Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("climb")

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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, nobo-rare-ru (登られる) or “climb” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Luke 9:28

Exegesis:

egeneto de ‘and it happened,’ cf. on 1.8.

meta tous logous toutous ‘after these sayings,’ i.e. ‘after he had said this’ (cf. An American Translation), rather than, ‘after these things’ (Klostermann). logous refers to vv. 23-27 as a whole.

hosei hēmerai oktō ‘about eight days,’ i.e. ‘about a week’ on the basis of Roman time-reckoning, and equivalent to Mk. 9.2, ‘after six days,’ on the basis of Jewish time-reckoning, cf. Grundmann. For the nominative of time.

[kai] paralabōn ‘taking with him,’ cf. on v. 10.

eis to oros lit. ‘to the mountain,’ but cf. on 6.12.

Translation:

About eight days after, see also on 1.59.

He took with him … and went up …. The main event is mentioned in the second clause. Therefore, it may be preferable to subordinate the first clause (Bible de Jérusalem, prenant … il gravit la montagne), and/or to shift it to the end of the verse, e.g. ‘Jesus went up…, accompanied by (or, together with) his disciples.’

Went up on the mountain, i.e. ‘went up into the mountains/hills,’ see on 6.12.

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 9:28

Section 9:28–36

Three disciples saw Jesus’ glory

In 9:26 Jesus spoke about the time when he would return to earth and people would see his glory. Then in 9:28–36 God caused Jesus to be glorified for a short time. Peter, James, and John saw this. During that time, Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus. Peter suggested building shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. God showed these disciples that Jesus was greater than the great prophets Moses and Elijah because Jesus was God’s Son.

Some other examples of headings for this section are:

Jesus Talks with Moses and Elijah (New Century Version)
-or-
God showed three disciples who Jesus really was

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 17:1–12 and Mark 9:2–13.

Paragraph 9:28–33

9:28a

About eight days after Jesus had said these things: This clause indicates that about eight days passed after Jesus spoke the words in 9:27. Then the events of this paragraph began. In some languages it may be more natural to translate this as the Good News Translation has done:

About a week after he had said these things, Jesus…

9:28b

He took with Him Peter, John, and James: In this context, the clause took…with Him implies that Jesus asked Peter, John, and James to go with him. They went willingly with Jesus. In some languages, it may be more natural to say:

Jesus told/asked Peter, John, and James to accompany him

The verb took is closely connected to the verb phrase “went up” in 9:28c. In some languages it may be more natural to combine these ideas here. For example:

took Peter, John, and James up (New Living Translation (2004))

The words with Him may not be necessary in some languages. For example:

he took Peter, John, and James (New Century Version)

9:28c

and went up on a mountain to pray: Jesus went up a mountain because he wanted to pray to God there.

mountain: Some scholars believe that this mountain was Mount Hermon (9320 feet or 2814 meters in altitude). Mark calls this a “high” mountain (Mark 9:2). Use a term that would be appropriate in your language.

pray: The same verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as pray here also occurs in the form “praying” in 9:18a.

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