The Greek that is translated in English as “brotherly love” (also: “mutual love” and others) is translated in Waama as “love each other as children of the same mother.” Like many languages, Waama has no generic term for “brother” and sister, just “older brother” or “younger brother.” At first, “love each other as children of the same father” seemed to fit but since the Waama live in a polygamous society, brothers of the same father with different mothers often don’t get along unlike maternal siblings. (Source: Kathrin Pope in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 54)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated with geschwisterliche Liebe or “love between siblings.”
In Romans 12:10 the Protestant Mandarin ChineseUnion Version and the Catholic Sigao version translate this with a historical Chinese idiom: huíxīn zhuǎnyì (相親相愛 / 相亲相爱) or “close and loving.” (Source: Toshikazu S. Foley in Hong Kong Journal of Catholic Studies, 2011, p. 45ff.)
The Greek in Romans 12:10 that is translated as “outdo one another in showing honor” or similar in English is translated as “always try to find out how the other person will come out better, and not yourselves” in Highland Totonac, as “be genuinely pleased if certain of your fellows should be more prominent than you yourself are” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui, and “each one give honor to the other and not to himself” in Isthmus Zapotec. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 12:10:
Uma: “Love each other like the mutual love between relatives, and surpass/get-ahead-of each other in honoring each other.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “You ought to love each other because it is as if you were siblings because you equally trust Isa Almasi. You ought to be happy to honor your fellow trusters in Isa.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “We (incl.) who have become siblings by means of Christ, must show that each one of us is precious in His breath. And let us rejoice in respecting our companions.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Love-one-another like the love of brothers. Count your companions as being more important than yourselves.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “It is necessary that you love your fellow believers, each one of you, because all of you are brothers because of Christ. Each of you seek how to have your brother respected.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Love one another warmly translates a verb which appears only here in the New Testament. The verb is used particularly of love within the family relationship, and so the idea of “to love warmly” is expressed by the Good News Translation (see New English Bible “breed warmth of mutual affection”).
As brothers in Christ is literally “by means of brotherly love.” The “brotherhood” (as in many translations) referred to is that of the Christian community, and so the Good News Translation renders as brothers in Christ. The first clause in verse 10 is rendered in some languages as “love one another as brothers ought to.”
Be eager to show respect for one another (An American Translation* “be eager to show one another honor”) translates a difficult Greek expression which may be understood in two possible ways. The meaning may be as the Good News Translation and Moffatt express it, or it may be “let each man consider the other worthy of more honor than himself.” It seems that the New English Bible follows the second possibility, though it is difficult to tell precisely what is meant by the rendering “give pride of place to one another in esteem.” Moffatt also sounds unnatural, though he seems to follow the same understanding of the passage that An American Translation* and the Good News Translation have, namely, “be forward to honour one another.” Be eager to is equivalent in some languages to “be quick to,” “do not hesitate to,” or even “be happy to.” In one language the equivalent of the entire clause is “be conspicuous in praising one another.”
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 .
Be devoted to one another: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Be devoted is similar to but different than the Greek word translated as “love” in 12:9a. This Greek word refers to affection and concern as among people in your own family. As brothers and sisters in faith in Jesus, believers should have this kind of family love for each other.
Some languages have a word with the above meaning. For example:
Family-love one another
Many languages do not have a separate word as the Greek does. Some languages will translate this word with a phrase. For example:
Love one another as brothers/sisters/siblings
Many English versions use the word “love” here and explain the kind of love in the next phrase. See next note.
in brotherly love: The Greek refers to affection for someone who is a good friend, often implying affection as among brothers and sisters. Here the word brotherly implies sisters as well.
12:10b
(New International Version🙂 Honor one another above yourselves: The Greek is more literally “About the honoring of one another, going-first-and-leading-the-way.” There are several ways to interpret the Greek word that means “going-first-and-leading-the-way” here. Here are the main ones:
(1) It means more than here. For example:
honor others more than you do yourself (Contemporary English Version)
(New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible, New Century Version)
(2) It means strive to do more than here. For example:
outdo one another in showing honor (Revised Standard Version)
(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version)
(3) It means allowing others to go first here. For example:
give preference to one another in honor (New American Standard Bible)
(New American Standard Bible, King James Version)
(4) It means be eager here. For example:
be eager to show respect for one another (Good News Translation)
(Good News Translation, NET Bible)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because the BDAG supports it.
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®).
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