mercy

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin terms that are typically translated as “mercy” (or “compassion” or “kindness”) in English are translated in various ways. Bratcher / Nida classify them in (1) those based on the quality of heart, or other psychological center, (2) those which introduce the concept of weeping or extreme sorrow, (3) those which involve willingness to look upon and recognize the condition of others, or (4) those which involve a variety of intense feelings.

While the English mercy originates from the Latin merces, originally “price paid,” Romance languages (Italian, Spanish, Corsican, Catalan, Friulian) and other Germanic languages (German, Swedish, Danish — Barmherzigkeit, barmhärtighet and barmhjertighed, respectively) tend to follow the Latin misericordia, lit. “misery-heart.”

Here are some other (back-) translations:

See also steadfast love and Seat of the Mind / Seat of Emotions.

complete verse (Romans 11:31)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 11:31:

  • Uma: “Thus also the Jews. At this time the Jews are rebelling/rejecting so that God’s love arrives to you. But they as well will obtain God’s love, the same as you.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Now the Yahudi do not obey/follow God and you are pitied/shown-mercy by God in order that in the future God will also pity them.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But its the same way also for them, for even though they do not now obey, it is possible that just as God has pitied and forgiven you, He will also pity them in the future.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “So also the Jews, they don’t believe God now, but they too, they will benefit-from the grace of God because of his showing-mercy to you.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Now it is the Jews who reject what God says. But God wants to give his grace to them just like he gave his grace to the people who are not Jews.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Romans 11:31

In Greek this verse is a continuation of the sentence begun in the previous verse, and from the standpoint of translation it is similar to the preceding verse. A literal translation might read: “In the same way these ones are now disobedient because of your mercy in order that they themselves now may be mercied.” The Good News Translation reorders two of the major parts of this verse, and makes the participants explicit. The first part of this verse actually appears as the second element in the Good News Bible: “these ones” are identified as the Jews and the object of their disobedience is made explicit, disobey God. The second part of the Greek sentence appears first in the English sentence structure, and the ambiguous phrase “your mercy” is clarified to mean mercy that you have received. Finally, in the last part of the verse, God is identified as the one who gives the mercy: that they also may now receive God’s mercy.

The word now (in its second occurrence in this verse) does not appear in some manuscripts; it is omitted by the Revised Standard Version, the New English Bible, and Moffatt. The UBS text committee believes that the evidence supports the inclusion of this word and classifies the choice with a “B” rating.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Romans 11:31

11:31a–b

so they too have now disobeyed, in order that they too may now receive mercy through the mercy shown to you: There are two ways to interpret how to connect the phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as through the mercy shown to you to the rest of the verse.

(1) It connects to they also may now receive mercy. For example:

so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you (New International Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, English Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition, New American Standard Bible, King James Version, God’s Word, NET Bible)

(2) It connects to they too have now been disobedient. For example:

In the same way, because of the mercy that you have received, the Jews now disobey God, in order that they also may now receive God’s mercy (Good News Translation)

(Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New Century Version)

Many English versions follow interpretation (1). However, many scholars (for example, Moo and Dunn) make a strong case for interpretation (2). You should follow whatever interpretation the major language version does. If you follow interpretation (2), see also note on through the mercy shown to you below.

11:31a

so: The Greek word here means “in the same way.” It does not mean “therefore” here. Here are other ways to translate this word:

In the same way (Good News Translation)
-or-
Thus also

they too have now disobeyed: Here Paul spoke in summary about the disobedience of the Jews. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

they are disobedient now (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
the Jews now disobey God (Good News Translation)

now: Here this word refers generally to this new period of time where the gospel of Jesus is proclaimed.

11:31b

now: There is a textual issue here:

(1) Some Greek manuscripts have the word now in the middle of this phrase. For example:

they also may now receive mercy (English Standard Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, English Standard Version, New International Version, Good News Translation, New Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, NET Bible)

(2) Some manuscripts do not have this word.

(Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, King James Version, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004), Contemporary English Version, New Century Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because the UBS Handbook Greek NT 5 supports it, although they had difficulty in deciding.

through the mercy shown to you: The Greek is literally “for the (thing) to you mercy.” If you followed interpretation (1) up in 11:31a–b, the meaning of “to/with/for” probably indicates that God’s mercy to the Gentiles helped accomplish the mercy to the Jews. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

for mercy to you
-or-
for God showing mercy to you

If you followed interpretation (2) up in 11:31a–b, the meaning of “to/with/for” probably indicates that the Jews disobeying helped accomplish God’s mercy to the Gentiles. For example:

for the sake of mercy for you
-or-
because God showed mercy to you (New Century Version)

mercy: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as mercy refers to being concerned for someone in a bad situation and helping him in some way, including even forgiving him for something bad he did. See how you translated this word in 9:15.

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