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.

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 8:12

Exegesis:

anastenaxas tō pneumati autou ‘sighing deeply in his spirit,’ ‘groaning inwardly.’

anastenazō (only here in the N.T.; cf. stenazō 7.34) ‘sigh deeply,’ ‘groan.’

tō pneumati autou (cf. 2.8) ‘in his spirit,’ ‘in himself.’

ti ‘why?’: so most translations and commentators. Black takes it to mean ‘how?’

genea (8.38; 9.19; 13.30) ‘race,’ ‘kind,’ ‘generation’: here used of the contemporaries of Jesus.

ei dothēsetai … sēmeion ‘if a sign shall be given’: a Hebraism indicating strong denial, ‘no sign shall be given.’ As Arndt & Gingrich point out, an unexpressed wish, or oath, is implied: ‘may this or that happen to me if….’ Only here and in the quotation from Ps. 95.11 in Heb. 3.11, 4.3, 5 does this idiom appear in the N.T.

Translation:

Spirit must not be translated in such a way as to imply (1) the Holy Spirit, (2) the spirit which lives on after death, or (3) a familiar spirit, or demon. (This last meaning has been unfortunately entirely too frequent in translations.) In many languages one can use ‘heart,’ ‘liver,’ ‘stomach,’ or some other emotional center of the personality.

Sighed in his spirit in San Mateo del Mar Huave is ‘to let out the air from his heart.’ In Copainalá Zoque the opposite action forms the basis of the figure, ‘he drew a breath in his heart.’

This generation is ‘the people now’ (Chol) or ‘those who are in space now’ (Tzeltal). In some instances it must be made clear that the Pharisees who posed the question are included in this group, e.g. ‘you people now living.’

Truly is often translated with one of two different syntactic relations (1) ‘I tell you the truth; no sign shall be…’ or (2) ‘I tell you, Certainly no sign shall be….’ That is to say, the adverb is related to the verb of speaking, as an assertion of the truth of the utterance, or combined with the object of the verb of speaking, namely as a statement about the certainty of the event described. The ultimate results are practically the same, though the receptor languages in question may require one or the other syntactic relationship.

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 8:12

8:12a

Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sighed deeply in His spirit is literally “having sighed-deeply in his spirit.” The words in His spirit indicate that Jesus sighed because of the strong emotions that he felt in his inner being. In this context, he sighed because he was feeling disturbed and disappointed over the Pharisees’ attitude. The Greek verb that is used here is a more intense form of the verb that was translated as “sighed deeply” in 7:34b.

In some languages a literal translation of the words in His spirit would wrongly imply that Jesus had another spirit that he was communicating with. In other languages it would sound unnatural. If this is true in your language, you may leave these words implicit. Be sure to communicate the idea of strong emotion in a way that is natural in your language.

8:12b

Why does this generation demand a sign?: This is a rhetorical question. Jesus asked this question to rebuke the Pharisees because they asked Jesus to perform a special miracle just to satisfy them. There are at least two ways to translate this rebuke:

• As a rhetorical question. For example, the New Century Version says:

Why do you people ask for a miracle as a sign?

• As a statement. For example:

You people should not be asking for a miraculous sign.

Use whichever form is most natural to express this rebuke in your language.

this generation: In this context, the phrase this generation refers to the adults who lived at the same time as Jesus. It does not refer only to the Pharisees who were arguing with him.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

the people of this day (Good News Bible)
-or-
these people (God’s Word)
-or-
you people of this generation

a sign: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sign is the same word that it translated as “sign” in 8:11b. It refers to the sign from heaven that the Pharisees demanded to see.

8:12c

Truly I tell you: Jesus used the phrase Truly I tell you to introduce a statement that he wanted to emphasize. It indicates that the statement was important and totally reliable, and that people should listen carefully to it. Jesus used this phrase eight times in Mark. Sometimes it introduces a serious warning or prediction. Here this phrase introduces the fact that Jesus refused to give the Pharisees a sign.

See how you translated this expression in 3:28a. In some languages you may need to translate the phrase differently in different contexts. Do not translate in a way that implies that Jesus had not been telling the truth at other times.

Here are some ways that English versions have translated the phrase in this context:

I can guarantee this truth: (God’s Word)
-or-
No, I tell you! (Good News Bible)
-or-
I assure you (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)
-or-
I can promise you that (Contemporary English Version)

8:12d

no sign will be given to this generation: The clause no sign will be given to this generation indicates that the adults who were alive at that time would not be given a miraculous sign. This clause is passive. Jesus was saying that he refused to perform a special miracle for the Pharisees. In some languages you may need to use an active verb and supply a subject. For example, the New Living Translation says:

I will not give this generation any such sign.

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