formal 2nd person plural pronoun (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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

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

Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("say")

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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) 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, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Mark 12:43

Exegesis:

proskalesamenos (cf. 3.13) ‘calling to him,’ ‘summoning.’

pleion pantōn ebalen tōn ballontōn ‘she put more than all those who are putting’: the strict, literal meaning of the Greek is that she put in more than all others together put in.

pleion ‘more’ is an adverb modifying ebalen ‘she put’: ‘she contributed more.’

Translation:

Called must not be understood as ‘calling out to,’ but as ‘called the attention of’ or ‘told them to note what was happening,’ for no doubt the disciples were grouped close enough to Jesus, so as to have readily heard his statement. (What one must avoid in the translation of call, which occurs so often in the Gospels, is the impression that Jesus was constantly shouting to his disciples like some army sergeant – an impression which has been given by some translations.)

For truly in this type of construction see 8.12.

For the analysis of problems involved in comparative constructions such as more than see 1.7. In this particular context one may say in some languages ‘what this poor widow has put in surpasses all that…,’ or ‘what this poor widow has put in is much, what all the rest have put in … is not much.’

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 12:43

12:43a

Jesus called His disciples to Him and said: There is implied information here. Jesus saw what the poor widow gave to God. In some languages it may be helpful to make this explicit. For example:

When Jesus saw this, he called his disciples to him and said

Use a natural way in your language to connect this verse with 12:42.

called: The word called does not indicate that Jesus shouted to his disciples. They were probably right there with him. He asked them to come near to him so that he could tell them something.

disciples: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as disciples means “learners” who are in a relationship with a teacher. The learners commit themselves to their teacher in order to learn from him and live according to his teaching and example. In the New Testament disciples often lived with their teacher and followed him wherever he went.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

students/learners
-or-
apprentices
-or-
followers

See how you translated this term at 2:15b. See also disciple in the Glossary for more information.

12:43b

Truly I tell you: Jesus often used the phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Truly I tell you to begin a statement that he wanted to emphasize. When he began a statement with these words, he was asking people to listen closely.

Here are some other ways to show this emphasis:

Listen to this!
-or-
I tell you this:
-or-
I assure you

See how you translated this phrase in 3:28a. In addition to the translation options given there, you may be able to use an emphatic word within Jesus’ statement. For example:

This widow has truly/really put in more than all the others.

this poor widow has put more than all the others into the treasury: Here Jesus used a figurative way to praise the widow and her gift. She did not literally give more than the others, but what she gave had more value to God than all the other gifts. Jesus explained the reason for that in 12:44. She was more generous than the others, because she gave all that she had. This made her gift more valuable than all the other gifts, even though the actual amount was much less than the other people gave.

If people in your language do not understand the meaning correctly, you may want to express the meaning literally. For example:

What this poor widow gave has more value to God than all the money that the others have given.

more than all the others: This phrase implies that the widow gave more than all of the others put together. (Most English versions translate this Greek word literally as “all.” Several commentators also suggest that “all the others put together” could have been Jesus’ meaning. However, another possible interpretation would be that the widow gave more than any of the other people. Turner & Bock (vol 2, page 15) supports this interpretation.)

the others: The phrase the others refers to the other people who put money into the treasury.

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