Honorary are / rare constructs denoting God (“say”)

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 show different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morphemes rare (られ) or are (され) are 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. )

first person pronoun referring to God

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 show 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 14:32

Exegesis:

chōrion (only here in Mark) ‘place,’ ‘plot of land,’ ‘field,’ ‘estate’: it is from John 18.1 that we get the designation ‘garden’ (kēpos).

Gethsēmani (only here in Mark) ‘Gethsemane’: the word is derived from gath-semaneʿ, ‘oil-press.’

kathisate (cf. 9.35) ‘you sit here.’

heōs proseuxōmai ‘until I pray’: the aorist of the verb may be taken here to refer to the action as completed, i.e. ‘until I finish praying’; the meaning, therefore, is ‘while I pray.’

proseuchomai (cf. 1.35) ‘pray.’

Translation:

The word employed to render place must be capable of indicating a small area such as a garden. In some languages, however, there is no equivalent of the generic term place, and one must use a more specific designation, e.g. ‘grove of trees,’ implying an area which is planted and cared for.

They must include not only the disciples, the immediately preceding third person plural referent, but also Jesus. In some languages one can only overcome this syntactic problem by saying ‘Jesus and his disciples went.’ Otherwise the implication is that the disciples went off to the garden of Gethsemane without Jesus.

For pray see 1.35.

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 14:32

Section 14:32–42

Jesus prayed in a place called Gethsemane

The conversation in the preceding section occurred while Jesus and the disciples were walking toward the Mount of Olives (14:26–27). In this section, they came to a place where there were olive trees. This place was called Gethsemane. Jesus told his disciples to pray that God would give them strength not to sin. Jesus also prayed that he himself would do what his heavenly Father wanted him to do, rather than what he himself wanted.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Jesus prayed in the garden called Gethsemane
-or-
Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane
-or-
Jesus prayed for God’s will to be done

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 26:36–46 and Luke 22:39–46.

Paragraph 14:32–34

14:32a

Then: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Then is the most common Greek connector. Here it introduces a new event. The events in this paragraph begin immediately after the events in the preceding paragraph. Introduce the new event in a natural way in your language. In some languages, it is natural to begin a new part of the story with a time word. Here are some other ways to translate this:

After that
-or-
And (English Standard Version)

they came: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as came is literally “come.” It can also be translated as “arrived.” Use a verb that is natural in your language.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

they walked to
-or-
they arrived at
-or-
they reached (Revised English Bible)

they: The word they refers to Jesus and his disciples.

a place called Gethsemane: Gethsemane was the name of a place on the Mount of Olives where there were many olive trees. People had planted these trees and continued to care for them.

The Gospel of John refers to Gethsemane as a garden. So here is one way to translate this:

They went to a garden called Gethsemane.

If the word “garden” in your language refers primarily to a vegetable garden, it may be better not to use that word.

14:32b

Jesus told His disciples: In this part of the verse the phrase His disciples does not refer to all the disciples. In 14:33a Jesus told Peter, James, and John to go with him apart from the other eight disciples. This implies that he told the others to sit down in a particular place. In some languages it may be necessary to indicate that Jesus was not speaking to all of his disciples here. For example:

Jesus said to some of his disciples

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.

Sit here while I pray: Here Jesus told some of his disciples to sit and wait for him while he prayed. Express this request in an appropriate way in your language. In some languages it may be natural in this request to address the disciples as “friends,” or “my disciples.” For example:

Friends, as for you,(plur) sit(plur) here. I will go farther and pray.
-or-
Stay(plur) here, my disciples. As for me, I will go farther and pray.

while I pray: In this context the phrase while I pray implies “until I finish praying.” Another way to say this is:

Sit(plur) here. I will go pray.

pray: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as pray means “speak to God.” Some languages use different words to refer to specific kinds of prayer, such as requests, thanks, or praise. If your language has different words for pray, here you should use the word or phrase that means “request” or “ask.” For example:

Ask/Beg God
-or-
Request from/of God

Avoid a term that may imply magical or meaningless words.

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