1st person pronoun referring to God (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 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.

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

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on Mark 10:14

Exegesis:

ēganaktēsen (10.41; 14.4) ‘he grew indignant,’ ‘he got angry,’ ‘he was aroused.’

aphete (cf. 2.5) ‘allow,’ ‘permit,’ ‘let.’

mē kōluete auta ‘stop forbidding them,’ ‘quit hindering them.’

kōluō (cf. 9.38) ‘hinder,’ ‘forbid,’ ‘restrain.’

tōn gar toioutōn estin hē basileia tou theou ‘for of such as these is the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Translator’s New Testament).

ho toioutos ‘one of this kind,’ ‘one of this sort,’ ‘one such as this’: the proper force of this correlative demonstrative pronoun of quality should be observed, and not be reduced simply to, a demonstrative, as though it meant only ‘this one.’ Cf. Goodspeed ‘such as they’; Moffatt ‘such as these’; Manson ‘such as them’; Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale ceux qui leur resemblent. As seen in the next verse hōs paidion ‘as a child,’ Jesus is speaking of the characteristics or qualities of children, not of the children themselves (so most commentators; Lagrange, however, supposes that both meanings à ceux qui resemblent aux enfants, and à ces enfants eux-mêmes are not mutually exclusive).

eimi ‘to be’ with the genitive may mean ‘belongs to,’ indicating possession, or quality.

hē basileia tou theou (cf. 1.15) ‘the Kingdom of God.’

Translation:

It is in some languages ‘what had happened’ or ‘what they were doing.’

Said to them refers to the statement to the disciples, e.g. ‘said to the disciples,’ In some languages this third person plural object tends to be related to the immediately preceding pronoun of the same type, which refers to those bringing the children to Jesus.

For kingdom of God see 1.15 and 4.11.

To such belongs implies a very difficult relationship in some languages, especially where kingdom is translated as ‘rule’ or ‘government,’ as a process rather than an object. In such instances one cannot speak of a person possessing such a process. In Copainalá Zoque the entire construction is recast as ‘God will rule over such as these.’ In Tzeltal an entirely different perspective is employed, e.g. ‘persons like these will reach God’s government.’

It is possible to interpret the Greek expression tōn … toiautōn estin ‘of such is’ as referring to the quality of the participants, rather than to possession. In this case, the relationship of the kingdom to the participants becomes somewhat easier to express, especially in languages in which kingdom is translated as ‘rule’ or ‘government’ (i.e. as a process rather than an object). For example, in Inupiaqthis passage is rendered as ‘the kingdom of God is full of people who are as children,’ a close equivalent of one possible meaning of the Greek expression.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator's Notes on Mark 10:14

10:14a

He was indignant: The word indignant means “angry” or “upset.” Jesus was upset or angry because the disciples told the parents not to bring the children to him.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

he became angry (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
he was greatly displeased (New King James Version)

10:14b–c

Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them!: There are two commands in this part of the verse: Let the little children come to Me and do not hinder them. These commands have similar meanings. Jesus repeated his meaning in two different ways to emphasize what he said.

In some languages it may be more natural to give the negative command first. For example:

Do not forbid the children to come to me. Allow them to come….

In other languages it may be more natural to combine the two commands. For example, the God’s Word has:

Don’t stop the children from coming to me.

Translate these two commands in a natural way in your language.

Let: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Let means “allow” or “permit.” For example:

Allow the little children to come to me.

hinder: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as hinder means “forbid” or “stop.”

Here are some other ways to translate this command:

do not stop them (Good News Bible)
-or-
do not forbid their coming to me

10:14d

For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For introduces the reason for Jesus’ commands to his disciples in 10:14c. Another way to translate this conjunction is “because.”

the kingdom of God belongs to such as these: The phrase kingdom of God refers to God’s activity of ruling and caring for his people as their king. It does not refer to a land or country that he rules over. It refers to the relationship that he has with his people. He leads, protects, and cares for them. They obey, trust, and submit to him as their king.

The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the kingdom of God belongs to such as these means “people like this have the right/privilege to be included in the group of people whom God rules.” It does not mean that such people own the kingdom of God. See also kingdom of God, Context 2, in the Glossary.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

Children like these are part of the kingdom of God. (God’s Word)
-or-
…it is people like these children who will live under God’s chieftaincy.
-or-
…it is people like these children who are citizens of the kingdom of God.
-or-
…God cares for little ones like these as their king.

such as these: The phrase such as these means “people like these children.” It probably refers to people who are humble and depend on God. They are like children who depend on their parents. In some languages it may be necessary to make some of this information explicit. For example:

…because the kingdom of God belongs to people who depend on God like these children depend on their parents.
-or-
…for it is people who are trustful/trusting like these children who will live in the kingdom of God.

General Comment on 10:14c–d

In these verses, 10:14d expresses the reason for the result in 10:14c. In some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of these clauses. For example:

14dThe kingdom of God belongs to little children as these, 14cso let them come to me, and do not hinder them.

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