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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, a god, or a person or persons to be honored, the honorific prefix go- (御 or ご) can be used, as in go-issho (ご一緒), a combination of “together” (issho) and the honorific prefix go-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)
Jesús dijo: “Hace mucho un profeta escribió en el rollo lo que Dios dijo: ‘En el futuro matarán al pastor y las ovejas se dispersarán’ y lo que fue escrito y dicho (pasará) exactamente.
Uds me dejarán pero cuando Dios me levante y yo me resucite a la vida yo iré a Galilea y uds igual vayan a Galilea.”
Pedro dijo: “Quizá todas las personas te dejarán pero yo jamás te dejaré.”
Jesús (dijo): “Yo digo la verdad, hoy en la noche me negarás tres veces y después el gallo gritará por segunda vez.”
Pedro dijo: “Auque si ambos nosotros murieramos jamás te negaría.”
Los discípulos todos lo copiaron y todos hablaron en la misma manera.
Then they sang hymns and psalms and when they finished singing Jesus and the disciples left and went to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus said: “Long ago a prophet wrote in the scroll that God said: ‘In the future they will kill the shepherd and the sheep will be dispersed’ and what was written and said (will come to pass) exactly.
“You will leave me but when God raises me and I come back to life I will go to Galilee and you must also go to Galilee.”
Peter said: “Maybe all the people will leave you but I will never leave you.”
Jesus (said): “I tell the truth, tonight you will deny me three times and afterwards the rooster will crow for the second time.”
Peter said: “Even if both died, I would never deny you.”
The disciples all copied him and they all talked in the same way.
Here is the Mount of Olives. Jesus and the disciples are up there. It is already evening.
— You will soon betray me, scatter in different directions, and I will be left alone. I will tell you that in the Scriptures it was written in ancient times:
“If God kills the shepherd, the sheep will scatter in different directions.”
It is written in the scriptures. I will die, but then I will rise again and go to the region of Galilee. There I will wait for you.
The disciple Peter began to say to Jesus:
— Even if everyone disowns you, I will always have you with me, I will follow you.
Jesus answered:
— This night, before the morning, before the rooster crows twice, you will refuse me three times.
Peter began to speak:
— I will never reject you! I will follow you until death, and will always be with you.
And the other disciples said:
— We will be with you, we will follow you, we will not reject you.
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Вот Масличная гора. Там, наверху, Иисус и ученики. Уже наступил вечер. Вы скоро предадите меня, разбежитесь в стороны, и я останусь один. Я скажу вам, что в Писании еще в древние времена было написано:
«Если Бог убьет пастуха, то овцы разбегутся в разные стороны».
Так написано в писании. Я умру, но потом воскресну и отправлюсь в местность Галилея. Там я буду ждать вас.
Ученик Петр стал говорить Иисусу:
— Даже если все отрекутся от тебя, я всегда буду с собой, буду следовать за тобой.
Иисус ответил:
— Этой ночью, еще до утра, прежде чем петух прокричит два раза, ты трижды откажешься от меня.
Петр стал говорить:
— Я никогда не отвергну тебя! Я последую за тобой до самой смерти, и всегда буду с тобой.
И другие ученики говорили:
— Мы будем с тобой, мы последуем за тобой, не отвергнем тебя.
Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.
As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.
Here, individual or several disciples address Jesus with the formal pronoun, expressing respect. Compare this to how that address changes after the resurrection.
In most Dutch as well as in Western Frisian and Afrikaans translations, the disciples address Jesus before and after the resurrection with the formal pronoun.
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 14:31:
Uma: “But Petrus strengthened his words all the more, he said: ‘Even if I die with you (sing.), I will not deny that I know you (sing.)!’ So also were the words of the other disciples.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But Petros spoke even more distinct, he said, ‘Even if I die together with you, I will really not deny you.’ And all of them, this is also what they said.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Peter didn’t agree with that, and he said, ‘Even if I am killed along with you, I will not say that I do not know you.’ And then that was also the promise that his companion disciples made.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Then Pedro insisted saying, ‘Even if it-is-necessary that I die-with you (sing.), I absolutely will not deny you (sing.).’ And so also said all his fellow disciples.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But Pedro was insistent, saying, ‘Even if I will be killed along with you, I really won’t deny you!’ Like that too was said by all those other disciples.” (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 to do this is through the usage of lexical honorific forms, i.e., completely different words, as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
In these verses, mōsu (申す), the respectful form of iu (言う) or “say / speak” is used. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
After elalei ‘he said’ Textus Receptus and Kilpatrick add mallon ‘the more,’ which is omitted by all other modern editions of the Greek text.
Exegesis:
ekperissōs (only here in the N.T.; cf. perissōs 10.26, huperperissōs 7.37) ‘exceedingly,’ ‘vehemently,’ ‘emphatically.’
ean deē ‘even if it be necessary,’ ‘even if it must be’: for dei ‘it is necessary’ cf. 8.31.
sunapothanein (only here in Mark; cf. apothnēskō 5.35) ‘to die with,’ ‘to die together with.’
hōsautōs (cf. 12.21) ‘in the same way,’ ‘in like manner.’
Translation:
Said may need to be translated by some term which implies a response to a previous statement, e.g. ‘replied,’ or ‘said in return,’ or ‘spoke back.’
Vehemently is as strong a statement of assertion as can be used, e.g. ‘said very hard’ (Copainalá Zoque). In combination with the verb one may render this expression as ‘insisted strongly,’ ‘declared with strength,’ or ‘said very strong words.’
Die with you may imply in some languages only natural death. Accordingly, as in Kekchi, one must render the passage as ‘be killed with you,’ implying violent death.
If deny is translated as ‘say that one does not know,’ it may be impossible to use a double negative, e.g. ‘not say … not know.’ In this case the double negative not deny must be rendered as ‘I will always say that I know’ (Copainalá Zoque).
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 introduces how Peter responded to what Jesus said in 14:30. In this response, Peter contradicted what Jesus had just said. Connect these two verses in a natural way in your language.
Peter kept insisting: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Peter kept insisting is literally “very emphatically he was saying.” The tense of the Greek verb indicates that Peter insisted repeatedly that he would not disown Jesus. (English versions do not reflect the sense of the Greek imperfect here, but many commentaries mention that the imperfect indicates that Peter objected repeatedly.)
Here are some other ways to translate this:
But Peter kept saying even more insistently -or-
But Peter strengthened his words all the more, and replied to Jesus: -or-
Peter did not agree with that, and he said repeatedly
14:31b
Even if I have to die with You, I will never deny You: In this part of the verse, Peter indicated emphatically that he was ready to be killed along with Jesus. He said that he would never desert Jesus and say that he did not know him.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
Even if I have to die with you, I will never say that I don’t know you. (God’s Word) -or-
I will never say that, even if I have to die with you! (Good News Bible)
General Comment on 14:31a–b
In many languages it is necessary to express the idea “insisted emphatically” (31a) within the direct quote (31b). For example:
But Peter said, “Never! Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” -or- “Unthinkable!” Peter exclaimed. “I would rather die with you than disown you!”
14:31c
And all the others said the same thing: The words And all the others said the same indicate that all the other disciples also said that they, too, would never deny Jesus.
said the same thing: You may add what the other disciples said. You may use direct or indirect speech. For example:
Each of the others also said: “I will never deny you either.” -or-
Each of the others also said that he would never deny him/Jesus.
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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.
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