The Greek that is often translated as “trespass” or “transgression” in English is translated as “missing the commandment” in Kipsigis and “to step beyond the law” in Navajo (Dinė). (Source: Bratcher / Nida 1961)
In Tepeuxila Cuicatec it is translated as “thing not reached.” Marjorie Davis (in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 34ff. ) explains: “[This] implies that the goal was not reached, the task was not finished, or of finished, it was not satisfactorily done. According to the Cuicateco way of thinking of one does not what is expected of him, he offends [or: trespasses] and is an offence.”
Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, translators typically select the inclusive form (including the writer of the letter and the readers).
Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 4:25:
Uma: “Yesus is the one who gave himself to be killed to redeem our wrongs. And after that God brought him back to life so that we become straight in his sight.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “This Isa Almasi was killed because of our (incl.) sin and was caused to live again by God so that we (incl.) could be forgiven and considered straight by God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Jesus is the one God sent in order to let himself be killed as punishment because of our (incl.) transgressions. And then God raised Him from the dead so that God might consider us righteous, just as if we had never done anything wrong.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “God handed-Jesus -over to die on account of our sins and he made-him -alive again so that we would be made-righteous.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Concerning Jesus, it was allowed that he died in order to pay for our sins. Afterwards he resurrected. And now it is this that clears us with God.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, yomigae-rare-ru (よみがえられる) or “resurrect” is used.
The first part of this verse, he was given over to die because of our sins, is an allusion to Isaiah 53.4, 5; and it reflects a kind of Jewish parallelism (see Revised Standard Version “who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification”).
The verb given over to die literally means “to give over” (see 1.24, 26, 28), but in this context the meaning is “to give over to die” (compare it use in 8.32 where the Good News Translation translates by offered).
In Greek the same preposition is used in each clause and is ambiguously rendered by the Revised Standard Version as “for.” Most commentators appear to take the first “for” as retrospective or causal (“because of our sins”), though An American Translation* seems to take it prospectively (“to make up for our offenses”). On the other hand, the second “for” is usually taken in a prospective or final sense, to put us right with God (Jerusalem Bible “to justify us”; An American Translation* “to make us upright”; Phillips “to secure our justification”; Moffatt “that we might be justified”). It is possible, though not as well in keeping with the context, to understand the second “for” as retrospective (see the alternative rendering in the New English Bible, “raised to life because we were now justified”). The translator should keep in mind that there is no separation in Paul’s thinking between the significance of Christ’s death and resurrection; they are inseparable events, because they both describe the mighty act of God by which we are brought into a right relationship with him and our sins are forgiven.
The passive expression he was given over to die may be rendered as active: “God gave Christ over to die,” “God allowed Christ to die,” or “God handed Christ over to people and they killed him.”
Because of our sins is most frequently translated as “because we had sinned” or “because we had done evil.” The passive expression was raised to life may likewise be made active with God as the agent—for example, “God caused him to live again in order that we would be put right with God,” “… in order to put us right with God,” or “… right with himself.”
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 .
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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