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 his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.
In Nepali translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and other people with the medium honorific pronoun timīlē (तिमीले) or timīlēharū (तिमीलेहरू). His disciples respond with a high honorific pronoun. (Source: Chitra Chhetri in The Bible Translator 2009, p. 73ff. )
In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.
During the translation of the New Testament into Huixtán Tzotzil, translation consultant Marion Cowan found that questions where the answer is obvious, affirmative rhetorical questions, as well questions raising objections tended to cause confusion among the readers. So these are rendered as simple or emphatic statements.
Accordingly, Matthew 7:9-11 reads “If your son asks you for a tortilla to eat, not a stone you would give him. If he asks you for fish to eat, not a snake you would give him. You whose hearts are not good, know what good gifts you will give your children. Your father in heaven surpassingly knows what good gifts he will give to those who ask him.”
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 7:9:
Uma: “‘Are there any of you who give rocks to your children when your children ask for rice?” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Who of you here, if your child asks food from you will give him a stone?” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “You parents, if there is food that your child is asking for, it cannot be that you’ll give him a stone.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Because look, you fathers, if your child asks for bread, will you do-you-suppose give-him a stone?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “For is it a rock which you will give your child who asks for food?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “How about the person who has a child, when the child asks for bread, the person doesn’t go and give a stone to the child.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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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).
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 7:7-12:
Keep knocking until God opens the door for you,
as he always does for someone who doesn’t give up.
Ask and receive—seek and find—that’s how it works.
Although you’re evil, you’re still good to your children.
If they were hungry for fish and chips,
you’d never feed them snakes and stones.
Your Father above is goodness personified
and will gladly do good for anyone who asks.
What’s the Bible all about? I’ll tell you —
Treat others the way you want them to treat you.
The comparisons (bread with stone and fish with serpent) were used for perhaps two reasons: (1) bread and fish were the foods that would be most common near the Sea of Galilee, and (2) bread is shaped somewhat like a stone, and a fish has scales and other features similar to those of a snake. One commentator in fact notes that a certain species of fish (barbut) even has the appearance of a snake. Though most translations retain the question form of the Greek text, it is obvious that in many languages a statement would be more effective: “No father would give his son a stone when he asks for bread….” This can also be rendered “Surely none of you who is a father would give” or “No father would give his son a stone … would he?”
The sentence in verse 9 may need to be reversed, as in “When a son asks his father for bread, do you think the father would give him a stone?”
All these ways of rendering verse 9 can be used in verse 10 too. In fact, it is probably a good idea to use the same structure.
Bread is widely known, but in areas where it is not, “food” or “something to eat” can be used, or possibly some local food that has a similar function to bread.
A serpent is a snake. The type of snake does not need to be specified. For the passage to be meaningful, it must be understood by the readers that the Jews did not eat snakes. It would be just as unlikely for a Jew to eat a snake as a stone. In areas where people do eat some kinds of snakes, translators can add a footnote saying that Jews were forbidden to eat snakes, or they can use the name of a type of snake that is not eaten. They can even add the phrase “which God forbids us to eat” in the translation itself, if they feel that otherwise the verse will make no sense.
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 .
In the Greek, 7:9a begins with a conjunction that is often translated as “or.” It functions to introduce another example of Jesus’ teaching on prayer. The Berean Standard Bible and most English versions do not translate this word. You should translate it in a way that is natural in your language.
Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?: This is a rhetorical question. It emphasizes the fact that no one would give a stone to his child if he asks for bread.
Here are some other ways to translate this emphasis:
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
If/When your son asks for bread ⌊to eat⌋, would any of you give him a stone? ⌊No!⌋
• As a statement. For example:
Certainly none of you would give a stone to your son if/when he asks you for bread.
7:9a
Which of you, if his son: The pronoun his refers generally to any of the people addressed by the plural pronoun you. In some languages using the pronoun “your” is more natural here than his. Another possibility is to change the grammar to make the meaning clear. For example:
Which of you (plur.), if your(plur/sing) son
-or-
Among you (plur.), whoever’s son
bread: The word bread was the food which the Jewish people ate every day. Here it is implied that the son was asking for bread because he was hungry. In some languages bread made of flour is not the daily food. If that is true in your language, you may want to use a word for an everyday food which is also used to refer generally to food. Or you may want to use the general word. For example:
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