“The word ‘offend’ as a translation of the Greek skandalizó seems to cause all sorts of trouble for translators. The difficulty is that the meaning of this word covers such a wide area. The basic meaning of the Greek is ‘to cause to stumble by putting some impediment in the way.’ The present central meaning of English ‘offend’ is often quite different. In some languages there is no metaphorical value in a translation ‘to cause someone to stumble.’ If the language permits no such metaphor, the translator should not attempt to force it. In Highland Totonac, the metaphor ‘to show the wrong road to’ is used in a manner almost exactly parallel to the Greek idiom.” (Source: Nida 1947)
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 7:23:
Noongar: “God will bless people who do not leave my truth.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “Fortunate are the people whose hearts are not uncertain/hesitant towards Me.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “And happy is who does not doubt about me.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Far better off is the person who does not doubt that I am the one sent by God.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Tell him also that fortunate is the person who has no doubts about me.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “The person can really be very happy whose mind isn’t of two minds about me.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
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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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
makarios estin hos ean mē skandalisthē en emoi ‘blessed is he who does not take offence at me.’ For makarios cf. on 1.45. hos ean with following subjunctive introduces a relative clause which is virtually the protasis of a conditional clause.
skandalizō (also 17.2) here in the passive and construed with en with dative ‘to be repelled,’ ‘to take offence.’ It refers to him who misunderstands Jesus’ acts referred to in v. 22 and fails to recognize him for what he is and hence does not believe in him.
Translation:
Blessed, or, ‘happy,’ see 1.45.
He who …, or, ‘any one who…,’ ‘a person/man, if he….’
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.
Blessed is the one: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Blessed describes a person who is in a good situation. In the Bible, the good situation results from God showing favor/kindness to the person. See the note on 6:20b. See also bless, Meaning 3, in the Glossary.
Here are some other suggestions for how to translate the words Blessed is the one:
Joyful/Desirable is the situation of the person -or-
How good it is for anyone -or-
The person is favored/fortunate
This word does not primarily refer to a feeling. However, a person in this good situation will frequently have good feelings such as happiness and joy. Do not use a word that only refers to material prosperity or physical health.
In the Greek text, the word Blessed is emphasized. It is the first word in the sentence. Consider how to show this emphasis in a natural way in your language.
the one: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the one is literally “whoever.” It refers to anyone who does not fall away because of Jesus. In this context it applies especially to John, but it also applies to anyone else who “does not fall away.” So it may be best to use a more general phrase such as:
the person/one -or-
people/those
who does not fall away on account of Me: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as fall away has the literal meaning “stumble/fall.” It also has the figurative meaning “to be offended by, to reject, or to stop trusting (someone).” Jesus implied that many people were offended by him because they expected a different type of Messiah. Because of this, they doubted that he was really the Messiah.
Other ways that English versions translate this include:
those who have no doubts about me (Good News Translation) -or-
Those who do not stumble in their faith because of me (New Century Version) -or-
he who does not find me an obstacle to faith (Revised English Bible)
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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