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 Translator2002, 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.
John addresses Jesus with the formal pronoun
Voinov explains: “This relationship is somewhat complicated. John and Jesus are relatives, John being the older. However, John recognizes Jesus as more important than himself, as the Messiah whose sandal straps he is not worthy to untie (Mark 1:7). At the same time, Jesus highly respects John, submitting to the inferior position by receiving John’s baptism, and later calling him the greatest among the prophets (Matt 11:7-15). In the Tuvan translation, we finally decided that the overall circumstances indicate that John addresses Jesus with the formal pronoun as a sign of respect.”
Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, Pickett and Cowan recommend the inclusive form (including Jesus).
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 11:3:
Uma: “‘Are You (sing.) really the Redeemer King who was promised by God? Or is there still another we are waiting for?’ They indeed went delivering Yohanes’ question to Yesus.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “When they were there, they asked if he was already the one who was foretold to come to the world or if there would be someone else that they should expect to come.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “‘Tell us plainly,’ said those messengers of John to Jesus, ‘are you the one of whom John spoke whose coming here to earth was prophesied, or is there someone else that we should expect?'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “to go inquire of Jesus, ‘Are you (sing.) the one God promised would come or is there another to be waited for?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “for he caused them to ask saying, ‘Are you that one who was promised who would be sent here or are we (excl.) to wait for another?'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “When they arrived, they said to Jesus: ‘Are you the Christ who must come, or are we to await another person?’ they said.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
The name that is transliterated as “Zerubbabel” or “Shealtiel” in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with a sign that combines “begotten” (the name means “begotten in Babylon”) and a reference that he led the first group that left the city of Babylon to build the second Temple in Jerusalem (see Ezra 3:8). (Source: Missão Kophós )
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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 to do this is through the usage of lexical honorific forms, i.e., completely different words, as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, oide ni naru (おいでになる), a respectful form of kuru (来る) or “come” is used.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
In the text, the subject of said is singular, referring to John, but in most languages it will be more natural to make “his disciples” of verse 2 the subject.
In all probability he who is to come is a technical term for the expected Messiah (see 3.11; also note Dan 7.13; Heb 10.37; Rev 1.4). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch makes this identification explicit, “Are you the Savior, the one who is to come…?” TOB’s footnote also indicates that this is a Messianic title.
The question Are you he who is to come is a little awkward in many languages. Some have rendered it “Are you the one who we were told would come (to save us)?” or “Are you the one we know God is going to send (to save us)?” Since John the Baptist had proclaimed such a person (see 3.11-12), some translations have followed Good News Translation and said “are you the one John said was going to come.”
Or shall we look for another? may be rendered “or have we got to wait for someone else?” (Jerusalem Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). In Acts 3.5 Good News Bible renders the same verb with the meaning “expect (something),” and in Acts 10.24 with the meaning “wait (for someone).” Elsewhere in Matthew the verb is found in 24.50.
Note that we does not refer only to John’s disciples but means the Jewish people in general. To avoid misunderstanding, some translators have said “we all” or “we Jews.”
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 .
to ask Him: This clause implies that the disciples left John and went to where Jesus was to ask the question. In some languages, it may be necessary to make some of this explicit. For example:
⌊When they arrived,⌋ they asked him
Are You the One who was to come: This is a real question. John’s disciples certainly asked Jesus this question in a polite way. In some languages, a literal translation of the question may sound impolite. It may be necessary to begin the question with a term of respect. For example:
⌊Master/Teacher,⌋ are you the one who is to come…?
-or-
⌊Please,⌋ are you the one who is to come…?
the One who was to come: In this context, the phrase the One who was to come refers to “the Christ.” The Old Testament prophets had said that the Christ would come. John too was a prophet. He said that the Christ would come and that Jesus was the Christ. But for some unknown reason, when he was in prison, he began to doubt that Jesus was the Christ.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
are you the one whom ⌊God said⌋ will come…?
-or-
are you the person whom ⌊we were told⌋ would come ⌊to save us⌋…?
-or-
⌊The prophets said that⌋ someone would come ⌊to save us⌋. Are you that person?
You may want to add a footnote to explain these words. Here is a sample footnote:
Based on Old Testament prophesies, the Jews were expecting God to send a special person to save them. This person was called “the Christ.” The words “the one who was to come” refer to the Christ.
11:3b
we: The pronoun we refers to all the Jews, not only John’s disciples. Many Jews expected the Christ to come and lead them to victory over the Romans. Jesus was not included in the pronoun we, because they were asking Jesus if he was the Christ.
look for someone else: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as look for means “expect” or “wait for.” The Jews were waiting for the person whom God had promised to send to them. This person was called “the Christ.” But many Jews were expecting the Christ to come and win earthly victory over their enemies. Jesus was not fulfilling those popular expectations.
Here are some other ways to translate this verb:
wait for another (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
expect someone else
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