complete verse (Romans 2:18)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 2:18:

  • Uma: “We Jews, we know the Lord’s desire, and we know to distinguish what is good and what is bad because we receive teaching from the Lord’s Law.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “You know what God wants that you ought to/should do. And you know how to choose the right/proper doings because you learned that from God’s law.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “You know what God wants, and you know what is proper to do because the Law has been taught to you.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “You know what he wants you to do and you are also skilled in choosing the most-correct-thing to be done on account of your having learned the law.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The Jew know very well about God’s will because the law they follow is what teaches what good they must do.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

law

The Greek that is translated in English as “Law” or “law” is translated in Mairasi as oro nasinggiei or “prohibited things” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Noongar with a capitalized form of the term for “words” (Warrinya) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

In Yucateco the phrase that is used for “law” is “ordered-word” (for “commandment,” it is “spoken-word”) (source: Nida 1947, p. 198) and in Central Tarahumara it is “writing-command.” (wsource: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)

See also teaching / law (of God) (Japanese honorifics).

will (of God) (Japanese honorifics)

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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 (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-kokoro (みこころ) or “will (of God)” in the referenced verses. Two verses (Ezra 10:11 and Ephesians 1:9) use mi-mune (みむね) with the same honorific prefix and meaning.

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

See also will and doing the will of God.

Translation commentary on Romans 2:18

What God wants you to do is in Greek literally “the will,” a phrase current among the Jews when speaking of God’s will in an absolute sense.

You know may be understood in the sense of “you are acquainted with” or “you have learned,” emphasizing the results of having received the Law. In this way the first part of verse 18 becomes parallel to the second part.

To choose what is right (New English Bible “you know right from wrong”; An American Translation*, Jerusalem Bible “can tell what is right”) may have the force of proving what is best after one has put the various possibilities to the test (Revised Standard Version “approve that is excellent”; Moffatt “with a sense of what is vital in religion”; Phillips “truly to appreciate moral values”). It is important, however, in introducing this clause to avoid implying that the Jews habitually chose what is right. A more appropriate wording may be “you have learned from the law how to choose what is right” or “… how one ought to choose what is right,” suggesting that the Law forms the basis for teaching men how to choose the right, without necessarily implying that the Jews always do so.

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 .