The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “messenger” in English is translated in Noongar as moort yana-waangki or “person walk-talk” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
complete verse (Matthew 11:10)
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 11:10:
- Uma: “Because he is the one who prepares the hearts of the people to receive me, like was written in the Holy Book long ago. God said: ‘This one is my messenger/sent-one, I command him to come ahead of You (sing.), to prepare your (sing.) road.’ ‘” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “For Yahiya is the person written about in the holy-book, it says there, ‘God said, I send my messenger ahead of you in order to prepare your way.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “for John is also the fulfillment of the prophesied word of God because God said, ‘This is the person that I will send. I will cause him to go ahead of you so that he might clean your way.’ ‘” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “Because Juan is what the written word of God is telling-about that says, ‘I will send someone to go-ahead of you (sing.) to prepare the path-you-(sing.)-will-take.’ ‘” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “Because this Juan is the one being referred to in the word of God which was written, which says, ‘It’s true, there is someone whom I will send to go ahead of you (sing.), for he will make ready where you will walk.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “This John is the messenger spoken about in the Holy Book, which says: ‘I will send my messenger to go ahead of where you go. He will prepare for your coming,’ it says.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
For the Old Testament quote, see Malachi 3:1.
1st person pronoun referring to God (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 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”.
addressing God
Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed.
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Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or modern 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.
In these verses, in which humans address God, the informal, familiar pronoun is used that communicates closeness.
Voinov notes that “in the Tuvan Bible, God is only addressed with the informal pronoun. No exceptions. An interesting thing about this is that I’ve heard new Tuvan believers praying with the formal form to God until they are corrected by other Christians who tell them that God is close to us so we should address him with the informal pronoun. As a result, the informal pronoun is the only one that is used in praying to God among the Tuvan church.”
In Gbaya, “a superior, whether father, uncle, or older brother, mother, aunt, or older sister, president, governor, or chief, is never addressed in the singular unless the speaker intends a deliberate insult. When addressing the superior face to face, the second person plural pronoun ɛ́nɛ́ or ‘you (pl.)’ is used, similar to the French usage of vous.
Accordingly, the translators of the current version of the Gbaya Bible chose to use the plural ɛ́nɛ́ to address God. There are a few exceptions. In Psalms 86:8, 97:9, and 138:1, God is addressed alongside other “gods,” and here the third person pronoun o is used to avoid confusion about who is being addressed. In several New Testament passages (Matthew 21:23, 26:68, 27:40, Mark 11:28, Luke 20:2, 23:37, as well as in Jesus’ interaction with Pilate and Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well) the less courteous form for Jesus is used to indicate ignorance of his position or mocking.” (Source Philip Noss)
In the most recent Manchu translation of 1835 (a revision of an earlier edition from 1822), God is never addressed with a pronoun but with “father” (ama /ᠠᠮᠠ) instead. Chengcheng Liu (in this post on the Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology blog ) explains: “In Manchu tradition, as in Chinese etiquette, second-person pronouns could be considered disrespectful when speaking to superiors or spiritual beings. Manchu Shamanist prayers avoided si [‘you’] and sini [‘your’] for this very reason. To use them for God would be, in Lipovzoff’s [one of the two translators] words, ‘the most uncouth and indecent way to speak to the Almighty — as if He were a servant or slave.’ There was also a grammatical problem. In Manchu, si and sini could refer to both singular and plural subjects. For a faith that insisted on the singularity of God, this was potentially confusing. By contrast, repeating ama removed any ambiguity.”
In Dutch, Afrikaans, Gronings, and Western Frisian translations, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.
See also formal pronoun: disciples addressing Jesus, female second person singular pronoun in Psalms.
Sung version of Matthew 11
Translation commentary on Matthew 11:10
Jesus now appeals to Scripture in support of his affirmation that John is more than a prophet.
Of whom it is written is similar to the earlier quotation formulas (see 2.5). Both Good News Translation and Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition introduce God as the speaker of the words quoted from Scripture, and Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition translates: “John is the one of whom it speaks in the holy Scriptures: ‘Here is my messenger, says God….’ ”
Translators will need to find a natural way to introduce this quotation. Here are some other suggestions: “The man you saw is the one that God was speaking about in the Scriptures when he said…” and “God’s Scriptures were speaking about this man in the place it says….” Good News Translation is also a useful model.
Translators who use “Scriptures” should refer to comments on 4.4.
For comments on Behold, see 1.20. It is a word that can be dropped or rendered by “I tell you” or “Look,” or some other expression which will catch the attention of the audience.
Note that my messenger means “God’s messenger.” Hence the introduction of “God” in these examples. Readers must not think it is Jesus’ messenger being referred to.
The Scripture quotation derives from the Greek text of Malachi 3.1, but Matthew’s wording differs in at least two respects from that of the Septuagint. (1) Before thy face (Good News Translation “ahead of you”) is not found in the Malachi passage, though it does appear in the Septuagint of Exodus 23.20. (2) In place of “before me” (a reference to God), Matthew substitutes before thee (Good News Translation “for you”), that is, “before Jesus, the Messiah.” In the original Malachi text (and also in Exo 23.20) the messenger was to go ahead of God and prepare the way for him. Matthew, however, reinterprets the text to mean that God now sends his messenger (John the Baptist) to prepare the way for the Messiah (Jesus). This is what gives John his unique position. He is a prophet, but his role supersedes that of other prophets in that he is the one who introduces the Messianic Age.
Before thy face is usually translated as in Good News Translation. It does not mean literally “in front of your face” but rather refers to going ahead.
To prepare thy way before thee means “to get your road ready for you (to travel on)” or “to open the road so you can travel on it.” If “road” would be understood only as a paved road, then translators should retain way, of course.
Even though “you” does refer to the Messiah, Jesus, most translators prefer not to say “Jesus” specifically. At most, if the sentence can not be understood otherwise, translators may say “before you, the Messiah.”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 11:10
11:10a
This is the one about whom it is written: This clause refers to John the Baptist. He is the person about whom the following clauses (11:10b–c) are written.
The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as it is written is passive. God told the prophet Malachi about John, and Malachi wrote down God’s words. He did this four hundred years before the time of John.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
• Use a passive verb. For example:
⌊John⌋ is the person about whom it is written:
-or-
• Use an active verb. For example:
This is the one about whom ⌊the prophet⌋ wrote ⌊when God said⌋
-or-
⌊John⌋ is the person whom ⌊the prophet⌋ wrote about ⌊long ago⌋
11:10b–c
The words of 11:10b–c refer to the prophecy in Malachi 3:1. Many years before John the Baptist was born, Malachi wrote down the prophecy that God told him. John the Baptist fulfilled that prophecy.
11:10b
Behold: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Behold indicates that the speaker will say something important or surprising, and he wants people to listen carefully to it. If you have a word in your language that emphasizes the importance of the words that follow, you can use it here. Here are some examples:
Listen!
-or-
Pay attention!
-or-
This is important!
-or-
Take note of this!
Many English versions do not translate this word.
I will send My messenger ahead of You: In many cultures at that time, a king would choose a person to go as his messenger to tell people that he was coming. The messenger would tell the people to prepare for the king’s coming.
In this context, the pronouns I and My refer to God. The pronoun You refers to the Christ/Messiah. God indicated that he would send a messenger to tell people to prepare for the Christ/Messiah who was coming. Jesus implied that John was that messenger.
ahead of You: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible literally translates as ahead of You means “before you.” In this context, this phrase may indicate either or both of the following options:
(a) I will send my messenger before ⌊I send⌋ you.
(b) I will send my messenger to go in front of you.
In some languages there may be a natural way to translate this clause so that both meanings are possible. If you must choose one of these meanings, choose option (a).
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
before your face (English Standard Version)
-or-
to go ahead of you
-or-
to go ahead of where you go
11:10c
who will prepare Your way before You: This clause is a metaphor. In this metaphor, preparing people’s hearts for the coming of the Messiah is compared to preparing a road for the coming of the king. (This metaphor is also used in Mark 1:2–3, Luke 3:4–6, and Luke 7:27.)
Here are some other ways to translate this metaphor:
• Keep the metaphor. For example:
and he will prepare your way before you (Revised English Bible)
-or-
to open the way for you (Good News Translation)
-or-
he will repair the road before you come
• Put the meaning of the metaphor in a footnote. For example, here is a sample footnote:
These words mean that John will prepare people’s hearts for the coming of the Christ/Messiah.
• Change the metaphor to a simile. For example:
He will ⌊prepare people’s hearts⌋ for your coming ⌊like a person⌋ prepares the road ⌊before a king comes⌋.
• Translate the meaning of the metaphor. For example:
to tell people to prepare themselves for your coming
-or-
get the people ready to accept/receive you
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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
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