Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 11:4:
Uma: “God said to him like this: ‘Don’t you (sing.) say/think you are the only one left who follows me. There are still some that I have reserved/left, seven thousand of them. They are my portion, they do not worship the idol named Baal.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “What was God’s answer to him? God said to him, ‘There are yet seven thousand of my people left over and these have not honored the pretend-god named Ba’al.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And God answered him, ‘There are still seven thousand people who are your fellow descendants of Israel and they have not worshipped Baal, the false god.’ This is what God said to Elijah.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “But what did God answer him? He said, ‘There are still my people who are left, because there are seven thousand who have absolutely not worshipped the idol (lit. pretend-god) called Baal.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “God answered him and said: ‘No, you are not the only one. Rather there are still live seven thousand Jews who worship me and do not bow down where the idol Baal is in order to worship it.’ said God.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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 choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
What answer did God give him? (Revised Standard Version, An American Translation* “but what is God’s reply”; New English Bible “but what does the divine voice say”) is an unusual expression, but its meaning is clear: it refers to a message (in this case specifically an answer) that God has given. This question cannot be preserved in a number of languages, since the answer immediately follows as a direct quotation and without an introductory statement. A change of the question to a statement may, therefore, serve a double purpose, not only in eliminating what may be an awkward rhetorical expression, but also in introducing the immediately following direct discourse—for example, “and this is the answer God gave him:….”
Most translations render the last part of this verse literally (see, for example, Revised Standard Version “men who have not bowed the knee to Baal”). The Good News Translation does two things to help the reader understand the expression: (1) the phrase “bowed the knee” is shown to mean worshiped, and (2) Baal is qualified as a false god. It is often necessary to add classifiers before certain proper nouns, especially in translating the Old Testament, because in the original cultural context these words were easily understood, whereas in the cultural situation into which they are being translated the meaning may not be clear.
In some languages it is difficult to speak of a false god or a “false prophet.” The latter may be identified by a phrase such as “a person who pretends to be a prophet of God but who is not.” One cannot speak of the false god Baal as “Baal who pretends to be a god but is not,” but one can say “Baal, whom people thought was a god, but who was not” or “Baal whom people called a god but who was not a god.” One may also employ in some instances a phrase such as “worshiped the idol Baal.” In the context of the Bible the term “idol” identifies a false god.
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
And what was the divine reply to him?: This is a rhetorical question. Paul answered this question in 11:4b–c. Some languages must translate this as a statement. For example:
God replied to him like/with this:
In Greek, this is a historical present. In many languages the normal way of referring to a past event must be used, which is what the Berean Standard Bible does here. Here is another way to translate this:
what did God say/reply to him?
the divine reply: The Greek is literally “the divine-answer.” Here it refers to the words God spoke in response to Elijah’s complaint. For example:
the divine response (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
God’s answer (New International Version)
11:4b
I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men: Here the words reserved for Myself refers to holding a part/portion of something for future use. For example, a farmer eats or sells most of his grain but holds back some grain for next year’s planting. Here God allowed many Israelites to worship the false god Baal, but caused some of the Israelites to remain faithful to him. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
I have kept for myself (English Standard Version)
-or-
I have separated out seven thousand men ⌊to remain⌋ my people
-or-
I have prevented seven thousand men ⌊from falling away⌋ ⌊and they remain faithful⌋ to me
seven thousand men: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as men usually refers to adult human males. That is probably its meaning here.
seven thousand: Some languages do not have large numbers like thousand. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
• Use numerals. For example:
7,000 (God’s Word)
• Use the major language word. For example:
seven tausen
11:4c
have not bowed the knee to Baal: The phrase bowed the knee means “kneel.” This action indicates submitting to the person or god before whom they bow. It implies honoring that person or god and is a common action used in worship. That is the implied meaning here. For example:
have not knelt to worship Baal (God’s Word)
In some languages kneeling has a different meaning. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
• Use the action in your language that implies worship. For example:
have not bowed-at-the-waist ⌊in worship⌋ to Baal
• Translate the implied meaning without any explicit action. For example:
have not worshiped Baal (Contemporary English Version)
Baal: This word means “lord” in the Canaanite languages of the peoples living near Israel. It was often used like a name for the chief god of the Canaanite peoples. To the Jews who followed Yahweh, the God of Israel, Baal was a false god. In some languages this name will need to be explained. You may want to:
• Explain it in your translation. For example:
the false god Baal (Good News Translation)
• Explain it in a footnote. Here is an example footnote:
This name refers to the chief ⌊false⌋ god of the peoples living near Israel.
General Comment on 11:4b–c
These words are a quote of 1 Kings 19:18. If you indicate the location of quotes from the Old Testament with cross-references, you may want to do so here.
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®).
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.