Jesus heals a boy

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complete verse (Matthew 17:14)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 17:14:

  • Uma: “When Yesus with his three disciples returned and met the crowds, there was a man who came and kneeled in front of him and said to him:” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When Isa and company returned to the crowds, a man came prostrating/bowing down before Isa asking for help, he said,” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when they arrived to the many people, there was a person who came up to Jesus and knelt to him.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When they had come-downhill, they met many people. One of them who was a man, he approached Jesus and knelt in front of him.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When those four reached their companions, there were many people there again. A man approached Jesus and bowed down in front of him.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “When Jesus arrived to where the people were, there came to him a man who kneeled and said:” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

before / in the sight of / presence of (God) (Japanese honorifics)

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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 (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-mae (御前) or “before (God)” in the referenced verses. In some cases in can also be used in reference to being before a king, such as in 1 Samuel 16:16.

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

See also presence (Japanese honorifics) and before you / to you.

Translation commentary on Matthew 17:14

Mark’s introduction to the narrative (9.14-16) is considerably longer than that of Matthew (17.14) or Luke (9.37).

And when they came to the crowd: since a new section begins here, it may be advisable to identify by name the persons involved: “When Jesus and his disciples returned to the crowd” or “When Jesus and his disciples came back down the mountain to where the crowd was.”

A man came up to him: Good News Translation identifies him as Jesus, though it seems better to introduce him at the beginning of this verse; however, if that is not done, then Jesus should definitely be marked by name at this point in the narrative. In some languages came up to him will more naturally be “went up to him” or “approached Jesus.”

Kneeling translates a participle dependent upon the main verb came. The receptor language will determine the particular form of these two verb forms; Good News Translation has “… came to Jesus, knelt before him.” Some translators will start a new sentence: “… approached Jesus. He knelt before Jesus and said.”

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 .