sinner

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The Greek that is translated as “sinner” in English is translated in various ways:

  • “people with bad hearts” (“it is not enough to call them ‘people who do bad things,’ for though actions do reflect the heart, yet it is the hearts with which God is primarily concerned — see Matt. 15:19“) in Western Kanjobal
  • “people who are doing wrong things in their hearts” in San Blas Kuna (source for this and above: Nida 1952, p. 148)
  • “people with bad stomachs” in Q’anjob’al (source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. )
  • “those others who don’t fully obey our laws” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • “people with dirty hearts” or “people who are called ‘bad'” in Mairasi (source: Enggavoter 2004).
  • “those who owe sin” in Central Mazahua and Teutila Cuicatec (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • “those without (or: “who don’t know”) God” (Gottlose) in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999)
  • “people of bad deeds” in Bariai (source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • “rejected/despised people” in Kupsabiny (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)

complete verse (Luke 6:33)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 6:33:

  • Noongar: “And if you do good only to people who do good to you, why will you be praised? Bad people do that!” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “If our behavior is good only to people whose behavior is good to us, God will not bless us. Even evil people, their behavior is definitely good to people whose behavior is good to them.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “And if you only help those who help you, is there anything to praise you for? No. For even the sinful people have that custom also.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “If you only treat well those people who treat you also well, do not think that God will reward you, because even the transgressor people, they treat well those who treat them well.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “If also it’s only those who do good to you to whom you do good, will you be rewarded do-you-suppose? Even sinful people, that of-course is just what they do also.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And if you only do good to those who do good to you too, well what more reward are you waiting for? For even sinners, they do like this too.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

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.

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. )

Translation commentary on Luke 6:33

Exegesis:

kai [gar], if adopted, is best rendered as simple kai.

ean agathopoiēte ‘if you do good,’ cf. on v. 9. Here the meaning ‘to help’ is also adequate (cf. An American Translation).

Translation:

For even, preferably, ‘even,’ as in v. 34.

The same, or simply, ‘that’ in an emphatic position (Willibrord) or form (Tae’).

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.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 6:33

6:33a–b

If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?: This is a rhetorical question. Jesus used this rhetorical question to emphasize that you will not receive any credit in this situation. He said that when you do good only to those who do good to you, it is no credit to you.

Translate this emphasis using the same form (question or statement) that you used in 6:32a–b.

you do good to those who do good to you: In Greek, the same verb occurs twice here; the Berean Standard Bible translate its as do good in both instances. Other versions translate it slightly differently in each case. You could do that in your translation, or you could use the same verb or verb phrase if that is natural in your language. For example:

you do good to those who are good to you (New International Version)
-or-
you are good to those who are good to you
-or-
you help those who help you (God’s Word)

what credit is that to you?: This is exactly the same clause as 6:32b. See the notes on 6:32a–b.

General Comment on 6:33a–b

In some languages, it may be natural to change the order of 6:33a and 6:33b. For example:

33bWhat credit/praise do you deserve 33afor doing good to those who do good to you?

6:33c

There is a textual issue in 6:33c regarding a conjunction here that is often translated as “for.”

(1) Some Greek manuscripts do not include this conjunction.

(2) Other Greek manuscripts do include this conjunction. For example:

For even sinners do the same. (Revised Standard Version)

(Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, King James Version, New American Standard Bible)

The earliest and most reliable manuscripts do not have this conjunction. Many English versions also do not translate it here. However, it is not possible to tell whether the English versions are following these early manuscripts or whether are omitting the conjunction for reasons of style. You may supply such a conjunction if it is natural in your language.

Even sinners do the same: The clause Even sinners do the same gives the reason why there is no credit in doing good to people who do good to you. Sinners also do good to those who do good to them. So it is clear that this is not exceptional and does not cause a person to deserve special favor. Another way to translate this is:

Even sinners love people who love them (Contemporary English Version)

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