45so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.
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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).
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, o-rare-ru (おられる) or “is/be present” is used.
Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Matthew 5:43-48:
From ancient times, it’s been said: “Love friends. Hate enemies!”
But I tell you to love your enemies
and pray for everyone who mistreats you.
That’s how to behave like children of your Father above,
who provides rain and sunshine for everyone, good or evil.
Do you love only those who love you?
Are you good only to your friends?
So what? Even the worst of people are good to their friends.
I tell you to always behave like children of your Father above!
God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).
Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.
In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.
While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”
In that system, one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and others for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.
Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”
In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)
Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”
In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )
In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)
The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.
Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are Twents as well as Indonesian and Malay. In the latter two languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).
To be sons (or, children) of God in the biblical sense is to reflect the character and likeness of God, for which the second half of the verse provides specific illustrations. For example, the Father in heaven provides sun and rain for all people, without discriminating between the bad and the good. In the same way, if Jesus’ followers are to prove that they are sons of God, they must show love to their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. Sons is meant to include both men and women.
So that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven is a fairly literal rendering of the Greek text. Anchor Bible is barely one step away from a literal rendering by beginning a new sentence with this verse: “In this way you will become sons of your heavenly Father….” The more precise meaning of the verb be in the context is “will show that you are.” This is the basis of New American Bible (“This will prove that you are sons of your heavenly Father”), An American Translation (“so that you may show yourselves true sons of your Father in heaven”), and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (“So you will prove yourselves to be children of your Father in heaven”). Another way is to say “so that people will know (or, see) that you are children of God, your Father in heaven.”
Your Father who is in heaven is the same expression used in verse 16.
For further notes on the phrase “son of God” or “child of God,” see Matthew 5.9. Here translators may also say “that you are like children to God” or “that God considers you his children.” However, it may be best to show the real meaning of the phrase with a translation such as “so that you may show that you are like God, your Father in heaven.”
Evil … unjust are synonyms, as are good … just, as the illustration below will demonstrate. Such an arrangement is called a chiastic arrangement, after the name of the Greek letter chi, which is in the shape of an “X.” A similar structure is also used in 6.24 and 7.6. (See structure|fig:Table_MAT5-45.jpg.)
In translation it may be advisable to rearrange the order so that the parallelisms will show up more clearly; for example, “evil and unjust” in one line, with “good and just” in the other. Or, the entire structure may be translated “For he provides sunshine and rain for good people and bad people alike.”
The adjective just is first used in 1.19 (see comments there); unjust is its opposite, as evil is the opposite of good. Elsewhere in Matthew good is used in 7.11 (twice), 17, 18; 12.34, 35 (twice); 19.16, 17 (twice). The adjective evil was used in verses 11, 37, 39; elsewhere in the Sermon on the Mount it is used in 6.13, 23; 7.11, 17, 18.
The expression his sun may have to be expressed as “the sun he created.” The phrase makes his sun rise can be translated literally, or as “he provides the sun” or “he gives sunshine.”
The evil and the good are “evil (or, bad) people” and “good people,” and similarly, the just and the unjust are “people who do right” and “people who do evil,” or “people who obey God’s Law” and “people who disobey God’s Law.”
We suggested above that translators often restructure the passage so that their readers can follow the thoughts more easily. For example, it may be rendered “for he makes his sun rise and the rain fall on the evil people who do not obey God’s Law just as he does on the good people who are faithful to obey.” Another way is “As far as providing the blessings of sunshine and rain to people, he treats all alike, both the good people and the bad, both those who obey his laws and those who do not.”
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 .
that: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as that introduces the purpose for loving enemies and praying for them (5:44a–b). We should pray for our enemies so that we will be like our Father.
Here are some other ways to translate this conjunction:
so that (English Standard Version)
-or-
in order that
-or-
In this way (God’s Word)
-or-
If you do this (New Century Version)
you may be sons of your Father in heaven: The words be sons indicate that believers who love their enemies and pray for them are acting like their Father in heaven. The word sons is general and refers to both men and women.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
you show that you are children of your Father in heaven (God’s Word)
-or-
you may be like your Father in heaven (NET Bible)
-or-
you will be acting like your Father in heaven (Contemporary English Version)
your Father in heaven: Here, Jesus spoke of God as your Father. Jesus further described God and distinguished him from our earthly father by saying in heaven.
In some languages, the phrase your Father would imply that God was only the father of those to whom Jesus was speaking, but not Jesus’ father. If that is so in your language, you may want to translate this phrase as:
our(incl.) heavenly father
-or-
⌊God⌋ our(incl.) father who lives in heaven
heaven: The word heaven also occurs in 5:34b.
5:45b
The Greek of 5:45b begins with a conjunction that is often translated as “for.” It introduces an explanation of 5:45a. When we pray for our enemies, we are sons of our Father (5:45a). ⌊We are acting like him⌋ in the sense that he also does good to both evil and good people (5:45b).
The Berean Standard Bible and some English versions do not translate the conjunction. The meaning is implied in these versions. If you have a word or phrase that introduces an explanation, consider using it here.
He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good: The phrases the evil and the good refer to “evil people” and “good people.” For example:
on good people and on evil people (New Century Version)
This clause indicates that God loves all people. An example of his love is that he causes the sun to rise and shine on both evil people and good people.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
He makes his sun rise on people whether they are good or evil (God’s Word)
-or-
He causes the sun to rise and shine on both good people and evil people
His sun: The phrase His sun is a literal translation of the Greek. In some languages, it may be more natural to say:
the sun he created
-or-
the sun (NET Bible)
5:45c
sends rain: This is the second example of God’s love. The words sends rain refer to God causing the rain to fall on both groups.
Here are some other ways to translate these words:
the righteous: The phrase the righteous refers to people who do what is right and good in God’s sight.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
ones who do right (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
people who live as God requires
-or-
upright people
This phrase refers to the same group referred to by the phrase “the good” above. Your translation should allow for this phrase to refer to the same or similar group as the phrase “the good.” For example:
and ⌊he⌋ sends rain on ⌊these⌋ upright people
the unrighteous: The phrase the unrighteous refers to people who do not do what is right and good in God’s sight.
Here are some other ways to translate the unrighteous:
ones who do wrong (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
people who do not live as God requires
-or-
people who do not obey God
This phrase refers to the same group referred to by the phrase “the evil” above. Your translation should allow for this phrase to refer to the same or similar group as the phrase “the evil.” For example:
⌊these⌋ people who do wrong
-or-
the ones who do wrong (Contemporary English Version)
General Comment on 5:45b–c
The Berean Standard Bible follows the poetic form of the Greek text with the order of the phrases:
45bthe evil and the good…
45cthe righteous and the unrighteous…
Repeating two similar phrases in opposite order is a poetic form in the Greek. But some versions repeat the two similar phrases in the same order. For example:
both good and bad people… (Contemporary English Version)
the ones who do right and…the ones who do wrong
Use an order that is most natural in your language.
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