Honorary "are" construct denoting God (“say”)

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 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.

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

Translation commentary on Luke 7:40

Exegesis:

apokritheis ‘answering,’ cf. on 1.60.

Simōn, echō soi ti eipein ‘Simon, I have something to say to you,’ i.e. ‘I want to say something to you.’ echō I.6.b.

ho de, Didaskale, eipe, phēsin ‘and he said, master, say it, or, speak.’ The words do not suggest much encouragement. phēsin is historical present.

Translation:

And Jesus answering said, or, “Jesus spoke up and said” (Good News Translation), ‘thereupon Jesus said’ (Balinese); and see on 3.16.

I have something to say to you has the connotation of requesting attention; some idiomatic phrases used are, “may I put something to you?” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation), ‘there is a (small) matter we should discuss’ (Shona), ‘something must be discussed with Simon (the name doing duty for the pronoun of the second person)’ (Balinese).

What is it? Here again several versions use an idiom indicating readiness to listen, e.g. ‘speak (to me)’ (Kituba, Marathi, Pohnpeian), ‘please, speak’ (Sundanese), ‘say what you have to say’ (Shona), ‘go ahead and speak/say it’ (Zarma, Trukese), ‘what is it, tell me’ (Tboli).

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 7:40

Paragraph 7:40–43

7:40a

But: This verse begins with a Greek conjunction that is often translated as “and.” Because Jesus responded here to the Pharisee’s thoughts (7:39), some English versions translate this as “Then” (New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004)) or “So” (NET Bible). The New International Version and some other English versions do not translate this Greek conjunction. However, since Jesus speaks to correct the Pharisee’s conclusions about him, to indicate a contrast, the Berean Standard Bible translates the conjunction as But. Connect this verse to 7:39 in a way that is natural in your language.

Jesus answered him: The Pharisee had not asked a question out loud. Jesus knew what he was thinking and responded to that. In some languages, it may not be natural to use the word answered when a question has not been asked. If that is true in your language, you may be able to say:

Jesus said to the Pharisee (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Jesus answered his thoughts (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Jesus responded ⌊to his thoughts⌋ and said

Simon: Here Jesus addressed the Pharisee by his name. This is the first time that his name is mentioned in this story. If it is not natural in your language to introduce the name here, you may need to mention the Pharisee’s name in 7:36a or 7:39a.

I have something to tell you: The phrase I have something to tell you means “I want to tell you something.” In this case Jesus wanted to use a parable and explain it in order to tell Simon something that might be difficult for Simon to accept. Some languages may have a natural expression that people use to introduce something like this that they want to say. Use a natural expression in your language.

7:40b

Tell me: The Pharisee invited Jesus to tell him whatever it was that he wanted to say. Use a phrase that is natural in this context in your language. For example:

What is it…? (Revised English Bible)
-or-
I am listening.

Teacher: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Teacher was a polite form of address for a religious teacher. It was a title of respect for a Jewish man who had authority to teach things about God. The same word was used to address John the Baptizer at 3:12b.

In some languages the appropriate way to address a religious teacher may be:

Sir Teacher
-or-
Sir
-or-
Master

In some languages there may be a polite term of address for religious teachers that has a different meaning from “Teacher.” If that is true in your language, you may consider using it here.

he said: The phrase he said means “the Pharisee said.” Place this phrase where it is natural in your language.

© 2009, 2010, 2013 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.