comfort, encourage

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “encourage” or “comfort” is translated in Enlhet as “become calm of the innermost.” “Innermost” or valhoc is a term that is frequently used in Enlhet to describe a large variety of emotions or states of mind (for other examples see here). (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )

In Bacama it is translated as “(to) cool stomach” (source: David Frank in this blog post ), in Yatzachi Zapotec as “cause hearts to mature,” in Isthmus Zapotec “hearts may lie quiet” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.) and in Thai “give heart power to” (source: Bratcher / Hatton 2000).

See also Seat of the Mind / Seat of Emotions and consolation.

happiness / joy

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “joy” or “happiness” is translated in the Hausa Common Language Bible idiomatically as farin ciki or “white stomach.” In some cases, such as in Genesis 29:11, it is also added for emphatic purposes.

Other languages that use the same expression include Southern Birifor (pʋpɛl), Dera (popolok awo), Reshe (ɾipo ɾipuhã). (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

See also Seat of the Mind / Seat of Emotions, rejoiced greatly / celebrated, the Mossi translation of “righteous”, and joy.

joy

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The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated with “joy” or “gladness” in English is translated with various strategies:

  • Baoulé: “a song in the stomach” (see also peace (inner peace))
  • Bambara: “the spirit is made sweet”
  • Kpelle: “sweet heart”
  • Tzeltal: “the good taste of one’s heart”
  • Uduk: “good to the stomach”
  • Mískito: “the liver is wide open” (“happily letting the pleasures flooding in upon it”) (source for this and above: Nida 1952)
  • Mairasi: “good liver” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Noongar: koort-kwabba-djil or “heart very good” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “refreshed heart” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.).

See also Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling,” happiness / joy, and exceeding joy.

complete verse (2 Corinthians 7:13)

Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Corinthians 7:13:

  • Uma: “So, since you received that letter of mine well, our (excl.) hearts were strengthened. Our(excl.) hearts were indeed strengthened, and more than that, we (excl.) were so happy to see the happiness of Titus. His heart became clear [he was relieved] seeing your behavior while he was there with you.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “That’s why our (excl.) liver is really encouraged. And not only is our (excl.) liver encouraged but we (excl.) were also glad when we (excl.) saw that Titus is happy. The reason he is happy is because he was caused peace/quietness in his liver by you.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And that’s not all, because we are also happy because Titus is happy. And the thing Titus is happy about is; by means of your good works his mind is no longer troubled about you.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Therefore our (excl.) minds have-become-strong because we (excl.) can see that those-things have been fulfilled. But it’s not only those-things that we (excl.) were happy-about but rather we (excl.) were made-even-more -happy upon our (excl.) seeing Tito’s happiness, for his thoughts have now become-truly -peaceful because of all of you.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “That is why this is what gave us (excl.) great happiness.And our (excl.) happiness increased even more because of Tito’s happiness, for when he was there with you, you really made his mind/inner-being happy.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “That is why my heart is encouraged now. But not only does my heart rejoice, also more do I rejoice upon seeing that Titus rejoices because of how you treated him there where you live.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Huba: “That is the thing tightening our hearts. Not just tightening our hearts only, with all that we are very happy with the kind of happiness that Titus had for all of you when you cooled his heart.” (The expression “tightening our hearts” means “comforting us”, and “cooling his heart” means “reassuring him”) (Source: David Frank in this blog post )

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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 choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

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

Translation commentary on 2 Corinthians 7:13

Therefore: verse 13a states the result of verse 12, and most translations retain 13a with the preceding paragraph (for example, Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible).

The pronoun we does not include the Corinthian readers.

On the meaning of the word translated as comforted in Revised Standard Version and “encouraged” in Good News Translation, see 1.4. One African translation renders this “our sadness came to an end.”

Besides our own comfort: in addition to the fact that Paul and his associates were encouraged, they were even happier about the fact that Titus was cheered up.

His mind has been set at rest is literally “his spirit was set at rest.” In this context “spirit” refers to one’s inner life of feelings and will. This provides the reason for Titus’ happiness. It was because the Corinthians put his mind at ease that he found joy.

Beginning at the paragraph break, this part of the verse may be reworded as one language has done: “Indeed, our sadness came to an end, but we had even greater joy when we heard how you made Titus happy and how you all caused his heart to lie down.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellingworth, Paul. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .