do not condemn

The Greek in Luke 6:37 that is translated as “do not condemn” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with spielt nicht den Richter or “do not pretend to be the judge.”

See also judge vs. condemn.

judge vs. condemn

The Greek terms krino and katakrino/katadikazo that are translated as “judge” and “condemn” respectively in English are translated with only one term in Kutu (tagusa). (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

See also do not condemn.

forgive, forgiveness

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The concept of “forgiveness” is expressed in varied ways through translations. Following is a list of (back-) translations from some languages:

  • Tswa, North Alaskan Inupiatun, Panao Huánuco Quechua: “forget about”
  • Navajo (Dinė): “give back” (based on the idea that sin produces an indebtedness, which only the one who has been sinned against can restore)
  • Huichol, Shipibo-Conibo, Eastern Highland Otomi, Uduk, Tepo Krumen: “erase,” “wipe out,” “blot out”
  • Highland Totonac, Huautla Mazatec: “lose,” “make lacking”
  • Tzeltal: “lose another’s sin out of one’s heart”
  • Lahu, Burmese: “be released,” “be freed”
  • Ayacucho Quechua: “level off”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “cast away”
  • Chol: “pass by”
  • Wayuu: “make pass”
  • Kpelle: “turn one’s back on”
  • Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “cover over” (a figure of speech which is also employed in Hebrew, but which in many languages is not acceptable, because it implies “hiding” or “concealment”)
  • Tabasco Chontal, Huichol: “take away sins”
  • Toraja-Sa’dan, Javanese: “do away with sins”
  • San Blas Kuna: “erase the evil heart” (this and all above: Bratcher / Nida, except Tepo Krumen: Peter Thalmann in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 25f.)
  • Eggon: “withdraw the hand”
  • Mískito: “take a man’s fault out of your heart” (source of this and the one above: Kilgour, p. 80)
  • Gamale Kham: “unstring someone” (“hold a grudge” — “have someone strung up in your heart”) (source: Watters, p. 171)
  • Hawai’i Creole English: “let someone go” (source: Jost Zetzsche)
  • Cebuano: “go beyond” (based on saylo)
  • Iloko: “none” or “no more” (based on awan) (source for this and above: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
  • Tzotzil: ch’aybilxa: “it has been lost” (source: Aeilts, p. 118)
  • Suki: biaek eisaemauwa: “make heart soft” (Source L. and E. Twyman in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 91ff. )
  • Warao: “not being concerned with him clean your obonja.” Obonja is a term that “includes the concepts of consciousness, will, attitude, attention and a few other miscellaneous notions” (source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. See other occurrences of Obojona in the Warao New Testament.)
  • Martu Wangka: “throw out badness” (source: Carl Gross)
  • Mairasi: “dismantle wrongs” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Nyulnyul: “have good heart” (source )
  • Kyaka: “burn the jaw bones” — This goes back to the pre-Christian custom of hanging the jaw bones of murdered relatives on ones door frame until the time of revenge. Christians symbolically burned those bones to show forgiveness which in turn became the word for “forgiveness” (source: Eugene Nida, according to this blog )
  • Koonzime: “remove the bad deed-counters” (“The Koonzime lay out the deeds symbolically — usually strips of banana leaf — and rehearse their grievances with the person addressed.”) (Source: Keith and Mary Beavon in Notes on Translation 3/1996, p. 16)
  • Arapaho: “setting is aside” (source )
  • Ngbaka: ele: “forgive and forget” (Margaret Hill [in Holzhausen & Ridere 2010, p. 8f.] recalls that originally there were two different words used in Ngbaka, one for God (ɛlɛ) and one for people (mbɔkɔ — excuse something) since it was felt that people might well forgive but, unlike God, can’t forget. See also this lectionary in The Christian Century .
  • Amahuaca: “erase” / “smooth over” (“It was an expression the people used for smoothing over dirt when marks or drawings had been made in it. It meant wiping off dust in which marks had been made, or wiping off writing on the blackboard. To wipe off the slate, to erase, to take completely away — it has a very wide meaning and applies very well to God’s wiping away sins, removing them from the record, taking them away.”) (Source: Robert Russel, quoted in Walls / Bennett 1959, p. 193)
  • Gonja / Dangme: “lend / loan” (in the words of one Dangme scholar: “When you sin and you are forgiven, you forget that you have been forgiven, and continue to sin. But when you see the forgiveness as a debt/loan which you will pay for, you do not continue to sin, else you have more debts to pay” — quoted in Jonathan E.T. Kuwornu-Adjaottor in Ibadan Journal of Religious Studies 17/2 2010, p. 67ff. )
  • Kwere: kulekelela, meaning literally “to allow for.” Derived from the root leka which means “to leave.” In other words, forgiveness is leaving behind the offense in relationship to the person. It is also used in contexts of setting someone free. (Source: Megan Barton)
  • Merina Malagasy: mamela or “leave / let go (of sin / mistakes)” (source: Brigitte Rabarijaona)
  • Mauwake: “take away one’s heaviness” (compare sin as “heavy”) (source: Kwan Poh San in this article )

See also this devotion on YouVersion .

complete verse (Luke 6:37)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 6:37:

  • Noongar: “‘Don’t accuse other people and God won’t accuse you. Do not condemn other people and God will not condemn you. Forgive other people and God will forgive you.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “‘Let us not point out the wrongs/faults of others, so that God will also not point out our wrongs/faults. Do not say that a person who has done wrong must be condemned/punished, so that the Lord God will also not punish/condemn us. Forgive the wrongs of others, the Lord God will also forgive our wrongs.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “‘Don’t put your companions down and God will not judge you. Do not say that your companion should be punished and God will not punish you. Forgive your companion and God will also forgive you.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Don’t you rebuke your companion, and you will not be rebuked by God. Your companion who has sinned, don’t you say that it would be good if he were punished, so that you will not be punished by God. Be forgiving of your companions and God will forgive you your sins.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Therefore don’t turn-yourselves -into those who judge and condemn your fellows so that God will also not judge and condemn you, but rather forgive your fellows so that God will also forgive you.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “‘Put far away from you the habit of always/often criticizing your companions, so that you won’t be criticized either. Like that too with the habit of being-quick-to-judge your companion, so that you won’t be judged either. On the contrary, forgive your fellowman so that you too will be forgiven.” (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 6:37

Exegesis:

In vv. 37f four parallel clauses in the imperative are followed by clauses in the passive which describe what will be received or experienced in return. The agent of the passives is not stated (probably intentionally), but the description of ‘good measure’ (see on v. 38) makes clear that Luke thinks of God as the agent.

kai mē krinete ‘and do not judge.’

krinō ‘to judge’; here it is used metaphorically in the sense of ‘to act as judge’ (cf. Brouwer), ‘to pass judgment on other people.’

kai ou mē krithēte ‘and you will (certainly) not be judged,’ cf. on ou mē in 1.15 (cf. Revised Standard Version). kai introduces result, ‘and then’ (cf. Willibrord, Zürcher Bibel).

kai mē katadikazete ‘and do not condemn.’

katadikazō ‘to condemn,’ here used in a non-technical sense.

kai ou mē katadikasthēte ‘and you will (certainly) not be condemned,’ cf. on 1.15.

apoluete, kai apoluthēsesthe ‘acquit, and you will be acquitted.’

apoluō (cf. on 2.29) may be rendered (1) ‘to forgive’ (cf. Revised Standard Version), (2) ‘to acquit’ (cf. New English Bible), or (3) ‘to pardon’ (a debtor) (cf. Translator’s New Testament). Since rendering (2), ‘to acquit,’ is more consistent with krinō ‘to judge,’ and katadikazō ‘to condemn’ than the others, it appears preferable.

Translation:

The imperatives may require an object, e.g. ‘others’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘people/men.’ If passives, or other forms with indefinite agent, would suggest a human agent, it is better to add a reference to God, e.g. ‘you will not be judged by your Father’ (cf. Batak Toba 1885), or to shift to, “God will not judge you” (Good News Translation), and a similar reference (name or pronoun) in the subsequent sentences.

The common legal term for to judge may have a connotation that makes it unsuitable for use in a negative sentence, e.g. in Marathi where it implies settling a quarrel as arbitrator; then one may shift to ‘to expose the faults of’ (Marathi), ‘to accuse’ (Ekari).

Condemn has been rendered by idiomatic or descriptive phrases such as, ‘declare guilty’ (Marathi), ‘give (someone his) sin/blame’ (Highland Totonac, Central Mazahua), ‘decide for punishment’ (e.g. Tagalog).

Forgive, preferably, ‘acquit,’ the direct opposite of the preceding verb, e.g. ‘decide not to be guilty,’ ‘to set free (from punishment),’ etc.

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.