The Greek and Latin that is translated as “resurrection” in English is translated in Chicahuaxtla Triqui and Pohnpeian as “live-up” (i.e. return to life) (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel) and in Iloko as panagungar: a term that stems “from the word ‘agungar,’ an agricultural term used to describe the coming back to life of a plant which was wilting but which has been watered by the farmer, or of a bulb which was apparently dead but grows again.” (Source: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
Likewise, in Matumbiyu’ya carries the meaning of “raise from the dead, resuscitate, come back from near death” and is used for dry plants that come back to life when you water them or sick children who revive after being healed. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
In Estado de México Otomi, it is translated as “people will be raised from the dead,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “the dead having to come to life again,” in San Mateo del Mar Huave as “arose from the grave” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), and in Kriol as gidap laibala brom dedbala or “get up alive from the dead” (source: Sam Freney in this article .)
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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 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 these verses, the Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “restore” or “pay back” in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-kaeshi (お返し), combining “restore” (kaeshi) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 14:14:
Noongar: “and God will bless you, because they cannot give you what you gave them. God will repay you on the day when the good people rise from death.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “If we do thus, the Lord God will bless us, because people like that are not able to return our behavior. The Lord God will return our behavior on Kiama Day, when he makes-live again people who are straight in his sight.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “If you do this you will be very happy/glad. For they are not able to repay/reward you. God will be the one repaying you in the last day (meaning: after death) when the straight people are made alive again.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And if this is what you will do, you will be very happy. Because they cannot in turn invite you, and they cannot pay back to you the good which you did to them, and God will be the one to pay you back with a good situation in the future, when the people whose actions, whose customs are good, are raised from the dead.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “and you (sing.) will be fortunate. Because even though they will not be able-to-repay you (sing.), you (sing.) will be rewarded nevertheless, because God will repay (you) on the day that good people come-to-life again.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Of course there’s nothing with which they can reward you. That’s why you can be very happy, for God is the one who will reward you, when the people who are straight/righteous in his sight will be made alive again by him.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The Greek, Hebrew, and Latin terms that are translated in English mostly as “righteous” as an adjective or personified noun or “righteousness” (also as “upright(ness)” and “just(ice)”) are most commonly expressed with concept of “straightness,” though this may be expressed in a number of ways. (Click or tap here to see the details)
Following is a list of (back-) translations of various languages:
Paasaal: “white heart” (source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
(San Mateo del Mar Huave: “completely good” (the translation does not imply sinless perfection)
Nuer: “way of right” (“there is a complex concept of “right” vs. ‘left’ in Nuer where ‘right’ indicates that which is masculine, strong, good, and moral, and ‘left’ denotes what is feminine, weak, and sinful (a strictly masculine viewpoint!) The ‘way of right’ is therefore righteousness, but of course women may also attain this way, for the opposition is more classificatory than descriptive.”) (This and all above from Bratcher / Nida except for Bilua: Carl Gross; Tiv: Rob Koops; Muna: René van den Berg)
Yatzachi Zapotec: “walk straight” (source for this and four previous: John Beekman in Notes on Translation November 1964, p. 1-22)
Makonde: “doing what God wants” (in a context of us doing) and “be good in God’s eyes” (in the context of being made righteous by God) (note that justify / justification is translated as “to be made good in the eyes of God.” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
Aari: The Pauline word for “righteous” is generally rendered by “makes one without sin” in the Aari, sometimes “before God” is added for clarity. (Source: Loren Bliese)
Ekari: maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (the same word that is also used for “truth“; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).
Guhu-Samane: pobi or “right” (also: “right (side),” “(legal) right,” “straightness,” “correction,” “south,” “possession,” “pertinence,” “kingdom,” “fame,” “information,” or “speech” — “According to [Guhu-Samane] thinking there is a common core of meaning among all these glosses. Even from an English point of view the first five can be seen to be closely related, simply because of their similarity in English. However, from that point the nuances of meaning are not so apparent. They relate in some such a fashion as this: As one faces the morning sun, south lies to the right hand (as north lies to the left); then at one’s right hand are his possessions and whatever pertains to him; thus, a rich man’s many possessions and scope of power and influence is his kingdom; so, the rich and other important people encounter fame; and all of this spreads as information and forms most of the framework of the people’s speech.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in Notes on Translation 1964, p. 11ff.)
German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): Gerechtheit, a neologism to differentiate it from the commonly-used Gerechtigkeit which can mean “righteousness” but is more often used in modern German as “fairness” (Berger / Nord especially use Gerechtheit in Letter to the Romans) or Gerechtestun, also a neologism, meaning “righteous deeds” (especially in Letter to the Ephesians)
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®).
all’ hotan dochēn poiēs ‘but when you give an entertainment.’ For dochē cf. on 5.29. Here it takes up in a general way ariston and deipnon (v. 12).
kalei ptōchous, anapeirous, chōlous, tuphlous ‘invite the poor, the cripple, the lame, the blind,’ not intended as an exhaustive enumeration but as illustration of explicit or implicit social handicaps. For ptōchos cf. on 4.18. For chōlos cf. on 7.22.
anapeiros (also v. 21) ‘crippled,’ ‘cripple’ (subst.).
(V. 14) kai makarios esē ‘and you will be blessed,’ scil. if you do that. For makarios cf. on 1.45.
hoti ouk echousin antapodounai soi ‘because they have not (the means) to repay you,’ i.e. ‘they cannot repay you.’
antapodidōmi ‘to repay,’ ‘to reward’ (cf. antapodoma in v. 12).
antapodothēsetai gar soi lit. ‘for it will be repaid to you,’ i.e. ‘for you will be repaid.’ The agent is God.
en tē anastasei tōn dikaiōn ‘at the resurrection of the righteous, or, the just.’ For anastasis cf. on 2.34.
Translation:
For the blind see 4.18.
Maimed, or, ‘mutilated,’ covering an area of reference in which lame (see 7.22) is included; also rendered, ‘having a bodily defect’ (Javanese), ‘deformed’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘missing a limb’ (Balinese).
(V. 14) You will be blessed, or, ‘happy,’ see 1.45.
Because they cannot repay you, or, ‘they cannot do-to you things that you have done-to them’ (Kituba), expresses the reason of the preceding statement in negative terms, the next clause does the same in positive terms: what the poor etc. are not able to do now God will do in a more splendid way at the resurrection; hence, the two clauses are sometimes more closely connected, e.g. ‘because they cannot repay you, but you will be repaid (cf. New English Bible, Phillips, Malay, Batak Toba), or, but God will repay you.’ Since at its third occurrence to repay has another nuance of meaning, pointing beyond the human sphere, a different rendering may be required.
At the resurrection of the just, or, ‘when the righteous arise from death’ (Thai 1967) ‘when those people who righteous they-will live-up (i.e. return to life)’ (Trukese, Pohnpeian). The just, or, ‘the just/righteous ones,’ or, sometimes, ‘the righteous dead ones,’ ‘the dead ones that have been righteous’; and cf. the references on “righteous” in 1.6.
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.
you will be blessed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as blessed here refers to being in a good situation. This situation is a result of God showing favor or kindness to that person. Some other ways to translate this word are:
you will be truly fortunate/happy -or-
God will bless/favor you
See the notes on this word in 1:45a–b and 11:27b. See bless, Meaning 3, in the Glossary.
14:14b
Since: In Greek, this verse part begins with a conjunction that some versions, such as the Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, translate as “because.” This conjunction introduces the reason why the host who invites the poor will be blessed. This reason is given in 14:14b–c. 14:14b gives the negative part of the reason: Poor people cannot repay you here in this life. 14:14c gives the positive part of the reason: God will repay you in the future. See the General Comment at the end of 14:14c for a way to reorder these verse parts.
The Berean Standard Bible uses the conjunction Since here because the negative clause in 14:14b is not a blessing in itself. This helps the reader to understand that the blessing will come from God in the future. Consider how to connect these clauses so that your readers correctly understand the reason for the blessing.
they cannot repay you: The expression they cannot repay you means that the poor and disabled are not able to do the same kind of thing for the host as he has done for them. They are too poor or too weak to have a feast to which they could invite others.
14:14c
you will be repaid: The clause you will be repaid is a passive clause. The implied subject is God. Other ways to translate this clause are:
you will be rewarded -or-
God will bless you and reward you (Contemporary English Version)
at the resurrection of the righteous: The phrase the resurrection of the righteous refers to the time in the future when God will cause all the righteous people who have died to live again. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
when the good people rise from the dead (New Century Version) -or-
when upright people come to life again -or-
on the day when God causes righteous people to live again
the righteous: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the righteous probably refers to people whom God accepts as righteous. He considers them to be just and good according to his standards. Some ways to translate this are:
all those who have a right relationship with God -or-
those who have God’s approval (God’s Word) -or-
those whom he/God considers to be good/righteous
In some languages people use an idiom to express this meaning. For example:
those who follow a straight path -or-
upright people
General Comment on 14:14b–c
In some languages it may be more natural to place 14:14c before 14:14b. This may help readers to understand the reason why those who invite the poor and crippled in 14:14a are blessed. For example:
14cThen at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you 14bfor inviting those who could not repay you. (New Living Translation (2004))
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