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. )

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God (“together with”)

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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, tomo ni o-rare-ru (ともにおられる) or “together with” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Luke 12:8 – 12:9

Exegesis:

legō de humin ‘I say to you,’ cf. on 3.8.

pas hos an homologēsē en emoi ‘everyone who acknowledges me.’

homologeō ‘to acknowledge,’ ‘to confess,’ here with en, probably an Aramaism. To acknowledge Jesus means to acknowledge allegiance to Jesus.

emprosthen tōn anthrōpōn ‘before, or, in the presence of men,’ i.e. publicly, here and now.

kai ho huios tou anthrōpou ‘the Son of man on his part….’ For ho huios tou anthrōpou cf. on 5.24.

homologēsei en autō emprosthen tōn aggelōn tou theou ‘will acknowledge him before the angels of God,’ i.e. in the eschatological judgment the Son of man will answer for him.

(V. 9) ho de arnēsamenos me enōpion tōn anthrōpōn ‘he who disowns me before men.’ de marks transition and contrast. arnēsamenos is in the aorist because, from the standpoint of the final judgment, it refers to an act in the past. enōpion is equivalent to emprosthen (v. 8). For arneomai cf. on 8.45. To disown Jesus means to deny allegiance to him.

aparnēthēsetai enōpion tōn aggelōn tou theou ‘will be disowned before the angels of God,’ in the eschatological judgment Jesus will not answer for him. aparneomai is equivalent to arneomai.

Translation:

Every one who acknowledges me…, the Son of man also will acknowledge … The structure of this verse may have to be recast, e.g. ‘when a person acknowledges me…, the Son of man on his part will acknowledge him…,’ or in co-ordination, e.g. ‘let anybody acknowledge me…, and I the Son of man will acknowledge him…’ (cf. The Four Gospels – a New Translation).

Acknowledges me is often rendered by a descriptive phrase, cf. e.g. “confesses publicly that he belongs to me” (Good News Translation), ‘say openly … that they have believed on me’ (Tzeltal), ‘approves me’ (West Nyanja, a term explained as “to utter response in chorus, or in a speech approve, by word of mouth or by clapping of hands, the words of the speaker, to … do the part of an approver and say, ‘yes, yes, we say so too’ ”; also used for ‘to confess,’ in the sense of reciting the Creed); or by comparable expressions in direct discourse; or again by, ‘declares/mentions my name’ (Kekchi, Sranan Tongo), ‘talks my good name’ (Northern Grebo), ‘testifies to me’ (cf. e.g. Zarma, Pohnpeian), ‘takes my side’ (Shona 1966), ‘speaks for me’ (Ekari).

(V. 9) He who denies me … will be denied …, or, ‘when a person disowns/rejects me…, he will be disowned/rejected, or, I will disown/reject him….’ To deny can often be rendered by the opposite or negative of the expression used for “to acknowledge”, e.g. ‘not be willing to acknowledge’ (Thai 1967), ‘say I do not (or, don’t want to) believe,’ etc., ‘pretend not to know’ (Ekari); in Zarma one uses ‘to take oath,’ nearly always with negative connotation: to swear that it is not true, or that one will not.

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 12:8

Paragraph 12:8–12

12:8–9

In these verses Jesus contrasted the results of acknowledging him to people and of disowning him to people. This connects with his theme in 12:4–7 that his disciples should fear God rather than people.

12:8a

I tell you: Jesus often used the words I tell you to begin a statement that he wanted to emphasize. He was asking people to listen with extra attention. Some ways to show the emphasis in this context could be:

Let me tell you this
-or-
Listen
-or-
I assure you

If you have another way in your language to emphasize a statement or to alert people to listen with special attention, you may be able to use it here.

everyone who confesses Me before men: In this context the Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as everyone who confesses Me before men refers to anyone who publicly tells people that he is a disciple of Jesus. It may refer especially to a person who publicly declares his loyalty to Jesus in a courtroom setting, as in 12:11–12. Some other ways to translate this clause are:

those who declare publicly that they belong to me (Good News Translation)
-or-
all those who stand before others and say they believe in me (New Century Version)
-or-
anyone who affirms in front of other people here on earth that he is my follower

confesses Me: Someone who confesses Jesus declares or affirms that he is a follower of Jesus. He affirms that Jesus is his Master/Lord.

before men: The phrase before men means “in public.” It refers to speaking in front of or in the presence of people, whether men or women.

12:8b

the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God: This part of the verse is similar to 12:8a. However, the exact words that Jesus will say to the angels about his disciples may be different from the words that his disciples will say about him to other people. It is good to translate the verb confess here in a similar way as in 12:8a and also in a way that fits the context of 12:8b. Some ways to do that could be:

⌊I,⌋ the Son of Man, will also stand before the angels of God and say that he ⌊is my disciple⌋
-or-

⌊I,⌋ the Son of Man, will affirm to the angels of God that he ⌊belongs to me⌋

Jesus often referred to himself as the Son of Man. In some languages it may be necessary to make it clear that Jesus was referring to himself. For example:

I, the Son of Man

The phrase Son of Man also occurs in 9:22a and 11:30b.

before the angels of God: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as before the angels of God corresponds to the phrase “before men” in 12:8a. It means “in front of” or “in the presence of” the angels of God. It is implied that God is also present. In some languages it may be necessary to make this information explicit. For example:

in front of ⌊God and⌋ his angels

the angels of God: The phrase the angels of God refers to spirit beings who serve God. See angel, Meaning 1, in the Glossary. Refer to them here in a way that fits the context. One way to do that could be:

the spirit beings who serve God ⌊in heaven⌋

General Comment on 12:8a–b

In some languages it may be awkward or redundant to repeat a descriptive phrase for the term “acknowledge” in both 12:8a and 12:8b. If that is true in your language, you may be able to use a shorter phrase in 12:8b that refers back to the phrase in 12:8a. For example:

8a…those who declare publicly that they belong to me, 8bthe Son of Man will do the same for them before the angels of God. (Good News Translation)

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