The phrase that is translated in English as “rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine” is translated into Fuyug as “thinking of the 99 he was happy, thinking of the lost one he was very happy.”
truly truly - I tell you
complete verse (Matthew 18:13)
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 18:13:
- Mairasi: “I will tell you that when he himself sees/finds him he himself will have more good liver [joy] about that one domba [sheep] which he just found but less [joy] about those ninety-nine domba, those which were not lost.” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
- Uma: “And when he finds it again, truly I say to you his joy is greater rejoicing in that one sheep than the ninety-nine sheep that were not lost.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “Truly I tell you, when he finds it, he is really happy. He is happier about that one than about the ninety-nine that did not go astray.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I tell you that when he finds it, the one really makes him happy, not the ninety-nine that weren’t lost.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “What I say to you is true that when he finds the one that was lost, his happiness will be greater than his happiness with the ninety-nine that did not get lost.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “What I will say to you is really true, that when he finds it, he will be much happier over this one, more that over those ninety nine who didn’t go astray.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “When he will find it, then he will rejoice more about finding the one sheep which was lost than the ninety-nine sheep which didn’t get lost.” (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. )
Translation commentary on Matthew 18:13
If he finds it can also be translated here as “When he finds it,” if that is better in the receptor language.
Truly, I say to you (first introduced in 6.2) translates the same formula used in verse 3. Here it serves to emphasize the words of Jesus which follow.
He rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray: for readers who already understand the intention of the parable, this statement will make sense, but for others this will not be the case, for it will not seem logical. Ninety-nine sheep are certainly worth more than any one sheep, and no sensible shepherd would leave a large number of sheep at the mercy of predators in order to look for one lost sheep. In the interpretation and translation of these words, two things should be kept in mind: (1) the parable represents an intended exaggeration, introduced for the sake of emphasis; and (2) the emphasis in the parable is upon a specific event, the recovery of a lost sheep, in contrast to the usual circumstances in which all the sheep remain safely within the fold. The meaning may then be stated “A shepherd who has a hundred sheep is happy when ninety-nine of them do not get lost. But what really makes him happy is when he finds the one sheep that did get lost.” Or “A shepherd is happy when ninety-nine of his sheep do not wander away and get lost. But what really makes him happy is when he finds the one that did get lost.” Another possibility is “The joy that man has because he found that one sheep is much more than the joy he had because of the other ninety-nine who didn’t get lost.”
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 .
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