addressing one’s mother humbly / neutrally in Japanese

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 important aspect of addressing someone else in one’s or someone else’s family is by selecting the correct word when referring to them. One way to do this is through the usage of an appropriate title within a conversation as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

When the speaker humbly refers to his or her mother in the presence of respected interlocutor(s), haha (母) is often used as in the case of Abraham referring to his mother before Abimelech (Genesis 20:12). This form is very appropriately chosen as Abraham is speaking to Abimelech the king of Gerar. While haha can carry this humbling effect in reference to the speaker’s mother, in some types of dialogues/utterances such as in poetry (Song 3:4) and proverbial teachings (e.g. “honor your father and mother” in Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16 et al.), haha is used without the humbling effect.

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

complete verse (Mark 7:10)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 7:10:

  • Uma: “In the Law of Musa is written like this: ‘We must honor our father and mother.’ And ‘the one who curses his father or mother must be killed.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “For God spoke hep in the law which he gave to Musa for the people, he said, ‘Honor your mother-father.’ And, ‘Whoever speaks bad of/to his mother or father, he should be killed.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The word of God which Moses commanded you long ago says, ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ He also commanded, ‘he who speaks evil to his father or mother must be killed.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because what God had-Moses -write, it says, ‘Honor your (sing.) father and your (sing.) mother,’ and ‘If someone speaks-evil-of his father or his mother, it-is-necessary that he die.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For like it is said in this law of God which was written by Moises, ‘Honor your (sing.) father and your mother,’ and ‘Whoever will speak evil to his father or mother, or speak-evil-behind-their-backs, what’s fitting for him is to be killed.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing religious leaders

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 Translator 2002, 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, Jesus is addressing religious leaders with the formal pronoun, showing respect. Compare that with the typical address with the informal pronoun of the religious leaders.

The only two exceptions to this are Luke 7:40/43 and 10:26 where Jesus uses the informal pronoun as a response to the sycophantic use of the formal pronoun by the religious leaders (see formal pronoun: religious leaders addressing Jesus).

In most Dutch translations, the same distinctions are made, with the exception of Luke 10:26 where Jesus is using the formal pronoun. In Afrikaans and Western Frisian the informal pronoun is used throughout.

Moses

The name that is transliterated as “Moses” in English is signed in Spanish Sign Language and Polish Sign Language in accordance with the depiction of Moses in the famous statue by Michelangelo (see here ). (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff.)


“Moses” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

American Sign Language also uses the sign depicting the horns but also has a number of alternative signs (see here).

In French Sign Language, a similar sign is used, but it is interpreted as “radiance” (see below) and it culminates in a sign for “10,” signifying the 10 commandments:


“Moses” in French Sign Language (source )

The horns that are visible in Michelangelo’s statue are based on a passage in the Latin Vulgate translation (and many Catholic Bible translations that were translated through the 1950ies with that version as the source text). Jerome, the translator, had worked from a Hebrew text without the niqquds, the diacritical marks that signify the vowels in Hebrew and had interpreted the term קרו (k-r-n) in Exodus 34:29 as קֶ֫רֶן — keren “horned,” rather than קָרַו — karan “radiance” (describing the radiance of Moses’ head as he descends from Mount Sinai).

Even at the time of his translation, Jerome likely was not the only one making that decision as this recent article alludes to.

In Swiss-German Sign Language it is translated with a sign depicting holding a staff. This refers to a number of times where Moses’s staff is used in the context of miracles, including the parting of the sea (see Exodus 14:16), striking of the rock for water (see Exodus 17:5 and following), or the battle with Amalek (see Exodus 17:9 and following).


“Moses” in Swiss-German Sign Language, source: DSGS-Lexikon biblischer Begriffe , © CGG Schweiz

In Estonian Sign Language Moses is depicted with a big beard. (Source: Liina Paales in Folklore 47, 2011, p. 43ff.)

See also Moses and Elijah during the Transfiguration.

Translation commentary on Mark 7:10

Exegesis:

The first O.T. passage quoted is from Ex. 20.12 (cf. Deut. 5.16); the second is from Ex. 21.17.

tima (cf. v. 6) ‘you must honor.’

ho kakologōn (9.39) ‘he who reviles,’ ‘he who insults.’

thanatō teleutatō ‘with death he is to die,’ ‘he must certainly die’: for similar constructions denoting emphasis cf. 4.41; 5.42.

thanatos (9.1; 10.33; 13.12; 14.34, 64) ‘death.’

teleutaō (9.48) ‘come to an end,’ ‘die.’

Translation:

Honor is in this context primarily ‘love’ and ‘respect’ (Sayula Popoluca). In some languages the equivalent is ‘do good for’ (Shipibo-Conibo).

Speak evil of is not ‘to curse’ or ‘to cast a spell on.’ It is simply ‘to speak bad words about’ or ‘to speak bad to.’

Let him surely die must not be translated in the sense of ‘permit him to die’ (as in some translations) or ‘he will certainly die.’ It should be rendered to mean ‘he must be killed,’ ‘he must certainly be put to death,’ or ‘you must kill the one who speaks evil of his father or his mother.’

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 .