truly truly - I tell you

The Greek that is often translated in English as “truly, truly, I tell you” or similar is translated in the Russian BTI translation (publ. 2015) as Поверьте Мне (Pover’te Mne) or “trust me.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

See also Amen.

kingdom (of God / heaven) (God's new world)

In the German Gute Nachricht (Good News) translation of 1982, this occurrence of the Greek term which is translated in most English versions of “kingdom (of God or heaven)” is translated with “God’s new world” (Gottes neue Welt).

For an explanation of the differentiated translation in German as well as translation choices in a number of languages, see Kingdom (of God / heaven).

prostitute

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The Greek, Latin, and Hebrew that is typically translated as “prostitute” in English (in some, mostly earlier translation also as “harlot” or “whore”) is translated in the 2024 revision of the inter-confessional Latvian Jauna Pārstrādāta latviešu Bībele as netikle or “hussy.” This replaced the previous translation mauka or “whore.” Nikita Andrejevs, editor of the Bible explains the previous and current translations: “The translators at the time felt that this strong word best described the thought contained in the main text. Many had objections, as it seemed that this word would not be the most appropriate for public reading in church.” (Source: Updated Bible published in Latvia ).

Other translations include:

  • Bariai: “a woman of the road” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “a woman who sells her body” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Uma: “a woman whose behavior is not appropriate” or “a loose woman” (source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “a bad woman” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “a woman who makes money through their reputation” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “a woman who makes money with her body” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “a woman whose womanhood is repeatedly-bought” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

See also Translation commentary on Genesis 34:31, Rahab, and prostitute oneself / play the prostitute.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Prostitution in the Bible .

tax collector

The Greek and Ge’ez that is translated as “tax collector” in English is translated in Tagbanwa as “money-grabbing official receivers of payment” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation) and in Noongar as mammarapa boya-barranginy or “people taking money” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation). Likewise, in Cashibo-Cacataibo, it is the “ones who take the money” (source: Bratcher / Nida 1961).

In Mairasi it is translated as “the people who collect money pertaining to head payment.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about tax collectors in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

See also Matthew.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Tax Collectors and Sinners .

complete verse (Matthew 21:31)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 21:31:

  • Uma: “From there, Yesus asked the Yahudi religion leaders, he said: ‘So, of those two children, who followed the commands of their father?’ The Yahudi leaders said: ‘The first.’ Yesus said: ‘Truly I say to you: sinners like tax collectors and women whose behavior is not appropriate, it is they whom God will receive to be his people/subjects in his Kingdom, not you.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then Isa said, ‘Which of them did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The older one.’ So-then Isa said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the sinful people like the tax collectors and the bad women, God will receive them before you.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Then said Jesus, ‘Who of these two is the one who obeyed their father’s command?’ And they said to Jesus, ‘It was the older.’ And Jesus said again, ‘The bad people like the tax collectors and the women who make money through their reputation, they are ahead of you, because God will accept them that he might rule them, not you.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “OK then,’ said Jesus, ‘which of these two fulfilled what their father wanted?’ ‘The older-brother of course,’ they said. ‘Right,’ said Jesus, ‘and this that I tell you is true that the characteristically-sinful people like the tax collectors and the prostitutes (lit. women whose womanhood can be bought), they will go-ahead of you to be added to God’s ruling.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well which of those two followed/obeyed the will of their father?’ ‘That older one,’ was their answer to Jesus. ‘What I will say to you is really true,’ said Jesus next, ‘that the money-grabbing official-receivers of payment and the women who make money with their bodies will go ahead of you in being able to become subjects of the kingdom of God.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “So now, which of the two sons did what his father ordered?’ The people answered and said: ‘It is the son who was first told that did what his father ordered.’ Again Jesus said to them: ‘Truly I tell you, that the tax collectors and the women who are prostitutes enter the hand of God before you do.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing religious leaders

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 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.

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. )