Avaric uses the so-called evidential verbal forms. Such forms are used when the speaker himself has not witnessed a given action or event, but has come to know about it indirectly or by report.
So, for example, when in the episode of the rich young man it is said that “he had great wealth,” this information, which was acquired by the teller from hearsay rather than from actual experience, can be expressed by means of these evidential verb forms. In addition, evidential verbs are used in the text of parables, being the standard form for reported speech in texts describing what the teller has not actually witnessed.
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 19:22:
Uma: “When he heard that, he was upset/sad, and he went away, because his goods were many.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “When the man heard this he went away sad/grieved, because he had many riches/possessions.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when the young person heard this, he went home and his breath was very painful because he had great wealth.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “When he heard that which Jesus had said, he left them, sorrowing/mourning, because he was extremely rich.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “When that young man heard that, he went being grieved, because he was really wealthy.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “But when the man heard the word he was told, he was very sad, because he was a very rich man. So he went away.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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®).
This refers to what Jesus has just said, and can be rendered if necessary as “these words.”
The Greek participle translated sorrowful (Good News Translation “sad”) comes from the same verb as that used of the disciples in 26.22. It also is used of Jesus during his experience in Gethsemane (26.37). It may have to be expressed by a separate verb, as in “he went away and was very sad,” or better, “he became very sad and went away.” Barclay has “he went sadly away.”
For he had great possessions (Good News Translation “because he was very rich”) is the sole reason given for the man’s rejection of Jesus. Possessions is not the same noun used in verse 21. Although it may be used of possessions of any type, it later came to have the more restricted meaning of “piece of ground” (see Acts 5.1). Here it is best taken in the broadest sense possible, though it is quite possible that the man’s possessions consisted primarily of land. Translators can say, “because he owned many things” or “because he owned a lot of property.”
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 .
When the young man heard this: The word this refers to Jesus’ words in 19:21.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
When the young man heard these/those words
-or-
When he heard this/that
he went away in sorrow: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as in sorrow refers to an ongoing, deep grieving.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
he went away grieving (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
he left and he was very sad
19:22b
because: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as because introduces the reason why the young man went away sad.
Here are some other ways to translate this conjunction:
for (English Standard Version)
-or-
The reason was that
he had great wealth: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as great wealth refers to a large number of things that the young man owned. Possessions are things like money, land, houses, clothing, etc.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
he had many possessions (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
he was very rich (Good News Translation)
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.