Isthmus Mixe: “stays with me” (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August, 1966, p. 86ff)
Teutila Cuicatec: “in all authority at the right side” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.).
Bariai: “chief seat at the right hand” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
In Lamnso’, the seat on the right-hand side signifies that the person seated there would have a higher position than the one to his left (vs. just being a seat of honor). To circumvent any misunderstanding of the biblical text, the translation here refers to the “highest seat next to God.” (Source: Karl Grebe in Holzhausen 1991, p. 52)
(Note that in Elhomwe the idiom “I see you through the left hand” stands for “useless.” [Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext])
Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)
Jacobo y Juan fueron (a Jesús) y dijeron: “Maestro nosotros dos queremos pedir algo, por favor dinos que sí.”
Jesús (dijo): “¿Qué es lo que quieren decirme?”
Dijeron: “Cuando tú llegues a ser el rey superior sentado en el trono ¿podemos nosotros dos estar sentados a ambos lados de ti?”
Jesús (dijo): “No saben lo que me dicen. Mira, por ejemplo, un poco adelante yo beberé una copa amarga. ¿Uds lo pueden?
Otro ejemplo: yo bajaré en el agua del mar, quiere decir que sufriré fuertemente. ¿Uds lo aceptarían?” Los dos (dijeron que) sí podrían.
Jesús dijo: “yo sufriré e igual en el futuro uds dos sufrirán, pero antes Dios ya ha elegido dos personas que estarán sentados a ambos lados de mi, yo no puede elegirlos.”
Los diez discípulos estaban furiosos y pensaban que Jacobo y Juan eran malos.
Jesús se volteó (hacia los diez) y los llamó y los discípulos vinieron. (Jesús dijo): “Uds saben que en otros países los líders abusan a todas las personas simples, y los mandan.
Uds, los discípulos, no copien esta mentalidad, apartense.
Si uds quieren ser líderes deben servir y ayudar, el líder más importante debe ser humilde y servir y ayudar a las personas.
El hijo de hombre ha venido, ¿y todas las personas lo sirven? No, el opuesto, el hijo de hombre sirve a todas las personas.
El hijo de hombre acepta morir en lugar de ellos para salvar a muchas personas.”
James and John went (to Jesus) and said: “Teacher, the two of us want to ask something, please tell us yes.”
Jesus (said): “What do you want to tell me?”
They said: “When you become king, highly exalted sitting on the throne, can the two of us be seated on both sides of you?”
Jesus (said): You don’t know what you are saying to me. Look, an example: in a short while I will drink a bitter cup. Can you do that?
“Another example: I will go down in the waters of the sea, which means that I will undergo strong suffering. Would you accept that?” The two (said that) yes they could.
Jesus said: “I will suffer and likewise the two of you will suffer, but God has already chosen the two people who will sit on either side of me, I cannot choose them.”
The ten disciples were furious and thought that James and John were bad.
Jesus turned (towards the ten) and called them and the disciples came. (Jesus said):””You know that in other countries the leaders abuse the simple people, and order them around.
“You, the disciples, should not copy this mindset, no keep away from it.
“If you want to be leaders you have to serve and help, the most important leader must be humble ans serve and help the people.
“The Son of Man has come down, and do all the people serve him? No, the opposite, the Son of Man serves all the people.
“The Son of Man agrees to die in their place to save many people.”
Two disciples, the brothers James and John, sons of Zebedee, said to Jesus:
— We want to ask you to do one thing for us.
Jesus said:
— What do you want to ask me to do for you?
Brothers:
— In the future, when you are glorified and gain power and glory and sit on the throne, let us sit beside you, one on your right hand and one on your left.
Jesus said:
— Do you know or do you not know that I have many sufferings ahead of me? Will you be able to walk the same path — numerous sufferings, pain, death. Will you be able to endure it all?
The two brothers said:
— Yes, we are ready, we can.
Jesus said:
— Yes, different and numerous sufferings will I have. The same sufferings you will have. I will accept suffering, pain, death. In the same way you will have it. But, I don’t decide who gets to sit next to the throne. God decides that.
The other ten disciples heard Jesus talking to these two disciples and became angry.
Jesus called them over and said:
— With the Gentiles, the rulers subdue, humiliate the rest of the people. Do not do as they do. Remember, the one of you who wants to be superior, who wants to be the first, he must be inferior, like a servant, helping the others, taking care of them.
I, the Son of God who became a man, I have not come to subdue and humiliate, I have come to be lower, as a servant, ready to care and help. Even my life I am ready to give for the salvation of all people.
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Два ученика, братья Иаков и Иоанн, сыновья Заведея, сказали Иисусу:
— Мы хотим попросить тебя сделать для нас одну вещь.
Иисус говорит:
— Что вы хотите попросить меня, чтобы я сделал для вас?
Братья:
— В будущем, когда ты прославишься и обретешь власть и славу и воссядешь на престоле, позволь нам сесть рядом с тобой: одному по правую руку, другому — по левую.
Иисус сказал:
— А вы знаете или не знаете, что мне предстоят многочисленные страдания? Вы сможете пройти такой же путь — многочисленные страдания, боль, смерть, сможете ли все это претерпеть?
Два брата сказали:
— Да, мы готовы, мы можем.
Иисус сказал:
— Да, различные и многочисленные страдания будут у меня. Такие же страдания будут у вас. Я приму страдания, боль, смерть. Так же и у вас это будет. Но, не я решаю, кому сидеть рядом с престолом. Это решает Бог.
Остальные десять учеников услышали, как Иисус разговаривает с этими двумя учениками и стали гневаться.
Иисус их подозвал и сказал:
— У язычников правители подчиняют, унижают остальных людей. Вы не поступайте, как они. Запомните, тот из вас, кто хочет быть выше, кто хочет быть первым человеком, тот должен быть ниже, как слуга, помогать остальным, заботиться о них.
Я, сын Бога, ставший человеком, я пришел не для того, чтобы подчинять и унижать, я пришел, чтобы быть ниже, как слуга, готовый заботиться и помогать. Даже мою жизнь я готов отдать ради спасения всех людей.
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 10:40:
Uma: “But as for who will sit on my right and my left, it’s mot I who determines that. It’s God who determines who gets that portion.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But as for seating (anyone) on my right or on my left,’ said Isa, ‘it is not I who decides/rules that. But those seats belong to those whom God has prepared them for.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “however, I am not the one to choose who will be caused to sit on my right side and on my left side. For the only ones who will be able to sit there are those for whom my Father God has prepared it.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “But the one who will sit at my right and left, I have no authority to say, because God has already chosen the ones to sit there.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But it doesn’t originate with me to determine who will sit at my right and left. As for those seats referred to, there are those they are being reserved for.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
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 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.
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®).
to de kathisai ek dexiōn mou ē ex euōnumōn ‘but to sit at my right or at my left.’
euōnumos (15.27) literally ‘well-named’: an euphemism for ‘the left’ to avoid the sinister connotation of the word.
ouk estin emon dounai, all’ hois hētoimastai ‘is not mine to give, but (it is) for those for whom it has been prepared.’
all’ ‘but’ modifies the whole preceding phrase ‘to sit … is not mine to give,’ representing a denial on the part of Jesus that it is he who will decide who shall occupy the places of honor. The word is not to be translated ‘except’ as though Jesus were saying that he could not give the places of honor to the two brothers but only to those for whom these places had been prepared (as does Manson, following Turner: ‘I am not free to give to any but those for whom it is already destined’): on this interpretation cf. Swete.
hetoimazō (cf. 1.3) ‘prepare,’ ‘keep in readiness’: the passive ‘has been prepared’ presupposes God as the subject, ‘God has prepared.’ As Lagrange says, the word here reflects the concept of the predestinating action of God (which several translations convey by the use of ‘it is destined’: cf. Goodspeed, Moffatt, Manson; others, ‘it is reserved’: cf. The Modern Speech New Testament, Montgomery, Berkeley).
Translation:
Said may need to be rendered as ‘replied.’
We are able requires in certain languages expansion by some complementary verb, e.g. ‘we are able to do that.’
The clause to sit at my right hand … is not mine to grant must be recast in some languages, for one cannot use a possessive such as mine to describe a particular capacity to do something. For example, in Tzeltal one must change the clause to read ‘but I cannot give that you sit….’
It in the final clause (occurring twice) refers to the prerogative to sit on the right and the left. In some instances one must substitute a verb expression ‘to do that’ or a noun phrase ‘this position.’
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 .
But: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But indicates a contrast between 10:39c–d and 10:40a. (In Greek the verb form that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to sit is emphasized. This emphasis and the conjunction but show a contrast between 10:39c–d and 10:40a.) James and John would certainly suffer like Jesus, but Jesus would not promise to give them the places of honor.
to sit at My right or left is not Mine to grant: Jesus was saying here that he did not have the authority to decide who would rule with him.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
I do not have the right to choose who will sit at my right and my left. (Good News Bible) -or-
I don’t have the authority to grant you a seat at my right or left. (God’s Word)
In some languages it may be natural to translate this as direct or indirect speech: For example:
…it is not I who will say “Sit here next to me.” -or-
…it is not I who will say who will sit there and rule with me.
to sit at My right: In some languages it may be natural to use a noun form instead of the verb to sit. This noun may be singular or plural. For example:
a seat at my right or my left -or-
as for seats at my right hand or my left (New Jerusalem Bible)
is not Mine to grant: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as grant means “give.” In this context it refers to giving someone the seats of authority next to him. This statement implies that someone else will decide who will have those seats of authority. The next part of the verse makes that explicit.
10:40b
These seats belong to those for whom they have been prepared: The Greek says literally “but for those it has been prepared.” This is an ellipsis, that is, information is left out of the sentence. The Berean Standard Bible and most other versions supply some of the information that the Greek leaves implicit. This will be explained in the following notes.
Jesus did not say who would sit in the places of honor. But he indicated that those places had been prepared for certain people. This implies that God had already chosen the ones whom he will honor by allowing them to sit beside Jesus. The New Living Translation makes this explicit:
God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.
These seats: The phrase These seats refers to the positions on either side of Jesus that were mentioned in 10:40a.
belong to those for whom: The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the phrase belong to in order to make a complete English sentence. This helps to express what the sentence implies, that is, God has decided which people should have the right to sit next to Jesus. The phrase belong to does not indicate here that the people own those seats.
they have been prepared: This is a passive clause. Jesus did not say who prepared the places of honor. However, his statement implies that God has prepared them. If it is necessary in your language to translate this as an active clause, you could state that God has prepared these places. For example, the Good News Bible says:
It is God who will give these places to those for whom he has prepared them.
prepared: God has prepared the places of honor beside Jesus in the sense that he has decided who will have them. In some languages it may be necessary to say this in a different way. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:
But it isn’t for me to say who will sit at my right side and at my left. That is for God to decide.
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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
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