feel (terror / pain / suffering / anxiety / thirst)

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “feel (terror, pain, suffering, anxiety, thirst)” or similar in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) in association with the verb kumva or “hear,” “as if the feeling is heard in the ear.”

In Psalm 115:7 the stand-alone “feel” is also translated as “hear.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

See also angry

complete verse (Acts 9:16)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 9:16:

  • Uma: “I myself will say to him the suffering he must undergo because of his following of me.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “And I will show to him all that he must suffer/endure because of his following me,’ said the Lord.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And I will cause him to understand that he will have many difficulties because he is my servant.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “I will also make-known to him the number (lit. manyness) of the hardships he will endure in order that my name will-be-made-known.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And it’s true, I will cause him to comprehend that he next will experience very many hardships/sufferings because of his serving me.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

1st person pronoun referring to God (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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

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

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on Acts 9:16

In Greek the pronoun subjects of verbs are expressed by a suffix on the verb form itself; but when a separate form of the pronoun is used as a subject, this usually indicates that the subject is to be stressed. Since I does appear as a separate form in this sentence, the Good News Translation has brought out the indicated emphasis by translating I myself.

The final phrase of verse 16 for my sake must not be understood as an expression of cause but as an expression of purpose. Such purpose must in some languages be made relatively explicit by a purpose clause, for example, “in order to make me known” (an expansion based upon the immediately preceding statement in v. 15).

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 .