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)

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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 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 .