able to do (Japanese honorifics)

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. In these verses, the concept of “able to do” is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-deki (おでき), combining “able to do” (deki) with the respectful prefix o-.

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

help (Japanese honorifics)

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. The concept of “help” is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-tasuke (お助け), combining “help” (tasuke) with the respectful prefix o-.

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

Japanese benefactives (otasuke)

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 choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

Here, otasuke (お助け) or “help” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Mark 9:22

Exegesis:

pollakis (cf. 5.4) ‘often.’

kai eis pur … kai eis hudata either ‘both into fire … and into water’ or ‘even into fire … and into water.’

ebalen (cf. 2.22) ‘he threw,’ ‘he hurled,’ ‘he cast.’

hina ‘in order to,’ ‘so that’: expresses purpose.

apolesē (cf. 1.24) ‘he might destroy,’ ‘he might kill.’

all’ ei ti dunē ‘but if you can do anything,’ ‘but if you are at all able.’ Cf. the leper’s ean thelēs ‘if you will’ 1.40.

boēthēson (9.24) ‘help,’ ‘aid’: the imperative expresses a petition, not a command.

splagchnistheis (cf. 1.41) ‘being merciful,’ ‘having pity.’ The participle takes its mode from that of the main verb, and so is here imperatival: ‘Be merciful and help!’ (cf. similar case in 6.11).

Translation:

Cast him into is to an extent a figurative expression, equivalent in some languages to ‘caused him to fall into.’

Into the water must be translated in Copainalá Zoque as ‘under the water,’ since just throwing him into a small puddle of shallow water would not kill him. The purpose was obviously to drown him, and hence ‘under’ is required.

See pity 1.41 and mercy 5.19. In this type of context Huastec reads ‘suffer with me’ and Piro has ‘see me with sorrow.’ The essential ingredient of this type of pity is genuine empathy.

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 9:22

9:22a

It often throws him: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as It…throws him here means that the spirit had forcefully caused the boy to fall. It does not mean that the spirit threw the boy in the way in which a person throws a stone. It might be more natural in your language to use the word “fall” here. For example:

It has often caused him to fall

into the fire or into the water: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as into the fire or into the water are literally “both into fire and into water.” The Greek grammar emphasizes both fire and water. For example:

both into the fire and into the water (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
not only into the fire, but into the water as well

9:22b

But: The word But indicates the contrast between 9:22a and 9:22b. There is a contrast between what the demon was doing to the boy and what the father hoped. He hoped that Jesus could force the demon to leave.

In some languages it is not natural to contrast a statement with a request. If that is true in your language, you may leave this contrast implicit. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:

Please have pity and help us if you can!

Indicate this contrast in a way that is natural in your language.

if You can do anything: The phrase if You can do anything indicates that the father was not sure that Jesus could help the boy. He asked for any kind of help for the boy, even if it only helped him a little.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

if you are able to do anything (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
If you can do anything for him (New Century Version)

9:22c

have compassion on us: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as have compassion means “to have pity.”

Here are some other ways to translate this:

Have mercy on us (New Living Translation)
-or-
have compassion on us (NET Bible)
-or-
feel sorry for us

us: The pronoun us probably refers to the man and his son. But it may refer to the man’s entire family.

© 2008 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

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.