complete verse (Matthew 15:16)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 15:16:

  • Uma: “Yesus said: ‘Do you [plural] still not understand!” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Isa said, ‘You also do not understand yet?” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Then Jesus said, ‘Don’t you really yet understand?” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Jesus said, ‘You also, do you not yet understand?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “‘What, even you (pl.),’ said Jesus, ‘don’t you yet have understanding/wisdom?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Jesus said: ‘Don’t you all understand about the word I speak either?” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

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

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 Matthew 15:16

He is identified as “Jesus” by Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch. The choice between a pronoun and a proper name will depend upon the expectations of the receptor language.

Are you also still without understanding? is in the form of a rhetorical question with the adverb still in emphatic position. Good News Translation shifts to a statement: “You are still no more intelligent than the others.” The contrast is between Jesus’ disciples and the rest of the people, not between Peter and the remaining disciples, as Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation might be interpreted to suggest. In the Greek sentence the pronoun you (plural) is explicitly employed, thus intimating that it also is emphatic. It is possible to translate “You, my own disciples, are still….”

Without understanding (an adjective in Greek) is translated “no more intelligent than” by Good News Translation. In some translations there is a very effective shift to a verb construction: “unable to understand” (Barclay), “not … yet understand” (Jerusalem Bible), and “incapable of understanding” (New American Bible). Elsewhere in the New Testament this adjective is used only in Mark 7.18; Romans 1.21, 31; 10.19.

The rhetorical question and the use of without understanding make Jesus’ response quite harsh. Translators may say “You are my disciples, and you are still so unintelligent,” “How can you, my own disciples, be so stupid?” or “You are my disciples, but you still have as little understanding as they.”

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 .