soldier

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “soldier” in English didn’t have a direct equivalent in Enlhet so it was translated with “those that bind us” (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. ) and in Noongar it is mammarapa-bakadjiny or “men of fighting” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

complete verse (Matthew 8:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 8:9:

  • Uma: “Because I am also just a person who is commanded/ordered, and there are also those whom I command/order. If for example there is my command to a soldier saying to him: ‘Go!’ he definitely goes. If I call-out to a soldier: ‘Come here!’ he definitely comes. If I say to my servant: ‘Do that!’ they definitely do it. So also You (sing.), Father, you (sing.) do not need to go to my house. Just your (sing.) word you (sing.) say here, it will definitely happen/be fulfilled at my house there [out of sight]. ‘” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “I know it, because even I, I am ruled over by those higher than I and I rule over my soldiers. If I say to one, ‘Go,’ then he goes. If I say to another one, ‘Come,’ he comes. And if I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ he does it.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I know this because it is just like there is the one who is in charge of me, and there are also soldiers that I am in charge of. I tell one to go, and he goes. And I call another one to come, and he comes. And I order also my servant when I have something for him to do, and he does it. It is just the same with you because what you say will come to pass.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because I also, there is someone higher who commands me, and I also have soldiers that I command. If I say to one, ‘You (sing.) go,’ he goes, and if I say also to another, ‘You (sing.) come,’ he comes and if I say also to my slave, ‘You (sing.) do this,’ he does it.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For I am used to verbal orders, because I have a leader/chief who gives orders to me, and there are soldiers to whom I give orders also. If I say to one person, ‘Go,’ he really will go. Well if to another I say ‘Come here,’ he truly comes to me. It’s like that too with my servant, that if I order him, ‘Do this,’ he truly does it.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Because I myself have those who command me. And I also have my soldiers whom I command. When I tell a soldier to go somewhere, he goes there. Or if I should say, ‘Come here,’ then the soldier comes. Or concerning my servants, I tell them what to work at and they do as I say.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

respectful form of "say/speak" (mōsu)

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 to do this is through the usage of lexical honorific forms, i.e., completely different words, as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

In these verses, mōsu (申す), the respectful form of iu (言う) or “say / speak” is used. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Matthew 8:9

In Greek the pronoun I is in emphatic position. This is why Good News Translation has “I, too.”

For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me reflects the compact style of the Greek. It is possible, as some scholars suggest, that the terseness of the officer’s reply derives from his military background. For most readers of English it may be better to fill in the “blanks” with the words that are presupposed though not expressly stated. Compare Good News Translation, for example, where several words are included that are not found in the Greek text:

• I, too, am a man under [the] authority [of superior officers], [and I] have soldiers under me.

To express the idea of being under the authority of superior officers, translators can say “I have leaders who can order me” or “I, too, have people who are bigger (or, more important) than I and who can tell me what I have to do.”

To have soldiers under me can then be “and there are soldiers who have to obey my orders” or “there are soldiers who do what I command.”

There are languages that will find the direct speech Go and Come very natural, but in other cases it will prove better to use indirect speech, as in “I tell one soldier to go, and he goes, and I say to another that he should come, and he comes. In the same way, if I tell my slave to do something, he does it.”

Slave does not translate the same word rendered “servant” in verses 6 and 8. This Greek word normally means “slave” in the sense of a servant who is the property of the master. The question is whether or not it refers to the same person mentioned in verse 6. Most translations apparently differentiate between the two, though Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and New Jerusalem Bible translate by the same word in both verses. The word in verse 2 is more nearly a term of endearment than is this word, and it is valid to conclude that the word is used here solely as an illustration and without specific reference to any particular individual, as are one and another.

It may be necessary to say “a slave” or “one of my slaves” to indicate that the centurion is speaking in general terms.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 8:9

8:9

In 8:9, the words of the centurion show that he understood authority. He understood that when someone in authority gives a command, that command is obeyed. This implies that he recognized Jesus’ authority and believed that Jesus had the power to heal his servant, even from a distance. As 8:10 says, Jesus was amazed at the centurion’s faith.

Be careful that your translation of this verse does not imply that the centurion was ordering Jesus to heal his servant.

If people in your area will not understand the correct meaning of these words, you may want to add a footnote to explain. Here is a sample footnote:

In saying this, the centurion indicated that he believed that Jesus had the authority and power to heal by simply commanding it.

8:9a

For: In this context, the Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For introduces an explanation for the centurion saying “just say the word” (in 8:8c). In this verse, the centurion explained that he knew that someone with authority could give a command, and the command would be obeyed. This implies that he recognized that Jesus had authority, and he believed that Jesus could heal his servant with a command.

Here are some ways to begin this verse:

• With a conjunction or introductory phrase that introduces the explanation. For example:

I know this because (New Living Translation (2004))

• Without any conjunction. For example:

I, too, am a man under the authority of superior officers (Good News Translation)

I myself am a man under authority: The phrase a man under authority means “a man who is placed under the authority of others.” A centurion in the Roman army was an officer, but he was not the highest officer. There were senior officers who had authority over him. In some languages, it may be necessary to make some of this explicit. For example:

I am under the authority of my superior officers (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
I have officers who give orders to me (Contemporary English Version)

I myself: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as myself probably has the sense of “also” here. The centurion used this word to compare himself to Jesus. Both had the authority to give commands.

It is perhaps going too far to say that the centurion was saying that Jesus is under authority like he was under authority. In most of this verse, the centurion spoke of his authority to give commands, not receive them. So he was comparing his authority to give commands with Jesus’ authority. It is perhaps because of this difficulty that some English versions do not translate the word myself.

under authority: The phrase under authority refers to the centurion submitting to officers of higher rank than him. Greek and English use the words “under” and “over” to describe differing levels of authority. Other languages may use different words to describe this relationship such as “in front” and “behind.” Translate this in a way that is natural in your language.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

I must obey people with higher authority
-or-
I must do what people with greater power tell me

8:9b

with soldiers under me: This phrase means that the centurion had authority to command the soldiers that he led. He implied that, in the same way, he believed that Jesus had authority to heal people.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

I also have soldiers who must obey me
-or-
And I give orders to soldiers who are under me

8:9c–d

I tell one to go, and he goes; and another to come, and he comes: The phrases one and another refer generally to any of the soldiers under the centurion’s authority.

Here is another way to translate this:

I tell one ⌊soldier⌋ ‘Go’ and he goes; and ⌊I tell⌋ another ⌊soldier⌋ ‘come’ and he comes

I tell one to go: Here the command go means that the centurion was giving the soldier an order to “go somewhere” or to “go do something.” It does not mean that the centurion was chasing away the soldier. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this more explicit. For example:

I send one soldier saying, “Go ⌊over there⌋.”

8:9e

my servant: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as servant here is not the same Greek word as “servant” in verse 8:6a. Here the Greek word refers generally to any servant or slave. The Roman centurion also commanded his servants or slaves and they obeyed him.

Some English versions translate these two words differently. For example, the Good News Translation translates this word as “slave.”

Use an expression that refers generally to any servant of the centurion. For example:

one of my servants
-or-
anyone who serves me

-or-

my slave (Good News Translation)

General Comment on 8:9c–e

In the Greek, the words “go,” “come,” and “Do something” are direct speech. For example:

And I say to the one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it. (English Standard Version)

However, in some languages, it may be more natural to translate these commands as indirect speech, as the Berean Standard Bible models.

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