Balinese uses an honorific system with three levels of how someone can be addressed or talked about. For example, “love” of a superior for an inferior must be indicated by one term and that of an inferior for a superior by another. In the Greek phrase that is translated in English as “you shall love the Lord your God (…) and your neighbor as yourself”, Balinese translates asih subaktija ragane teken Ida Sang Hyang Widi Wasa (…) tur tresnainja sesaman ragane, buka nresnain deweke padidi: “You shall give respectful-love to God, … further, you must love your neighbor as yourself.”
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “neighbor” in English is rendered into Babatana as “different man,” i.e. someone who is not one of your relatives. (Source: David Clark)
In North Alaskan Inupiatun, it is rendered as “a person outside of your building,” in Tzeltal as “your back and side” (implying position of the dwellings), in Indonesian and in Tae’ as “your fellow-man,” in Toraja-Sa’dan it is “your fellow earth-dweller,” in Shona (translation of 1966) as “another person like you,” in Kekchí “younger-brother-older-brother” (a compound which means all one’s neighbors in a community) (sources: Bratcher / Nida and Reiling / Swellengrebel), in Mairasi “your people” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Mezquital Otomi as “fellow being,” in Tzeltal as “companion,” in Isthmus Zapotec as “another,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “all people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in most modern German translations as Mitmensch or “fellow human being” (lit. “with + human being”).
In Matt 19:19, Matt 22:39, Mark 12:31, Mark 12:33, Luke 10:27, Luke 10:29 it is translated into Ixcatlán Mazatec with a term that refers to a person who is socially/physically near. Ixcatlán Mazatec also has a another term for “neighbor” that means “fellow humans-outsiders” which was not chosen for these passages. (Source: Robert Bascom)
In Noongar it is translated as moorta-boordak or “people nearby” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “love your neighbor as yourself” is translated in Shilluk, Anuak, and Nuer as “love your neighbors as yourselves.” In those and other languages a plural form has to be used if it is to be applied to more than one person where in English a singular can stand for many (compare everyone, each, whoever, any). (Source: Larson 1998, p. 42)
Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)
Jesús y los Saduceos estaban platicando y un maestro de la ley lo vio (y pensó): ‘huy Jesús explica bien’ y lo acercó y dijo: “Si escoges un mandamiento, ¿cuál es lo más importante?”
Jesús (respondió): “El primero, el más importante mandamiento, mira, dice en el rollo: Oigan personas de Israel, necesitan prestar atención, el Señor Dios es único.”
“Uds personas amen al Señor Dios con su corazón, su alma, su mente y su fuerza completa, y el segundo mandamiento en importancia es: Como las personas aman a si mismas así deben amar a otras personas. Los dos mandamientos son los más importantes, otros mandamientos son menos (importantes).”
El maestro de la ley lo vio bien (y dijo): “Tú dices la verdad, Dios es único no hay otro. Que personas aman a Dios con su corazón, entendimiento y fuerza completa y deben amar a otras personas en igual manera como aman a si mismos eso es más importante que el sacrificio de animales.”
Jesús lo vio y adentro pensó: ‘Él respnde bien, él ya entiende’ y después dijo: “Tú ya te has acercado al reino de Dios.”
Otras personas le preguntaban más, pero se quedó callado.
Jesus and the Sadducees were talking and a master of the Law saw it (and thought): ‘wow Jesus explains well’ and he came up to him and said: “If you choose one commandment, which one is the most important?”
Jesus (answered): “The first, the most important commandment, look, it says in the scroll: You people of Israel, you need to pay attention, the Lord God is the only one.”
˜You people love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and the second most important commandment is: As people love themselves in the same way they must love other people. The two commandments are the most important, other commandments are less (important).”
The teacher of the Law saw this as good (and said): “You tell the truth, God is the only one, there is no other. That people love God with all their heart, understanding and strength and have to love other people in the same way as they love themselves is more important than animal sacrifices.”
Jesus looked at him and thought: ‘He answers well, he already understands’ and then he said: “You have already come close to the Kingdom of God.”
Other people asked him more questions, but he kept quiet.
A certain man, a scribe, heard how well Jesus taught the people. He also wanted to approach Jesus and ask him a question. He asked Jesus:
— We have many different commandments. And which commandment is the most important?
Jesus answered:
— We have many different commandments, and the most important of them is this: People of Israel, listen to God! Our God is only one! You must love God completely with all your thoughts, feelings and strength. This is the most important first commandment. And there is also a second, equally important: love your neighbor as yourself. These commandments are the most important.
The scribe replied:
— Teacher, you speak correctly! There are no other gods except our God. We must love God with all our heart, all our thoughts, all our strength. And yes, we must love our neighbor as ourselves. These two commandments are above all others and even sacrifices.
Jesus said to him:
— You reason correctly! You are close to the Kingdom of God.
After this event, none of the scribes dared to ask him tricky questions anymore.
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Один человек, книжник, слышал, как хорошо Иисус учил народ. Он тоже захотел подойти к Иисусу и задать ему вопрос. Он спросил Иисуса:
— У нас есть много разных заповедей. А какая заповедь самая главная?
Иисус ответил:
— У нас есть много разных заповедей, а самая главная из них такая: Народ Израиля, слушай Бога! Наш Бог только один! Вы должны всеми вашими мыслями, чувствами и силами полностью любить Бога. Это самая главная первая заповедь. А есть еще вторая, такая же важная: своего ближнего так же, как самого себя, люби его. Эти заповеди самые важные.
Книжник ответил:
— Учитель, ты говоришь правильно! Нет иных богов, кроме нашего Бога. Нужно всем сердцем, всеми мыслями, силами полностью любить Бога. И да, нужно любить ближнего своего так же, как самого себя. Эти две заповеди выше всех остальных и даже жертвоприношений.
Иисус сказал ему:
— Ты рассуждаешь правильно! Ты близок к Царству Бога.
После этого события никто из книжников больше не решался задавать ему каверзные вопросы.
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “neighbor” or “relative” in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) and the Buku Lopatulika translation (1922/2018) with just one word: nansi. This word can also be translated as neighbors whom you share a blood relation with because in Chewa context a community is mostly comprised of people of blood relations. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 12:31:
Uma: “And this is the second command: ‘We must love our companion like we love ourselves.’ There are no other commands that are bigger than these two.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “And the commandment following it is this: ‘You (sing.) shall love your companion as you (sing.) love yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these two commandments.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The second is this: ‘You must hold dear your companion. Regard him as if he were your own breath.’ There is nothing commanded us that is higher than these two.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “The second most-important is: ‘You (sing.) must love your (sing.) fellow like your (sing.) manner-of-loving yourself (sing.).’ No command is more-important than these.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “This is the second. ‘You (sing.) are to value your fellowman just like your valuing of your own body.’ There are no other laws which can exceed these.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
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 Mark 12:28-34:
Jesus had just frustrated a group of theologians,
when a noted biblical scholar asked him,
“What’s the most important teaching in the Bible?”
Jesus answered, “The Bible itself says,
Love God with all your heart!
And the Bible also says,
Love others as much as you love yourself!
No teachings are more important than these.”
“Teacher,” answered the man, “you’re certainly right.
We must love the one and only God with all our heart,
and love others as much as we love ourselves.
To obey these two commands is more important
than offering all kinds of gifts to God.”
Jesus realized the depth of the man’s answer and said,
“You already have one foot in the Ultimate Kingdom.”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.