:23)

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: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (Luke 4:23)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 4:23:

Noongar: “He said to them, ‘I know you will say this proverb to me, ‘Doctor, heal yourself!’ You will also tell me, ‘Here in your home town, do the same things we hear, things you have done in Capernaum’.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “From there, he said saying to them: ‘There will definitely be some of you who say this figure-of-speech to me: ‘Ee, doktor, heal your (sing.) own body. If you (sing.) are really a prophet, do also here in your (sing.) own town the miracles that we (excl.) heard you (sing.) did in Kapernaum.’ ‘” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Isa said to them, ‘You will certainly say this proverb to me: ‘Doctor heal yourself’, and you will also say, ‘Do also here in your place (the things) that we have heard you did in the place Kapernaum.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus said, ‘Surely, some of you will say to me the proverb which says, ‘You healer, you should first heal your own body, which is to say, if you really are a prophet of God show your power here in your own village. Because we have heard about the miracles which you have done in the town of Capernaum, so do them also here in your own town.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Whereupon he said to them, ‘I know indeed that you will tell me this parable/comparison: ‘Doctor, medicine also yourself (sing.).’ What you mean to say is, ‘Do also in this town of yours (sing.) what we (excl.) have heard that you (sing.) have been doing in Capernaum.’ ‘” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “That’s why Jesus spoke saying, ‘Probably you will quote/mention that saying/proverb which says, ‘Mediciner, go ahead, medicine your own body.’ For you will say to me to do here in my own town those things you have heard news about my doing in Capernaum.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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 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. )

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