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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) 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, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.
The various Greek, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
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. Two 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. ).
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). This 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.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
And he said to them refers to Jesus, and it will be necessary in some languages to be specific (Good News Translation “Jesus answered”).
The sequence of events in Matthew differs from that of Mark (4.39-40) and Luke (8.24-25). According to Matthew, Jesus first rebukes the disciples and then he orders the storm to stop, which is a reversal of the order of events in Mark and Luke. Similarly, in 14.31-32 Jesus rebukes Peter for his lack of faith before the storm stops.
Why are you afraid? (Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible “… so frightened?”) is translated “Why are you such cowards?” by New English Bible. This is a rhetorical question which expects no answer but implies “There is no reason for you to be afraid!” The adjective translated afraid is a very strong word, occurring elsewhere in the New Testament only in Mark 4.40 and Revelation 21.8 (Good News Translation “cowards”). Thus it can be translated here as “scared,” “terrified,” or “fearful.” In some languages the strength of the word is seen better in a construction like “You are really terrified. Why is that?” or “… There is no reason for that!”
Men of little faith translates one word in the Greek text. It is used by Matthew also in 6.30; 8.26; 14.31; 16.8, but elsewhere in the New Testament only in Luke 12.28. A related noun is used in Matthew 17.20. See 6.30 for a discussion of men of little faith. Here the rebuke is very strong, as in “Your faith is so little,” “You don’t trust very much in God,” “Don’t you have any trust in God?” or “Your trust in God is so little. Is that good?”
Rose means “got up,” or possibly even “stood up.”
Rebuked (so New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible) is the basic meaning of the Greek verb, but it may even mean “warn” or “threaten” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). New American Bible has “took … to task,” and Good News Translation “ordered … to stop.” It is obvious from these examples that rebuked can be translated with either of two emphases. The stronger, more usual understanding requires a translation like “reprimand,” “warn,” or “speak severely to.” Another way is to say “tell (or, command) to stop.”
Perhaps it should also be noted that Matthew has the plural winds, where Mark 4.39 has the singular “wind.” The preference for the plural mirrors a stylistic feature of Matthew’s Gospel: the plural “crowds” is frequently present in place of the Marcan “crowd”; in 13.5 both “other” and “rocky ground” are plural forms (Mark has the singular); in 13.11 Matthew has “secrets” for the Marcan “secret”; in 26.15 Matthew has the plural “pieces of silver” and Mark has “silver” (meaning “money”). Translators should use singular or plural according to the normal form in their language.
Instead of sea it may be better to say “lake,” but “water” or “waves” are also acceptable.
And there was a great calm is a literal rendering of the Greek text. Jerusalem Bible renders “and all was calm again”; New American Bible retains a rather high level of language: “Complete calm ensued.” Translators should use whatever phrase is natural to indicate that all was calm again; perhaps “everything was quiet again,” or even “and the weather and lake became calm again.”
It seems clear that this happened right after he spoke. Some translations add “right then” or “at once.”
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 .
“You of little faith,” Jesus replied: The Berean Standard Bible places the words Jesus replied in the middle of what Jesus said. This is good English style. In some languages, it may be more natural to place these words at the beginning of 8:26a. For example:
And he said to them, “Why are you so afraid, O you of little faith?” (English Standard Version)
You of little faith: This expression is the translation of one Greek word. Jesus said this to the disciples. He spoke directly to them like calling them by name or by a title.
In many languages speaking like this is natural. But in some languages, it may be necessary to have a complete sentence. For example:
You have such little faith!
-or-
How little faith you have! (Revised English Bible)
-or-
You trust/believe ⌊in God⌋ so little!
This expression also occurs in 6:30d. You should translate the same way in both places.
why are you so afraid?: This is a rhetorical question. Jesus rebuked his disciples for being afraid of the storm. You should translate in a way that indicates a rebuke.
Here are some other ways to translate this rebuke:
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
Why are you so frightened? (Good News Translation)
• As a statement or command. For example:
You should not be afraid!
-or-
Stop being afraid!
8:26b
rebuked the winds and the sea: The word rebuked indicates that Jesus commanded the wind and the waves to stop. In some languages, a person can only rebuke another person. He cannot rebuke things like wind and water. So another verb like “commanded” or “ordered” must be used.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
ordered the winds and the waves to stop (Good News Translation)
-or-
ordered the wind and the waves to calm down (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
said to the wind and waves, “Be calm!”
winds: It may be more natural in your language to translate this plural word as the singular “wind.”
the sea: Here the phrase the sea refers to the waves. So some English versions use the word “waves” instead of sea here. It is also possible to simply say “water” here.
8:26c
it was perfectly calm: The word calm means that the wind stopped blowing and the water stopped making waves.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
a great calm came
-or-
suddenly all was calm (New Living Translation (2004))
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