your Father

The Greek that is translated as “your Father” in English (when Jesus refers to the God as the Father of his followers) is rendered as “our Father” in Tzotzil “so as to not exclude Jesus.” (Source: Marin Cowan in Notes on Translation with Drill, p. 169ff.)

See also Father (address for God).

complete verse (Luke 6:36)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 6:36:

  • Noongar: “You must be merciful to people like your Father is merciful to people.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “We must love, like the Lord God our Father loves.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “You should have pity/mercy as your Father also has pity/mercy.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Just as our father God was merciful to us (inc.), you be merciful to your companion.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘You must be consistently-merciful like your Father who is consistently-merciful.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “It’s necessary that you are generous/merciful, that you will imitate your Father who is generous/merciful.'” (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.

Father (address for God)

The Greek that is translated with the capitalized “Father” in English when referring to God is translated in Highland Totonac with the regular word for (biological) father to which a suffix is added to indicate respect. The same also is used for “Lord” when referring to Jesus. (Source: Hermann Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. )

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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. In the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017, God the Father is addressed with mi-chichi (御父). This form has the “divine” honorific prefix mi– preceding the archaic honorific form chichi for “father.”

If, however, Jesus addresses his Father, he is using chichi-o (父を) which is also highly respectful but does not have the “divine” honorific. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also Lord and my / our Father.

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. )

Translation commentary on Luke 6:36

Exegesis:

V. 36 may give “further development of the principle of Christian love” (Plummer), or be introduction to what follows, i.e. to vv. 37f (cf. Klostermann). The latter is preferable.

ginesthe oiktirmones ‘be compassionate.’

oiktirmōn ‘merciful,’ ‘compassionate,’ i.e. in judging people, as vv. 37f show.

kathōs [kai] ho patēr humōn oiktirmōn estin ‘just as your father is compassionate.’ kai, if adopted, reinforces kathōs.

Translation:

Merciful, or, ‘showing/having compassion,’ ‘kind.’ When the verse is taken with vv. 27-35 the word refers to gifts and deeds, cf. ‘be a doer of merciful deeds’ (Kekchi); when it goes with vv. 37ff the word implies kindness and forbearance in judgment. Cf. on “mercy” in 1.50.

Your Father. In languages that differentiate according to rank the disciples’ own fathers would usually be referred to with a non-honorific term, but, since here (and in 12.30, 32) the reference is to their heavenly Father, an honorific term may be required, which often, but not necessarily always, is the same as the one used in 2.49. Another problem may arise in a language like Huixtec where the use of the pronoun of the second person would exclude Jesus; hence the rendering had to be ‘our (inclus.) Father.’

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 6:36

6:36

Be merciful:
The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as merciful means “to show concern or compassion toward someone in a difficult situation.” In context, this concern/compassion must be shown even to those who have wronged you.

Some other ways to translate this are:

Show mercy (New Century Version)
-or-
You must be compassionate (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Have pity on others (Contemporary English Version)

just as your Father is merciful: The phrase just as your Father is merciful means “in the same way that God is merciful/compassionate to people.” God shows compassion to everyone, even to wicked people.

your Father: The word Father here refers to God. It emphasizes the disciples’ relationship with God. If people do not understand that Father refers to God, translate it this way:

your ⌊heavenly⌋ Father
-or-
your Father ⌊God⌋

God was the heavenly Father of Jesus as well as of the disciples. In some languages, it may therefore be necessary to translate this phrase as:

our(incl) Father

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