formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

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 his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.

In Nepali translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and other people with the medium honorific pronoun timīlē (तिमीले) or timīlēharū (तिमीलेहरू). His disciples respond with a high honorific pronoun. (Source: Chitra Chhetri in The Bible Translator 2009, p. 73ff. )

In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.

See also formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese).

complete verse (Matthew 13:16)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 13:16:

  • Uma: “Yesus also said to his disciples: ‘But you, no kidding how blessed you are, because you have seen what I do, and you have heard my teaching.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But as for you, you are better off,’ said Isa, ‘for you recognise what you see and you understand what you hear.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus said again, ‘But as for you, your happiness is great because you know how to look and you know how to listen.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then Jesus continued saying, ‘But as for you, you are fortunate because you can-see and can-hear.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But as for you, you can really be happy because it’s like you can see and hear, and you can understand these truths.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Yet you have encountered the good fortune, because concerning what you see, you have understood it. The word you have heard you know about it.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

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. )

Translation commentary on Matthew 13:16

The Isaiah citation ends with verse 15, and some languages have to indicate this. One way is to begin verse 16 with “Jesus continued by saying.”

A parallel to verses 16-17 is found in Luke 10.23-24, where Jesus congratulates his disciples because of their good fortune in living in the promised Messianic Age. The wording in the two passages is slightly different.

Blessed in this context can be “fortunate” or expressed as a sentence such as “God has been very good to you” or “God has blessed you.” These examples show that the one who blessed them was God himself.

Your eyes: in Greek the pronoun your is placed in an emphatic position in the sentence, to show contrast. Good News Translation attempts to transfer this same emphasis by restructuring “As for you.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates the entire verse “But you should rejoice, since your eyes can see and your ears can hear.”

To say that the eyes and ears are blessed is certainly possible, as “Your eyes and ears are indeed fortunate” or “God has blessed your eyes and ears.” However, it is not so much the eyes and ears that are blessed as the disciples themselves. Good News Translation shows this clearly with “how fortunate you are!” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, cited above, makes this clear, too.

Note that in this verse see and hear really mean “can see” and “can hear.”

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 13:16

13:16a

The quote from Isaiah finished at the end of 13:15g. In this verse, Jesus began talking to the disciples.

Here are some ways to make this clear:

As for you, (Good News Translation)
-or-

⌊Then Jesus said to his disciples,⌋

But: There is a contrast here. The contrast is between the Jewish people described in the quote in 14b–15g and the disciples in 16a–b. The Berean Standard Bible indicates this contrast with the conjunction But.

blessed are your eyes because they see: This clause means that the disciples are blessed because they can see the truth. They are not like other Jews who look at things but do not see/understand them.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

God has blessed you, because your eyes can see (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
You are blessed because you can see

blessed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as blessed refers to the good situation/condition that a person is in when a superior person does something good to him. When God does something good to a human being and is kind to him, that person is in a good situation. He is “blessed,” “fortunate,” and “favored.”

Here are some ways to translate blessed:

Favored/fortunate
-or-

⌊God⌋ favors/approves
-or-
Joyful/desirable is the situation of
-or-
How good it is for

This word does not primarily refer to a feeling. However, a person in this good situation will frequently have good feelings like happiness and joy. Do not use a word that only refers to material prosperity or physical health. Do not use a word that refers only to being lucky. This word first occurs in 5:3a. See also bless, Meaning 2, in the Glossary.

13:16b

and your ears because they hear: Some words from 13:16a are implied but not repeated here. Here is the complete clause:

and ⌊blessed are⌋ your ears, for they hear

This clause means that the disciples are blessed because they can hear and understand the truth. They are not like other Jews who hear things but do not understand them.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

and your ears can hear (Contemporary English Version)

-or-

and hear

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