Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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.
In this verse, the Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “speak” or “say” or similar in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-hanashi (お話し), combining “speak” (hanashi) with the respectful prefix o-.
“Hope is sometimes one of the most difficult terms to translate in the entire Bible. It is not because people do not hope for things, but so often they speak of hoping as simply ‘waiting.’ In fact, even in Spanish, the word esperar means both ‘to wait’ and ‘to hope.’ However, in many instances the purely neutral term meaning ‘to wait’ may be modified in such a way that people will understand something more of its significance. For example, in Tepeuxila Cuicatec hope is called ‘wait-desire.’ Hope is thus a blend of two activities: waiting and desiring. This is substantially the type of expectancy of which hope consists.
In Yucateco the dependence of hope is described by the phrase ‘on what it hangs.’ ‘Our hope in God’ means that ‘we hang onto God.’ The object of hope is the support of one’s expectant waiting. In Ngäbere the phrase “resting the mind” is used. This “implies waiting and confidence, and what is a better definition of hope than ‘confident waiting’.” (Source for this and above: Nida 1952, p. 20, 133)
Enlhet: “waitings of (our) 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. )
Kwang: “one’s future is restored to one’s soul like a fresh, cool breeze on a hot day.” (Source: Mark Vanderkooi right here )
Noongar: koort-kwidiny or “heart waiting” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Anjam: “looking through the horizon” (source: Albert Hoffmann in his memoirs from 1948, quoted in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 7)
Ron: kintiɓwi or “put lip” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Alekano: “wait not hearing two ears” (meaning to “wait without being double-minded” — source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation June 1986, p. 36ff.)
Marathiaasha (आशा) with a stronger emphasis on desire
In Mwera “hope” and “faith” are translated with the same word: ngulupai. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
C.M. Doke looks at a number of Bantu languages and their respective translations of “hope” with slightly varying connotations (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 9ff. ):
Xhosa and Zulu: themba “hope, expect,” also “have faith in, rely upon”
Tswana: tsholofelo “hope, expect, look for confidently”
Southern Sotho: tshepo “trust, rely on, believe in, have confidence in”
“Unlike English, which uses the word hope broadly, the French language uses two words that derive from the word espérer (to hope): espoir and espérance. Both can first refer to something hoped for. In this sense, the word espoir usually refers to an uncertain object; that is, someone who hopes for something in this way does not have the certainty that it will happen (“I hope the weather will be nice tomorrow”). On the other hand, espérance describes what, rightly or wrongly, is hoped for or expected with certainty. It often refers to a philosophical or eschatological object (‘I hope in the goodness of human beings’; ‘I hope for the return of Jesus Christ’).
“When we speak of espoir or espérance, we then have in mind different types of objects hoped for. This difference matters, because both terms also commonly refer to the state of mind that characterizes the hopeful. And this state of mind will be different precisely according to the object hoped for.
“Having espoir for an uncertain yet better future in these difficult times may be a good thing, but it is not enough. Such hope can be disappointed and easily fade away when our wishes and expectations (our hopes) do not materialize.
“The opposite is true with espérance, which is deeper than our desire and wish for an end to a crisis or a future without pain and suffering. To face the trials of life, we need peace and joy in our hearts that come from expecting certain happiness. This is what espérance is: a profound and stable disposition resulting from faith in the coming of what we expect. In this sense, it is similar in meaning to the English word hopefulness.
“If we have believed in the Son of the living God, we have such a hope. It rests on the infallible promises of our God, who knows the plans he has for us, his children — plans of peace and not misfortune, to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). By using the two meanings of the word, we can say that the espérance that the fulfillment of his promises represents (the object hoped for) fills us with espérance (the state of mind).”
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 28:20:
Uma: “That is why here I am in Roma, and here you are, relatives I called you here, for I wanted to talk to you. Because the reason that I am detained is because of my belief in the Redeemer King promised by God, the same as all Israel people.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “That’s why I asked to see and talk with you (pl.). Here I am now chained because I am following the one we (incl.) the tribe of Isra’il are hoping-for/expecting.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Therefore that’s the reason I called you together so that I might talk to you because I am chained because of my belief in the king which will come which we (incl.) Jews expect.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “And that is the reason I have had-you -called, so that we will see-each-other and talk-together, because I want to make-known to you the correct basis/reason for my-being-bound with this chain. It-stems-from my faith/belief in what we descendants of Israel expect/hope-for.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “That’s why today, I called for you to come for I want us (incl.) to meet-one-another. I want to talk to you, so that I can cause you to comprehend that I am tethered with this chain only because of my believing in the Savior King who was promised, he whom all of us (incl.) descendants of Israel have been expecting.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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).
The pronoun that beginning verse 20 refers back to all of the preceding events. In some languages this may be more appropriately rendered as “because of all that had happened, I asked to see you” or “these are the reasons why I have asked to see you.”
There is a problem in translating the conjunction because which introduces the expression I have this chain on me. If translated literally, in some languages it would mean “I wish to talk with you because I have this chain on me.” This is, of course, not the meaning. The Greek conjunction which is rendered because in this context often points out merely some type of logical sequence, without indicating that it is specifically causal. A more appropriate transition might be “in fact, I have this chain on me for the sake of him for whom the people of Israel hope.” This would act as a kind of link between the recounting of the previous events and Paul’s claim that the real issue is his preaching of the resurrection or of the Messianic fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
I have this chain on me is equivalent to “I am here a prisoner” or “I am chained as a prisoner.”
For the sake of him for whom the people of Israel hope is taken by the Good News Translation and certain commentaries as a reference to the Jewish Messianic hope. Other commentaries take this as a reference to the Jewish belief in the resurrection (see 23.6). The Greek expression is literally “for the sake of the hope of Israel” and may support either of these interpretations. Most translators prefer to leave this phrase ambiguous (see New English Bible “for the sake of the hope of Israel”). One may render this final expression, for the sake of him for whom the people of Israel hope, as “for the sake of the one in whom the people of Israel have placed their hope” or “for the sake of the one the people of Israel look forward to with confidence.”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
So for this reason: This probably refers to the evil deeds that the Jewish leaders accused Paul of doing in Jerusalem. Those evil deeds, if proven, would require the death penalty. Paul did not say what they accused him of (28:17–18). He also appealed to Caesar (28:19) because his life was in danger from attack by the Jewish leaders, but he did not plan to accuse the Jews of wrongdoing before the Romans (28:19c).
In some languages “that” is more natural than this here. For example:
For that reason -or-
That is why (Good News Translation) -or-
Because of those things/events
28:20b
It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain: The clause I am bound is the result of Paul believing in the hope of Israel. Other ways to indicate this connection are:
I’m wearing these chains because of what Israel hopes for (God’s Word) -or-
I am bound with this chain because I believe in the hope of Israel. (New Century Version) -or-
⌊I believe in⌋ the hope of Israel, so ⌊as a result⌋ I am bound with this chain. -or-
⌊I believe in⌋ the person ⌊whom we people of⌋ Israel expect would come, and so ⌊the Jewish leaders forced the Roman authorities to⌋ bind/tie me with this chain.
the hope of Israel: This phrase refers to the person whom God promised to send and save the people of Israel. The Jewish leaders in Rome knew about that promise, so they did not need Paul to explain it to them. In many languages the meaning of a literal translation will not be clear. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
• Translate literally and explain it in a footnote. Two example footnotes are:
This phrase refers to God’s promise of a savior for the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel waited with great expectation for that savior at that time. -or-
This phrase refers to the person whom God promised to send and save the people of Israel. At that time many of the people of Israel waited expectantly for that person to come.
• Translate the implied meaning. For example:
the expected Messiah/savior of Israel -or-
the person whom the people of Israel expected would come and save them
You may then want to indicate the literal words in a footnote. An example footnote is:
Literally “the hope of Israel.”
Paul believed that Jesus was that savior and wanted to explain why he believed that to the Jewish leaders in Rome. But he did not plainly say that Jesus was that savior at this time.
I am bound with this chain: The word bound indicates that the Roman soldiers had fastened a fetter around Paul’s wrist. The fetter had a chain attached to it. The drawing below shows a fetter at each end of the chain. It is not known if Paul’s chain had one or two fetters.
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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