The Greek transliteration of the Aramaic kanan (קַנָאַן) has the same meaning than the Greek zēlōtḗs (Ζηλωτὴν) (see Zealot) but is often transliterated itself in English Bible translations as “Cananaean” or similar. Some modern English translations, however, translate the Aramaic form identical to the way they translate the Greek term in Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13. The Good News Bible (publ. 1966/1976), for instance, uses “Patriot” for both and the Contemporary English Version (publ. 1995) uses “Eager One.”
Likewise, Yakan translates it as “challenger” in both cases and Kankanaey as “Patriot because he had-concern-for his country.” (Source: Back translations)
In Iyojwa’ja Chorote, the translation for the Aramaic term is “one who fought against the Romans who had made themselves chiefs of the Jews” (and for the Greek: “who belonged the parties of the Zealots.”) (Source: Roger Omanson in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 416ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 19:4:
Uma: “Yesus answered: ‘Remember what is written in the Holy Book long ago: first the Creator created a man and a woman.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Isa answered, he said, ‘Did you not read in the holy-book that in the beginning when God created mankind, he created them man and woman” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus answered, ‘Evidently you haven’t read the written saying of God which says, ‘Long ago when he created everything, the Creator made man and woman. Because of this a man leaves his father and mother and married a woman, and then the two become one.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Jesus answered saying, ‘Did you not read what was written in God’s word concerning when-he-created people? What is written, it says that the way of the creator at the first was that he made a man and a woman.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Jesus replied, saying, ‘Haven’t you yet read what is written which is the word of God which says, ‘The origin of man was that they were created by God, female and male.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Jesus said: ‘Haven’t you read the word written in the Holy Book about when God made the world, he made the man and he made the woman?” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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, Jesus is addressing religious leaders with the formal pronoun, showing respect. Compare that with the typical address with the informal pronoun of the religious leaders.
The only two exceptions to this are Luke 7:40/43 and 10:26 where Jesus uses the informal pronoun as a response to the sycophantic use of the formal pronoun by the religious leaders (see formal pronoun: religious leaders addressing Jesus).
In most Dutch translations, the same distinctions are made, with the exception of Luke 10:26 where Jesus is using the formal pronoun. In Afrikaans and Western Frisian the informal pronoun is used throughout.
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 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).
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 rare (られ) 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, kotae-rare-ru (答えられる) or “answer” is used.
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, sōzōs-are-ru (創造される) or “create/make” is used.
Have you not read is transformed into the more natural question form “Haven’t you read” by Good News Translation, and “the scripture” is introduced as the object of the verb “read.” The question may also take the form of a statement: “Surely you have read” or “Surely you know” (Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition).
He who made them is translated “the one who created them” by Phillips, and “the Creator” by Good News Translation, New English Bible, An American Translation, and New International Version. He who made them from the beginning made them male and female appears in Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition as “In the beginning God created man and woman.” Translators can also consider “Surely you have read (in God’s Scriptures) that in the beginning when God created people he made both men and women” and “Haven’t you read God’s word that teaches that in the beginning the Creator made people male and female?”
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 .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.