complete verse (Matthew 25:25)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 25:25:

  • Uma: “I was afraid, that’s why I went and hid your (sing.) money in the ground. So, here is your (sing.) money back.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “I was afraid of you, therefore I went and hid your money in the ground. Here is your money.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I was afraid of you. Therefore I buried in the earth your money. See, here is your money.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Therefore I went and buried your (sing.) money, because I am afraid of you (sing.). Here is your (sing.) money.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well, since I was afraid that you would scold if what you would reclaim from me would be decreased, that’s why I just buried your money. Here is that one thousand of yours.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Therefore I was afraid of you. I hid your money in the ground. But now here is what you own,’ he said.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Japanese benefactives (goran)

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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).”

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

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 his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.

In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.

2nd person pronoun with high register (Japanese)

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 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, the more venerable anata-sama (あなた様) is used, which combines anata with the with a formal title -sama.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also formal 2nd person pronoun (Spanish) and the formal vs. the informal pronoun in the Gospels in Tuvan.

Translation commentary on Matthew 25:25

Was afraid … went translate participles dependent upon the main verb hid. But simplified English sentence structure almost requires that all three be translated as finite verbs, as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, which uses a verb that may mean either “bury” or “hide in the ground,” is brief and to the point: “I was afraid, so I buried your money.” Some languages will require more detail: “I was afraid of what you might do to me if I lost the money. So I went to a certain place and dug a hole and hid the money in it” or “I was afraid that you might punish me if I lost your money….”

Here (Good News Translation “Look”) is related to the particle usually translated “behold” or “lo” by Revised Standard Version; it functions primarily as an attention-getter. See comment at 1.20.

Here you have what is yours may not be altogether clear to some readers. Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition has “Here you have your money back,” New Jerusalem Bible “Here it is; it was yours, you have it back,” and Barclay “Here you are! Your money is safe!”

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 .