love (Khanty)

There is no word in Khanty that directly corresponds to the concept of “love.”

In one of the two Bible translation projects (see here ) for which so far (2025) Genesis, Jonah, Luke, and Acts have been translated, mosty (мосты) with the primary meaning of “to be needed” or “to be necessary” was often used when translating the Greek agapao (ἀγαπάω) and the Hebrew aheb (אָהַב) — “love” in English — and the Greek agapétos (ἀγαπητός) — “beloved” in English.

Interestingly, the same word is also used in verses like Luke 7:2 for the Greek entimos (ἔντιμος) or “value highly” or in Luke 20:17 and Acts 4:11 where the “cornerstone” is the “necessary stone.”

In the other translation project in Khanty, the gospel of Mark has been translated (see here ). Here the translators have used vŏłanga săma (вŏԓаӈа сăма), meaning “important” or “pleasant to the heart” when referring to love.

Source: Ivan Borshchevsky

He allowed people of bad reputation to touch him (image)

“Usually, Thai men spend their free time with other men. Women only enter to serve them food, but here a woman has entered into the male social space in a counter-cultural way Not only is she female, she is a lowly prostitute. Although a Thai woman may sometimes wash her husband’s feet, she will never use her hair to dry them The men observing her are shocked at it all.”

Drawing by Sawai Chinnawong who employs northern and central Thailand’s popular distinctive artistic style originally used to depict Buddhist moral principles and other religious themes; explanation by Paul DeNeui. From That Man Who Came to Save Us by Sawai Chinnawong and Paul H. DeNeui, William Carey Library, 2010.

For more images by Sawai Chinnawong in TIPs see here.

complete verse (Luke 7:42)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 7:42:

  • Noongar: “The two men could not return the money so the boss forgave both men all the money (lit.: “stone”). Then which man will love the boss more?'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “From their not being able to pay back their debt, that person who had-been-borrowed-from said: ‘You no longer need to pay your debt.’ So, which from those two had-greater love for the person-to-whom-they-were-indebted?'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Because they don’t have anything to pay it with, the person whom-they-owe-the-money-to says, never mind even if they don’t pay it any more (it’s o.k.). Na, as for you, who of the two will love the person very much whom they-had-owed-the-money-to?'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when those two who had borrowed could not pay, the one who had lent them said that they did not need to pay that which they owed him.’ And Jesus said again, ‘As for that person who lent the money, which one of these two who had borrowed from him held him more precious in his breath?'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But because the two of them were not able-to-pay, he cancelled (appreciative particle) their debts. All right then, please tell (me) which of them had the larger love for the one who lent to them.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When there was nothing these two could find with which to pay, what their creditor did was, he just wrote-it-off-as-paid. Well now, which of those two holds him dearest?'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 7:42

Exegesis:

mē echontōn autōn apodounai ‘since they were unable to pay back.’

amphoterois echarisato ‘he cancelled (the debt) for both.’ For charizomai cf. on v. 21.

tis oun autōn pleion agapēsei auton ‘now which of them will love him more.’ oun marks the clause as asking for the inference from what precedes. The parable rests on the idea that gratitude is proportionate to benefits received (cf. Klostermann).

Translation:

He forgave them both, or, ‘he cancelled what they owed him/their debt’ (cf. An American Translation, Bahasa Indonesia RC), ‘he cleared them both’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘he released them both (from) it (i.e. their debt)’ (Marathi), or in direct discourse, ‘he said, “Never mind; you don’t have to pay it” ’ (Cuyono). Sometimes it is possible to use here the same verb as in the rendering of ‘to forgive sins’ (cf. on 1.77), e.g. in Shona, Kituba, Sinhala; also in Kele, ‘to forgo/overlook a debt or a fault,’ and in Tzeltal, ‘to lose a person’s debt or sin out of one’s heart.’

Now, introducing the concluding question, or, ‘(now) tell me’ (cf. Translator’s New Testament, Toraja-Sa’dan).

Love, see on 6.27.

More. Some languages express the comparative by, ‘of these two, which one will love him much, which one (will love him) little,’ or, implying comparison without explicitly stating it, ‘which of them will really love that man’ (Trukese), ‘which of these two men big will be his love to him’ (Tae,’ similarly Pohnpeian).

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.