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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).
Illustration by Horst Lemke (1922-1985) for the GermanGute Nachricht für Sie – NT68, one of the first editions of the Good News Bible in German of 1968. Lemke was a well-known illustrator who illustrated books by Erich Kästner , Astrid Lindgren and many others.
Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Luke 2:8-20:
At night in the fields near Bethlehem,
some shepherds were guarding their sheep,
when suddenly an angel came down from the Lord,
and the glory of the Lord flashed all around.
The shepherds were shaken, but the angel encouraged them,
“Don’t be afraid! I have good news for you —
news that will bring happiness to all who hear.
Today a Savior was born for you in King David’s hometown.
This Savior is Christ the Lord, and you’ll recognize him —
he’s a newborn baby on a bed of hay.”
At that very moment a multitude of angels
descended from heaven, singing:
“Praise! Shout praises to God in heaven!
Peace to everyone who pleases God!”
After the angels had returned to heaven,
the shepherds said to each other,
“Let’s go to Bethlehem and see what this is all about.”
They wasted no time, and when they arrived,
Mary and Joseph were there —
and a newborn baby on a bed of hay.
The shepherds told the baby’s parents
what the angel had said about Jesus.
They and everyone else were surprised,
but Mary kept all this in mind
and never stopped wondering what it meant.
With praises to God flowing from their lips,
the shepherds returned to their sheep.
Everything had happened exactly as the angel had said.
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®).
kai touto humin to sēmeion ‘and this for you the (or ‘a’) sign,’ with either estin ‘is’ (cf. Translator’s New Testament), or estai ‘will be’ (cf. An American Translation) understood, preferably the latter. touto ‘this’ points to the subsequent description of the sign; humin ‘for you,’ dative of advantage.
sēmeion ‘sign,’ ‘distinguishing mark,’ ‘miracle.’ Here the sign serves either to identify the new-born child or to prove the truth of what has been said about the child, but these interpretations do not exclude each other; the latter is preferable.
esparganōmenon kai keimenon en phatnē ‘wrapped up and lying in a manger,’ cf. on v. 7; strictly speaking only the second part of the phrase denotes something out of the ordinary and has therefore the character of a sign.
Translation:
This will be a sign for you, or, ‘this the you-will-recognize sign’ (Ekari), ‘by this you will recognize him’ (Leyden), following the first interpretation mentioned in Exegesis, or, “this will prove it to you” (An American Translation), following the other interpretation. For sign cf. also on 2.34.
Find. Receptor languages may distinguish between (1) ‘find/come-across’ (by chance), and (2) ‘find/obtain’ (as a result of deliberate seeking), as is the case here. In some languages one verb covers the concepts ‘to see’ and ‘to find’ (e.g. Tboli), or ‘to see,’ ‘to meet’ and ‘to find’ (e.g. Balinese).
A babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. The verbs used are the same as in v. 7 but the aspect is different. This may be expressed by the use of different aspect forms, or by other means, compare e.g. ‘wrapped-him-up with/by-means-of swaddling-cloths,’ suggesting an act, in v. 7, with ‘wrapped-up in swaddling-cloths,’ suggesting repose, here (Bahasa Indonesia KB), ‘was wrapped by her in swaddling-cloths’ with ‘having-swaddling-cloths’ (Balinese), or, ‘put him in a manger’ with ‘lying in a manger’ (Sranan Tongo). In some languages a one-word rendering such as ‘wrapped-up’ or ‘swaddled’ is more idiomatic that a literal rendering of the phrase “wrapped up in swaddling cloths”. This may help to make it possible to recast the whole expression in such a way as to focus the attention on the second part, cf. ‘find a wrapped-up babe which was lying in a manger’ (cf. Batak Toba 1885). For babe cf. on v. 17.
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.
And this will be a sign to you: The angel gave the shepherds a sign to help them know that the baby was the Messiah. They needed a sign, because they would find the Messiah in an unusual place in humble conditions. Because it was so unusual to find a newborn baby in conditions such as those, the sign proved that the baby who had just been born in Bethlehem was Christ the Lord. Some ways to translate this are:
11bHe is Christ, the Lord. 12aLet this prove it to you: (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English) -or-
Here is a sign ⌊that he is Christ the Lord⌋. -or-
This will show that ⌊he is Christ the Lord⌋.
And this: The word this refers to what the angel was about to tell the shepherds in 2:12b–c, that the shepherds would find Christ wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
a sign: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sign refers to an unusual event/miracle that has a meaning or proves that something is true. In this context, it is unusual to find any baby lying in a manger, especially the Messiah! The angel gave this as proof that the baby, Jesus, was Christ the Lord.
2:12b
You will find a baby: The clause You will find a baby implies that the shepherds would first have to search for a baby. They would not accidentally find him.
wrapped in swaddling cloths: The phrase wrapped in swaddling cloths is the same expression as in 2:7a. It was a Jewish custom to wrap newborn babies in strips of cloth. This kept them warm, and it also kept their arms and legs straight.
If your language requires you to say who wrapped the baby in cloths, you may say that his mother did. For example:
You will find a baby ⌊whose mother⌋ has wrapped ⌊him⌋ in cloths.
2:12c
manger: A manger was a feeding box or trough for animals, especially for large animals such as cattle and horses. People made this feeding box out of wood or stone. The word manger also occurs in 2:7c.
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