The rhetorical questions in Greek that are also translated with rhetorical questions in English in Romans 8:31-35 had to be transformed in Nabak.
Grace Fabian (in: Fabian 2013, p. 149) explains: “Zumbek [Fabian’s co-translator] and I took fresh courage and started in. I had expected [the translation of Romans] to be much more difficult than it really was. We found Paul’s debate very logical except the rhetorical questions. For instance, in Romans 8:31-34 Paul is not asking questions for information. ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?’ Paul and the people in the Greco-Roman world of his day would know that the answer is, ‘No one.’
“The Nabaks do not have this grammatical device in their language. They immediately start asking, ‘Who can separate us? Let me think now.’ So we changed the question to a statement, ‘No one can separate us from the love of Christ. Absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.’ Then the list of specific situations follows and each one is eliminated as a threat to our security. The rephrasing resulted in correct and satisfying comprehension. We liked the flow of the Nabak words.”
In the instances where the Greek New Testament says Christos Iēsous (Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς) rather than the more common Iēsous Christos and English translations typically translate as “Christ Jesus,” the Bokyi translation says Jisos Karâs or “Jesus Christ.”
“Bokyi is a rather small language in the Cross River State of Nigeria. In one Bokyi village named Bansan the oldest man’s name is Otu Obyi. There is another man in another Bokyi village named Obyi Otu. Even though these two men share the same names every Bokyi person knows that they are two different people because of the order in which their names are used.
“If you are a translator and your language uses this same method of naming people, you can not sometimes write Jesus Christ in your translation and sometimes write Christ Jesus, and still refer to the same person. It will refer to two different people. You should always write Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus, but not both. You will have to decide which order is the most natural in your language.”
In Lamnso’, the seat on the right-hand side signifies that the person seated there would have a higher position than the one to his left (vs. just being a seat of honor). To circumvent any misunderstanding of the biblical text, the translation here refers to the “highest seat next to God.” (Source: Karl Grebe in Holzhausen 1991, p. 52)
(Note that in Elhomwe the idiom “I see you through the left hand” stands for “useless.” [Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext])
For more information on the issue of translating “right” vs. “left,” especially in African languages, see Lynell Zogbo’s article in The Bible Translator 2013, p. 36ff. .
The Greek that is translated as “intercede” or similar in English is translated as “speaking in favor of” in Highland Totonac, as “praying to God for” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui, and as “pleading with God for” in Huehuetla Tepehua. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
The Greek terms krino and katakrino/katadikazo that are translated as “judge” and “condemn” respectively in English are translated with only one term in Kutu (tagusa). (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The term that is translated as “resurrect” or “rise again” as referring to Jesus in English is translated in British Sign Language with a sign that combines the signs for “Jesus” and “standing on feet again.” (Source: Anna Smith)
“Resurrect” or “rise again” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
The Christian BSL website notes: “A British Sign Language (BSL) translation of Resurrection / Rise Again / Rose Again (Jesus). Jesus’ return to life three days after his death on the cross. In the translation of Rise Again or Rose Again the word AGAIN isn’t signed; signing the word AGAIN in BSL in this context would erroneously indicate that Jesus was resurrected more than once.” (see here )
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 8:34:
Uma: “Who dares to say we must be punished! For Kristus Yesus himself died to redeem our sins. And more than that, he was brought back to life and sat down on the right side of God. It is that Kristus Yesus who intermediates for us in front of God.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “That’s why there is no one who can say that we (incl.) ought to/must be punished and go to hell because of our (incl.) sin. For Isa Almasi has already died because of our (incl.) sin and not only that, but he was also made alive again by God and he was honored by him there at his right, the place of the very highest rank. He is also our (incl.) mediator there with God defending us (incl.).” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And there’s also no one who can say that we are worthy to be punished, for we are helped by Jesus Christ. He died as a substitute for us and that’s not all, for he rose from the dead also. And now he is very high in rank, for there he is sitting on the right side of God, and he helps us in the presence of God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Who also will condemn us? Because Cristo is the one who died for us and not only that but he also came-to-life again, and now he is at the right-side of God. He moreover is the one who speaks-with God for us.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Now no one can say that we will go to punishment. Because Christ has died for us, and he resurrected and now lives at the right of God. He is the one who always is our helper there where God is.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.