back-translation of Luke 7:1-10 in Finnish Sign Language

Following is the back-translation of Luke 7:1-10 from Finnish Sign Language (FiSL). One of the ways that distinguishes FiSL is by an intense way of using a spatial component via a signing space. Click or tap here to see more.

(Note: For a video of this passage in Finnish Sign Language, see below.)

Numbers attached with glosses refer to locations in signing space.

The English text gives a rough back translation of the FiSL behind the glosses.

Luke 7:1

JESUS TELL HUMAN GROUP HEAR>5
Jesus spoke and people listen

READY JESUS GO-1>2 CAPERNAUM INDEX>6
After he had finished Jesus went to Capernaum

(break)

Luke 7:2

ONE SOLDER LEADER OWN>6 SERVANT SICK NEARLY DIE
A servant of a military leader was sick and dying

LEADER INDEX>6 SERVANT PERSON-1 RESPECT
That leader respected his servant

(break)

Luke 7:3

INDEX>6 HEAR>5 JESUS
He heard about Jesus

PERSONx>5 ASK JEW HIGH-POSITION HUMANx-6 BRING-5>1 JESUS
He asked the respected Jewish men to bring Jesus to him

SERVANT PERSON-6 SAVE
to save the servant

(break)

Luke 7:4

JEW HIGH-POSITION HUMANx-6 JESUS MEET>5
The respected Jewish men met Jesus

BEG>5 SAY>5
Begging and asking:

(break)

ASK MALE INDEX>6 NEED OWN>5 HELP
Please, that man needs your help

(break)

Luke 7:5

WE HUMAN GROUP INDEX>6 LOVE
He loves our people

ALSO WE OWN>1 JEW CONGREGATION
For our Jewish congregation
INDEX>6 ALREADY BUILD HOUSE
He has built a house [= synagogue]

(break)

Luke 7:6

JESUS WITH TOGETHER-3>6 HOUSE-6 NEAR-3>6
Jesus approached the house together with others

LEADER SEND-4>5 OWN>6 FEW FRIENDx
The leader sent some of his friends

MEET-4>5
To meet Jesus:

(break)

LEADER INDEX>6 SAY
This leader says:
LORD INDEX>5 TROUBLE CLOSE-5>1 DO-NOT>5
Lord, do not trouble to come to me

Luke 7:7 (no break)

ALSO INDEX>1 CLOSE-1>5 CANNOT
As I did not come to you

(break)

[the rest of the verse moved to the end of verse 8]

Luke 7:8

COMMAND INDEX-h3>1 INDEX>1 OBEY
I am subject to command from above

ALSO SOLDER INDEX>2 INDEX>1 COMMAND INDEX-1>2
And I command solders

INDEX-2 OBEY
And they obey

(break)

OWN-1 SOLDER INDEX-2 INDEX-1 SAY
If I say to this solder of mine:

INDEX-2 GO>2
Go!

COMPLETE LEAVE-1>2
He will leave

INDEX-5 COME-5>1
Or to another: Come!

COMPLETE COME-5>1
He will come

(break)

ALSO SERVANT PERSON-2 INDEX-1 SAY
And if I say to this servant:

DO INDEXx-2
Do this!

COMPLETE DO
He will do it.

(break)

ANDx ALSO OWN>1 SERVANT PERSON-6 INDEX-5 ORDER-5>6
So, please, order this servant of mine

HEAL
And heal him.

(break)

LEADER INDEX-6 WELCOME-6>5
The leader asked Jesus to do this to him

Luke 7:9

JESUS SURPRISE>6
Jesus was surprised

TURN-6>5 HUMAN GROUP
He turned to people

SAY
And said:

LEADER OWN>6 FAITH COMPARE SAME JEW HUMAN GROUP INDEX-1 NEVER SEE-1>d
I have never seen the same faith among Jews than this leader has

(break)

Luke 7:10

FRIEND INDEXx-2 BACK-1>2>1 HOUSE-6 NEAR>6
When the friends returned to the house of the leader

SERVANT PERSON-6 ALREADY HEAL
That servant was already healthy.

Source and further explanation in Signs for words – the possibilities for the literal translation in Finnish Sign Language by Seppo Sipilä, 2008


Luke 7:1-10 in Finnish Sign Language (source )

See also Introduction to Philippians in Dominican Sign Language.

formal pronoun: common people addressing Jesus

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, the crowd (or individuals within the crowd) addresses Jesus with the formal pronoun, expressing respect.

complete verse (Luke 7:7)

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

  • Noongar: “and I know, I am not good enough to come to you. Only speak, and my man will be healed.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “That is why I am not brave to go to You, Father, because I am not worthy to meet you (sing.). Even if you (sing.) just say one word, my slave will definitely be healed.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “For you are really great, therefore I thought myself not worthy to come out to you. But just speak and my servant will be well.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For your rank is very great, and I’m not even worthy to come out and meet you. Your power is very great, and even if you just say, ‘May he be cured,’ my servant will be healed.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Moreover he is reportedly not worthy to go appear to you (sing.). Therefore your (sing.) words reportedly would suffice to heal his servant.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And well, it isn’t possible/acceptable either that I approach you for you really surpass me. I am sure that if you just speak, this servant of mine will really get better.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

2nd person pronoun with high register (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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person. In these verses, however, the more venerable anata-sama (あなた様) is used, which combines anata with the with a formal title -sama.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also formal 2nd person pronoun (Spanish) and the formal vs. the informal pronoun in the Gospels in Tuvan.

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Luke 7:1-10)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Luke 7:1-10:

Jesus was back in Capernaum,
where a Roman army officer’s favorite servant
       was at the point of death.
So when the officer heard Jesus was in town,
he sent some Jewish leaders with a request
       for Jesus to come and heal his servant.

The leaders went to Jesus and begged him to help —
       “This man is truly deserving,” they stated.
“He loves our nation and even built us a synagogue.”
       So Jesus went with them.

As Jesus approached the officer’s house,
       the officer sent some friends with a message:
       “Sir, please don’t trouble yourself on my account!
       I’m not worthy for you to stand under my roof,
              and I’m certainly not worthy to look you in the face.

       “Just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
       I myself am under orders,
              and I have men under my command.
       If I say ‘Jump!’ they jump;
              if I say ‘Sit down!’ they sit down.”

When Jesus heard this, he was so surprised
that he said to the crowd following him,
       “I’ve never seen such faith!”

The officer’s friends returned and found the servant well.

Japanese honorifics (Luke 7:7)

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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In this verse, the Greek that is translated as “word” in English is translated as o-kotoba (おことば), combining “word” (kotoba) with the respectful prefix o-.

Other uses of honorifics in this verse include:

  • The usage of appropriate suffix title referred to as keishō (敬称) by either using -san or –sama with the latter being the more formal title. This is evident here from the form anata-sama (あなた様) “you” which is the combination of the nominal “you” anata and the suffix title –sama.
  • The choice of benefactive constructions. Here, iyashite (癒やして) or “heal” and ukagau (伺う), a humble form of tazuneru (訪ねる) or “visit” are used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”
  • The usage of lexical honorific forms, i.e., completely different words. Here, kudasaru (下さる), a respectful form of kureru (くれる) or “give” is used.
  • The choice of an imperative construction. The honorific form kudasai (ください) reflects that the action is called for as a favor for the sake of the beneficiary. This polite kudasai imperative form is often translated as “please” in English. While English employs pure imperatives in most imperative constructions (“Do this!”), Japanese chooses the polite kudasai (“Do this, please.”).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Luke 7:7

Exegesis:

dio oude emauton ēxiōsa pros se elthein ‘nor, therefore, did I consider myself worthy to come to you.’ For dio cf. on 1.35. oude is a continuation of ou in the preceding clause and goes with ēxiōsa. elthein means here implicitly ‘to come in person’ (cf. New English Bible).

axioō ‘to consider worthy.’

alla eipe logō lit. ‘but say, or, command with (only) a word,’ hence ‘say (only) a word,’ or ‘just say the word,’ or “just give the order” (Phillips). For eipe meaning ‘command.’ The clause implies that Jesus’ personal presence is not necessary to heal the slave. It is sufficient when he speaks a word from a distance.

kai iathētō ho pais mou ‘and let my slave be healed’ (imperative, third person). This imperative is the word which the centurion wants Jesus to speak and, by saying it himself, he, as it were, anticipates Jesus’ saying it. For pais cf. on 1.54; here it is synonymous with doulos (vv. 2, 10), though it sounds slightly more friendly.

Translation:

Therefore I did not, preferably, ‘therefore also I did not…,’ ‘that also caused me not to….’

Come to you, or, “approach you” (New English Bible), or very humbly, ‘show myself in your presence (lit. approach the dust on your feet)’ (Balinese).

And let my servant be healed. This difficult form may be rendered as a request, ‘and, please, heal my servant,’ or as an utterance of confidence, cf. “and my servant will be cured” (New English Bible); the former is preferable though the latter is acceptable also. Or again, making explicit the implied direct discourse, one may use something like, ‘and, please, say, “I want your servant to be well (again)” .’

Servant, see on 12.37. Sometimes differentiation from ‘slave’ in v. 2 is possible, e.g. ‘boy’ (Sranan Tongo, similarly Bahasa Indonesia KB), but often the two renderings have to coincide.

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 7:7

7:7a

That is why I did not consider myself worthy to come to You: In this context the Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as That is why introduces a conclusion. The basis of this conclusion is that the officer thought that he was not worthy to be with Jesus. He did not think that he was worthy to come to Jesus himself (so he sent other people). He had already said that he was not worthy for Jesus to come to his house.

Some ways to connect 7:7a to 7:6e are:

And I am certainly not worthy to come to you. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
…neither do I consider myself worthy to come to you in person. (Good News Translation)

7:7b–c

But: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But indicates contrast. Instead of coming to the officer’s house (7:6d–e), Jesus could just heal the servant from a distance by commanding it to happen. Connect 7:7b to what comes before it in a way that is natural in your language. It may be helpful to make the contrast more explicit. For example:

⌊So do not come⌋ but instead, just say the word ⌊from here⌋ and my servant will be healed.
-or-
Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. (New Living Translation (2004))

just say the word: The phrase just say the word means, “You only have to command my servant to be well.” The officer realized that Jesus did not have to be present at his house in order to heal the servant. Jesus could heal him from a distance with a spoken word. It may be helpful to make explicit what kind of word this was. For example, you could say:

Speak/say the word(s) of healing and he will be well.
-or-
Command my slave to be healed and he will be well.

In some languages it may be natural to use direct speech. For example:

Speak the words, “Be healed.”

Notice that in this example, the plural form of “words” is used.

Other ways to translate this are:

Just give the order (Good News Translation)
-or-
But you only need to command it (New Century Version)

and my servant will be healed: In Greek the clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as and my servant will be healed is literally “let/may my servant be healed.” The verb form is often used as a command. However, in this context, the officer was expressing that he was confident that Jesus’ word/command alone would heal his servant. Some other ways to translate the two clauses are:

Instead, say the word, and my servant must be healed. (NET Bible)
-or-
…let my boy be cured by your giving the word. (New Jerusalem Bible)

This is a passive clause. In some languages it may be more natural to express it without using a passive form. For example:

Just command it to happen, and then my servant will get well.
-or-
But only speak the word, and that will heal my servant.

my servant: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as my servant here is not the same word as the one translated as servant in 7:2a. This word can mean “child,” but here it means “slave.” Use an appropriate word in your language.

General Comment on 7:7b–c

In some languages it may be more natural to reverse the order of the clauses of 7:7b–c. For example:

7c
⌊Please⌋ heal my slave 7bjust by giving the command ⌊from here⌋.

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