Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding Jesus).
Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.
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 Translator2002, 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, individual or several disciples address Jesus with the formal pronoun, expressing respect. Compare this to how that address changes after the resurrection.
In most Dutch as well as in Western Frisian, Gronings, and Afrikaans translations, the disciples address Jesus before and after the resurrection with the formal pronoun.
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 19:27:
Uma: “From there, Petrus spoke up too: ‘But we, we have left behind all/everything in order to follow you (sing.). What reward/return will we receive?'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “So-then Petros spoke, ‘Look at us,’ he said, ‘we have left everything and we are following you. What is our reward?'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Then Peter said, ‘Look, we’ve left all of our possessions so that we might follow you. What will be paid to us?'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Then Pedro said, ‘And as for us (excl.) now? What will we (excl.) enjoy/gain? Because we (excl.) left everything so-that we (excl.) would become your (sing.) disciples.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Pedro spoke, saying, ‘Well as for us (excl.), who have left everything and followed/obeyed you now, well what will be given-in-reward to us?'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Peter said to Jesus: ‘As for us, we have left everything we owned to follow you. What is coming to us?'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )
Following is a hand colored stencil print on momigami of Peter by Sadao Watanabe (1970):
Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe. For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.
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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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, goran (ご覧) or “see/behold/look” (itself a combination of “behold/see” [ran] and the honorific prefix go- — see behold / look / see (Japanese honorifics)) is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”
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 to do this is through the usage of lexical honorific forms, i.e., completely different words, as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
In these verses, itadaku (いただく), a respectful form of morau (もらう) or “receive” is used. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Lo (Good News Translation “Look”) translates a Greek particle traditionally rendered “Behold.” Its function is to serve as an attention-getter. Since the pronoun we is emphatic in the Greek text, Jerusalem Bible translates particle plus pronoun as “What about us?” Other translations (New English Bible, Barclay) do not render the particle by a specific word, assuming that the context itself will convey the intended impact. In Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch the word is represented by “You know.”
Have left everything and followed you is also the translation of a number of other English versions (Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, Phillips). New English Bible and Barclay translate “have left everything to become your followers,” thereby specifically indicating that the verb “follow” is used here of discipleship. See further comment at 4.20.
What then shall we have? means “What will we get for this?” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). This question in not found in either Mark (10.28) or Luke (18.28), but for Matthew it serves as a transition to Jesus’ answer of verse 28 (also absent from Mark and Luke). Peter is asking what reward they will receive for their sacrifice, and the question can be rendered “What will God give us?” or “What reward will we receive?”
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 .
“Look,” Peter replied: In Greek, the phrase Peter replied is more literally “Then answering, Peter said to him” and occurs at the beginning of the verse. Peter did not answer a question. He responded to the whole situation concerning the rich young man.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
Then Peter said to him (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Then Peter said (Revised English Bible)
Look: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible here translates as Look is “Behold” in many English versions. This word draws attention to what Peter wanted to say.
Here is another way to translate this word:
See (English Standard Version)
Some English versions are like the New International Version and do not translate this word. In some languages, it may not be necessary to translate this word either.
we have left everything: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as have left means “have left behind” or “have abandoned.” Peter did not just mean that they had moved away from their things. They had let go of them.
Here is another way to translate this clause:
we’ve given up everything (New Living Translation (2004))
we: In Greek, the pronoun we is emphasized. Peter seemed to want to contrast himself and the other disciples with the rich young man who did not want to sell his possessions. If possible, emphasize this pronoun in your translation. For example:
as for us, we have left everything
-or-
What about us? We have left everything (Revised English Bible)
everything: This is the same word as the word translated as “all things” in 19:26c. It is very general and implies that the disciples no longer possessed anything. Peter probably exaggerated a bit by saying that they had abandoned everything.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
everything ⌊we owned⌋
-or-
all ⌊that we owned⌋
to follow You: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as follow is the same word as in 19:21d. Here Peter used this word in a figurative sense. He meant not only that they walked around with Jesus. He meant that they became his disciples.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
to be your followers (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
to follow you and be your disciples
19:27b
What then will there be for us: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as will there be for us refers to what the disciples can expect to gain from abandoning everything they had.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
What will we get? (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
So what will we get out of it?
-or-
So what will be our reward?
then: This is the same word as in 19:25b. It introduces a conclusion based on what Peter just said. Here it is not a time word.
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