The Greek, Hebrew, and Ge’ez 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.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
The Hebrew adonai in the Old Testament typically refers to God. The shorter adon (and in two cases in the book of Daniel the Aramaic mare [מָרֵא]) is also used to refer to God but more often for concepts like “master,” “owner,” etc. In English Bible translations all of those are translated with “Lord” if they refer to God.
In English Old Testament translations, as in Old Testament translations in many other languages, the use of Lord (or an equivalent term in other languages) is not to be confused with Lord (or the equivalent term with a different typographical display for other languages). While the former translates adonai, adon and mare, the latter is a translation for the tetragrammaton (YHWH) or the Name of God. See tetragrammaton (YHWH) and the article by Andy Warren-Rothlin in Noss / Houser, p. 618ff. for more information.
In the New Testament, the Greek term kurios has at least four different kinds of use:
referring to “God,” especially in Old Testament quotations,
meaning “master” or “owner,” especially in parables, etc.,
as a form of address (see for instance John 4:11: “Sir, you have no bucket”),
or, most often, referring to Jesus
In the first and fourth case, it is also translated as “Lord” in English.
Most languages naturally don’t have one word that covers all these meanings. According to Bratcher / Nida, “the alternatives are usually (1) a term which is an honorific title of respect for a high-ranking person and (2) a word meaning ‘boss’, ‘master’, or ‘chief.’ (…) and on the whole it has generally seemed better to employ a word of the second category, in order to emphasize the immediate personal relationship, and then by context to build into the word the prestigeful character, since its very association with Jesus Christ will tend to accomplish this purpose.”
When looking at the following list of back-translations of the terms that translators in the different languages have used for both kurios and adonai to refer to God and Jesus respectively, it might be helpful for English readers to recall the etymology of the English “Lord.” While this term might have gained an exalted meaning in the understanding of many, it actually comes from hlaford or “loaf-ward,” referring to the lord of the castle who was the keeper of the bread (source: Rosin 1956, p. 121).
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Following are some of the solutions that don’t rely on a different typographical display (see above):
Iyansi: Mwol. Mwol is traditionally used for the “chief of a group of communities and villages” with legal, temporal, and spiritual authority (versus the “mfum [the term used in other Bantu languages] which is used for the chief of one community of people in one village”). Mwol is also used for twins who are “treated as special children, highly honored, and taken care of like kings and queens.” (Source: Kividi Kikama in Greed / Kruger, p. 396ff.)
Binumarien: Karaambaia: “fight-leader” (Source: Oates 1995, p. 255)
Warlpiri: Warlaljamarri (owner or possessor of something — for more information tap or click here)
We have come to rely on another term which emphasizes God’s essential nature as YHWH, namely jukurrarnu (see tetragrammaton (YHWH)). This word is built on the same root jukurr– as is jukurrpa, ‘dreaming.’ Its basic meaning is ‘timelessness’ and it is used to describe physical features of the land which are viewed as always being there. Some speakers view jukurrarnu in terms of ‘history.’ In all Genesis references to YHWH we have used Kaatu Jukurrarnu. In all Mark passages where kurios refers to God and not specifically to Christ we have also used Kaatu Jukurrarnu.
New Testament references to Christ as kurios are handled differently. At one stage we experimented with the term Watirirririrri which refers to a ceremonial boss of highest rank who has the authority to instigate ceremonies. While adequately conveying the sense of Christ’s authority, there remained potential negative connotations relating to Warlpiri ceremonial life of which we might be unaware.
Here it is that the Holy Spirit led us to make a chance discovery. Transcribing the personal testimony of the local Warlpiri pastor, I noticed that he described how ‘my Warlaljamarri called and embraced me (to the faith)’. Warlaljamarri is based on the root warlalja which means variously ‘family, possessions, belongingness’. A warlaljamarri is the ‘owner’ or ‘possessor’ of something. While previously being aware of the ‘ownership’ aspect of warlaljamarri, this was the first time I had heard it applied spontaneously and naturally in a fashion which did justice to the entire concept of ‘Lordship’. Thus references to Christ as kurios are now being handled by Warlaljamarri.” (Source: Stephen Swartz, The Bible Translator 1985, p. 415ff. )
Mairasi: Onggoao Nem (“Throated One” — “Leader,” “Elder”) or Enggavot Nan (“Above-One”) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Obolo: Okaan̄-ene (“Owner of person(s)”) (source: Enene Enene)
Lotha Naga: Opvui (“owner of house / field / cattle”) — since both “Lord” and YHWH are translated as Opvui there is an understanding that “Opvui Jesus is the same as the Opvui of the Old Testament”
Seediq: Tholang, loan word from Min Nan Chinese (the majority language in Taiwan) thâu-lâng (頭儂): “Master” (source: Covell 1998, p. 248)
Thai: phra’ phu pen cao (พระผู้เป็นเจ้า) (divine person who is lord) or ong(kh) cao nay (องค์เจ้านาย) (<divine classifier>-lord-boss) (source: Stephen Pattemore)
Arabic often uses different terms for adonai or kurios referring to God (al-rabb الرب) and kurios referring to Jesus (al-sayyid الـسـيـد). Al-rabb is also the term traditionally used in Arabic Christian-idiom translations for YHWH, and al-sayyid is an honorary term, similar to English “lord” or “sir” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
Tamil also uses different terms for adonai/kurios when referring to God and kurios when referring to Jesus. The former is Karttar கர்த்தர், a Sanskrit-derived term with the original meaning of “creator,” and the latter in Āṇṭavar ஆண்டவர், a Tamil term originally meaning “govern” or “reign” (source: Natarajan Subramani).
Burunge: Looimoo: “owner who owns everything” (in the Burunge Bible translation, this term is only used as a reference to Jesus and was originally used to refer to the traditional highest deity — source: Michael Endl in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 48)
Yagaria: Souve, originally “war lord” (source: Renck, p. 94)
Aguacateco: Ajcaw ske’j: “the one to whom we belong and who is above us” (source: Rita Peterson in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 49)
Konkomba: Tidindaan: “He who is the owner of the land and reigns over the people” (source: Lidorio 2007, p. 66)
Chichewa: AmbuyeAmbuye comes from the singular form Mbuye which is used to refer to: (1) someone who is a guardian or protector of someone or group of people — a grandparent who has founded a community or village; (2) someone who is a boss or master over a group of people or servants and has absolute control over them; (3) owner of something, be it a property, animals and people who are bound under his/her rule — for people this was mostly commonly used in the context of slaves and their owner. In short, Mbuye is someone who has some authorities over those who call him/her their “Mbuye.” Now, when the form Ambuye is used it will either be for honorific when used for singular or plural when referring to more than one person. When this term is used in reference to God, it is for respect to God as he is acknowledged as a guardian, protector, and ruler of everything. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation).
Hdi uses rveri (“lion”) as a title of respect and as such it regularly translates adon in the Old Testament. As an address, it’s most often with a possessive pronoun as in rvera ɗa (“my lion” = “my lord” or “sir”). So, for example, Genesis 15:2 (“O Lord God”) is Rvera ɗa Yawe (“My lion Yahweh”) or Ruth to Boaz in Ruth 2:13: “May I find your grace [lit. good-stomach] my lion.” This ties in nicely with the imagery of the Lord roaring like a lion (Hosea 11:10; Amos 3:8; Joel 3:16). Better still, this makes passages like Revelation 5:5 even richer when we read about rveri ma taba məndəra la Yuda, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah”. In Revelation 19:16, Jesus is rveri ta ghəŋa rveriha “the lion above lions” (“lord of lords”). (Source: Drew Maust)
Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient GreekSeptuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew adonai was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments: “Another case is the use of kurios referring to Jesus. For Yahweh (in English Bibles: ‘the Lord‘), the Septuagint uses kurios. Although the term kurios usually has to do with one’s authority over others, when the New Testament authors use this word from the Septuagint to refer to Jesus, they are making an extraordinary claim: Jesus of Nazareth is to be identified with Yahweh.”
This verse has caused exegetes and translators considerable difficulty. Some feel that from a psychological point of view the last part of verse 25 ought to come immediately following verse 24 (so Moffatt), or that it ought to be omitted altogether. However, there is no textual evidence either for the rearrangement of these verses or for the omission of any part of the verse, and so the translator must try to render the text in the way that Paul has written it. In fact, it is not difficult to see how the first part of verse 25 follows readily upon the dramatic question that Paul raises in the last part of verse 24, Who will rescue me from this body that is taking me to death? Paul assumes that God is the one who will rescue him, and so he gives thanks to God for the victory that he knows will be his. The New English Bible (“God alone, through Jesus Christ our Lord! Thanks be to God!”) and Moffatt (“God will! Thanks be to him through Jesus Christ our Lord!”) have both made this bit of information explicit for the reader. This answer is clearly implicit in the text, and so is not beyond the bounds of what can be included in translation.
The Good News Translation understands the latter half of the verse to be a summary and so translates the transitional particle by this, then, is my condition.
Because of the real possibility that the first part of verse 25 will be related to the clause in verse 24, that is taking me to death, rather than to the question, who will rescue me?, it is important to introduce the response in a way that will indicate clearly that it is God who will rescue—for example, “it is God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and thanks be to him” or “I do thank God that through our Lord Jesus Christ he will rescue me.” The expression of secondary agency of through our Lord Jesus Christ may be introduced as “I thank God who will rescue me; our Lord Jesus Christ will do it.”
The final paragraph of this chapter should be introduced by some type of summary expression—for example, “then,” “in conclusion,” or “to say it briefly.” This … is my condition may be equivalent to “this is how I am” or “I am like this.”
In Greek “I myself” is emphatic and the Good News Translation carries this through, by myself I.
Although the word only does not appear in the Greek text as such, it is clearly implicit in what Paul says. He is contrasting the fact that it is only with his mind that he can serve God with the fact that his human nature serves the law of sin (see 7.5).
As in several places in this section, the contrast between the mind and human nature is presented. It is not always easy to discover precisely what set of terms should be used to indicate this contrast. For some languages it is “mind” versus “heart” and for others it is “mind” versus “body.” In still other languages one may choose to have “thinking” versus “desiring”—for example, “I can serve God’s law only with what I think, while with my desires I serve the law which leads to sin” or “… the law concerning sin.”
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 .
This verse begins with the conjunction that is often translated as “and” or “but.” Here it introduces something more that Paul said about who saves people (7:24). Some languages will see contrast to the question of who in that verse. For example:
But
Other languages will need to indicate that 7:25a answers the question in 7:24b in a different way. For example:
Hey,
-or-
Look/Listen!
But for the connection to 7:24 here, it is more natural in many languages to omit this conjunction.
Thanks be to God:
This clause implies that the answer to Paul’s question of “who will deliver me from this body of death” is God. In some languages a literal translation would not imply that. If that is true in your language, make that meaning explicit. For example:
Thanks be to God, ⌊it is he⌋
-or-
⌊It is⌋ God ⌊who will rescue me,⌋ thanks to him
Thanks be: The Berean Standard Bible adds the verb be. This is a general thanksgiving. Paul thanked God, but the phrase allows others to join in that thanksgiving. Some languages must translate with a verb other than be. For example:
I thank God
-or-
We should thank God
through Jesus Christ: Here the word through indicates that God will rescue Paul because of what Jesus did in his death and resurrection.
our Lord: The word Lord refers to someone who has authority over people. Here it indicates that Jesus has authority over believers. See how you translated this phrase in 1:4 or 6:23.
7:25b
So then: Here this phrase introduces Paul’s conclusion of all that he said in 7:7–25. For example:
Therefore (New American Bible, Revised Edition)
with my mind I serve the law of God: The phrase with my mind is emphasized by being in front of the verb in the Greek clause. The Berean Standard Bible reflects this. Another way to translate this is:
I myself, with my mind, serve the law of God
In some languages it is more natural to have the phrase with my mind after the phrase the law of God. For example:
I myself serve the law of God with my mind (English Standard Version)
serve the law of God: Here the word serve refers to doing as the law of God says. The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as serve can also refer to acting like a slave to his or her master. A slave always does what the master tells him to do. For example:
am a slave to God’s law (New International Version)
This is a figure of speech. In some languages it is not natural to speak of people being a slave to laws. For example:
am ⌊like⌋ a slave to God’s law
-or-
obey the law of God (New Jerusalem Bible)
the law of God: See how you translated this phrase in 7:22.
7:25c
with my flesh I serve the law of sin: The phrase with my flesh is emphasized by being in front of the verb in the Greek clause. In some languages it is more natural to have this phrase in its normal place. For example:
I serve the law of sin with my flesh
my flesh: Here the word flesh refers to human nature. See how you translated this phrase in 7:18.
the law of sin: Here the word law again refers to a principle. Here it is the principle that sin bosses people, telling them to do evil things. See how you translated this phrase in 7:23.
General Comment on 7:25b–c
Both serving the law of God with the mind (7:25b) and serving the law of sin with the flesh (7:25c) occurred in Paul’s life. In some languages it is necessary to make explicit that both things were happening. For example:
I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but ⌊it is also true that⌋ with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
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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