bowed with his face to the ground

The Greek in Luke 5:12 that is translated as “bowed with his face to the ground” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with warf sich ihm zu Füßen or “threw himself at his feet.”

if you are willing you can (Japanese honorifics)

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.

In these verses, the Shinkaiyaku Bible expresses this both through the translation of what is translated in English as “if you are willing” with o-kokoro (お心), “heart, mind” with the respectful prefix o- and “you can” as o-deki (おでき), combining “able to do” (deki) with o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

leprosy, leprous

Click here to view graphically

The Greek and Hebrew terms that are often translated as “leprosy (or: defiling/skin disease)” or “leprous (person)” in English is translated in Mairasi as “the bad sickness,” since “leprosy is very common in the Mairasi area” (source: Enggavoter 2004).

Following are various other translations:

  • Shilluk: “disease of animals”
  • San Mateo Del Mar Huave: “devil sore” (this and the above are indigenous expressions)
  • Inupiaq: “decaying sores”
  • Kaqchikel: “skin-rotting disease” (source for this and three above: Eugene Nida in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 34f. )
  • Noongar: “bad skin disease” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Usila Chinantec “sickness like mal de pinta” (a skin disease involving discoloration by loss of pigment) (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Hiligaynon: “dangerous skin disease” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “fearful skin disease” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “terrible rotting” (source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Newari: “infectious skin disease” (source: Newari Back Translation)

Targumim (or: Targums) are translations of the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic. They were translated and used when Jewish congregations increasingly could not understand the biblical Hebrew anymore. Targum Onqelos (also: Onkelos) is the name of the Aramaic translation of the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) probably composed in Israel/Palestine in the 1st or 2nd century CE and later edited in Babylon in the 4th or 5th century, making it reflect Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. It is the most famous Aramaic translation and was widely used throughout the Jewish communities. In Leviticus 13 and 14 it translates tzaraat as a “quarantining affliction” — focusing “on what occurs to individuals after they suffer the affliction; the person is isolated from the community.” (Source: Israel Drazin in this article ). Similarly, the English Jewish Orthodox ArtScroll Tanach translation (publ. 2011) transliterates it as tzaraat affliction.

See also stricken and leprosy healed.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Leprosy (Word Study) and Bible Translations Are for People .

addressing Jesus in Nepali

The various Greek terms that are translated as “Lord,” “teacher,” or “rabbi” in English are translated in the Simple Nepali Holy Bible (2008) as guru-jyuu (गुरुज्‍यू). Guru simply means “teacher” and the honorific suffix -jyuu is added to it. Instead of guru-jyuu one can also simply use guru, which does not sound impolite. However, guru-jyuu is more respectful and thus preferable. (Source: Chitra Chhetri in The Bible Translator 2009, p. 73ff. )

See also rabbi, teacher, and Lord.

formal pronoun: common people addressing Jesus

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, the crowd (or individuals within the crowd) addresses Jesus with the formal pronoun, expressing respect.

complete verse (Luke 5:12)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 5:12:

  • Uma: “One time, while Yesus was in a town, a person came who was sick-with-leprosy all over his body. When he saw Yesus, he kneeled down, his face to the ground. He requested to Yesus, he said: ‘Lord, if possible [a polite request, meaning: if it’s okay to ask], please heal me.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “One day while Isa was there in a town, there was a person there whose body was covered with leprosy. When the person saw Isa he prostrated begging, he said, ‘O Sir, if you want to you can heal me.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “One day Jesus was in another village, and he came upon a person who was completely covered with leprosy. This leper, when he saw Jesus, he came near to him and bowed down, and bowed his head before him, saying, ‘Chief, if it’s good to your breath, you can heal me from this very filthy disease which I have.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “On one-occasion when Jesus was in a certain town, a man arrived who was thoroughly sick with a fearful skin disease. When he saw Jesus, he went and knelt face-down in front of him and begged-for-mercy saying, ‘Lord, I know that you (sing.) are able to remove my sickness if you (sing.) want to.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Once when Jesus was in one town, there approached him a man who was a leper, his whole body now covered. When he was beside Jesus, he kneeled down and begged-for-pity, saying, ‘Master, supposing you want to, you really could heal me.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

request / beg (Japanese honorifics)

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 (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The concept of “requesting” is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-negai (お願い), combining “request” (negai) with the respectful prefix o (お).

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