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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) 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, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.
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 exaiphnēs egeneto sun tō aggelō ‘and suddenly (or, ‘unexpectedly’) there was with the angel…’; egeneto is used here as a substitute for a form of eimi ‘to be,’ exaiphnēs also 9.39.
plēthos stratias ouraniou ‘a great company of the heavenly army’; the genitive refers to content (to be interpreted as ‘consisting of’).
stratia ouranios (both words †) ‘heavenly army,’ scil. of angels, cf. 1 Kings 22.19.
ainountōn ton theon kai legontōn ‘praising God and saying’; both participles are appositive to the preceding stratias ouraniou but are in the plural as if aggelōn preceded. legontōn ‘saying’ serves to introduce the content of the praise.
Translation:
There was with the angel …, or, ‘suddenly there-appeared/became-visible near the angel’ (Bahasa Indonesia KB, similarly Ekari), ‘there joined themselves to the angel…’ (Bible de Jérusalem, similarly Tagalog), ‘the angel was surrounded by…’ (Vai), ‘there came to the side of the angel…’ (Sranan Tongo).
A multitude of the heavenly host, or, ‘a numerous heavenly army’ (Sundanese), ‘many heavenly soldiers’ (Batak Toba). For multitude cf. on 3.7, for heavenly on “heaven” in v. 15. Since in host the emphasis is not on the military aspect, “heavenly host” may also be rendered by ‘those from heaven’ (Tboli), ‘inhabitants of heaven’ (Thai).
Praising God and saying. In some receptor languages words of praise are preferably not introduced by ‘to say’; hence, ‘they praised…, thus their praise’ (Balinese, Sundanese), “praising God and singing” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation). To praise is often rendered by a descriptive expression, e.g. ‘make-great, or, make-great the name of’ (Tae,’ in v. 20), ‘to speak well of’ (Western Highland Purepecha), ‘lift up the name of’ (San Blas Kuna, Kpelle), ‘to sing the name of’ (Huehuetla Tepehua), ‘to make good’ (Highland Totonac), ‘to say good about’ (Tzeltal), ‘to make known something good about’ (Navajo).
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 suddenly there appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host: This clause indicates that immediately after the angel said the words in 2:12, many other angels from heaven were there with him. They suddenly joined the angel there. Other ways to say this are:
Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
All at once there was with the angel a great company of the heavenly host (Revised English Bible)
a great multitude of the heavenly host: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a great multitude means “a very large group.” It describes the phrase heavenly host, which is used as an idiom in this context. It literally means “the army of heaven.” For example:
a great army of heaven’s angels (Good News Translation)
However, in this context the word “army” simply indicates that there were many angels, as in an army. Luke was not using the phrase in a military sense. Here is another way to translate a great multitude of the heavenly host:
a very large group of angels from heaven (New Century Version)
2:13b
praising God and saying: When the angels appeared, they were praising God for Jesus’ birth. The verb saying introduces what the angels said to praise God. Some ways to show this are:
praising God by saying (God’s Word) -or-
praising God. They said (Contemporary English Version)
praising God: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as praising God means “to express approval of God, to speak well of God.” In some languages there may be an idiom to express this. It would be good to use an expression that fits with what the angels said in 2:14.
God: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as God refers here to the eternal spirit who created everything. He is more powerful than any other spirit, and he is perfectly good and wise. In many languages there will already be an established term for God. If that is not true in your language, here are some ways to translate God:
• Use a name or title for God that people in your culture already use.
• Use a descriptive term that fits the truth about God that is revealed in the Bible. For example:
Creator -or-
Great Spirit -or-
Ruler of the universe
• Use a borrowed word from the national or trade language Bible.
Choose a term that is acceptable to the believers and churches in your area. For more detailed information, see God in the Glossary.
saying: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as saying introduces the words that the angels used to praise God. These words are arranged in the form of a poem, and some English versions translate the verb as “sang” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible). The Greek verb itself does not indicate that the angels sang the words. However, it also does not indicate that they did not sing them. There are two ways to translate the verb here:
• Use a general word such as “say.”
• Use a more specific word in your language that describes what the angels said.
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