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.

generation

The Greek that is translated into English as “(this) generation” is translated as

  • “the people now” in Chol
  • “those who are in space now” in Tzeltal (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • “you people” in Tlahuitoltepec Mixe (source: Robert Bascom)
  • “(people of one) layer” in Ekari, Toraja-Sa’dan, Batak Toba
  • “one storey of growing” (using a term also denoting a storey or floor of a building) in Highland Totonac (source for this and one above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)

See also generations and all generations.

complete verse (Matthew 23:36)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 23:36:

  • Uma: “Yes indeed! You who live at this time will be punished because of all those wrongs of your elders.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Truly I tell you, all this that they did will come home to you, the people living now (i.e. you will be punished for it.)'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I tell you, that you, you people today, you’ll also be punished for the murder of all of these.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “This that I say to you is true that the people now, they will be responsible for the deaths of all of them.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “What I will say to you really is true, that as for the punishment for all of this, it’s certain it will come to you Judio at this time.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Truly I tell you that concerning this punishment which must come, this is what all the people who live now will pass through.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

2nd person pronoun with low register (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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.

In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

Translation commentary on Matthew 23:36

Truly, I say to you translates the same emphatic formula used in 5.26 (singular “you”) and 6.2 (plural “you,” as here); see comment at 5.18.

All this (literally “all these things”) is translated “the punishment for all these murders” by Good News Translation and “for all these shameful deeds” by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch. In Greek the reference is unclear; it may be limited to the murders mentioned in verse 35 or expanded to incorporate all the evil deeds of verses 29-35, including the murders.

This generation (Good News Translation “the people of this day”) may have the wider meaning of “all Israel,” who from this moment on reject Jesus (see 27.25).

All this will come upon this generation is a Hebrew way of saying “This generation will be punished for all this” or “God will punish all of you because of these evil things that you and your ancestors have done.”

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 .