19You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. You shall not defraud. Honor your father and mother.’ ”
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated in English as “you shall not commit adultery” is translated in Toraja-Sa’dan with an established figure of speech: Da’ mupasandak salu lako rampanan kapa’ or “you shall not fathom the river of marriage” (i.e “approach the marriage relationship of another.”) (Source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 21 ff. ).
In Hakha Chin the usual term for “adultery” applies only to women, so the translation in Hakha Chin is “do not take another man’s wife and do not commit adultery.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “adultery” in English (here etymologically meaning “to alter”) is typically understood as “marital infidelity.” It is (back-) translated in the following ways:
Toraja-Sa’dan: “to measure the depth of the river of (another’s) marriage”
North Alaskan Inupiatun: “married people using what is not theirs” (compare “fornication” which is “unmarried people using what is not theirs”) (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “You shall not kill/murder” or similar in English is translated in Una as “Don’t kill people” because in Una an object needed to be added. (Source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)
Jesús estaba al punto de irse cuando un hombre rico lo vio y vino corriendo, se arrodillo y dijo: “Maestro, tú eres bueno, ¿qué voy a hacer para que obtenga la vida eterna?”
Jesús dijo: “Ahorita me dijiste que soy bueno, ¿porqué? Solamente Dios es bueno.
Tu sabes los mandamientos: No mates, no comites adulterio, no robes, no mientas contra otra persona, no engañes, respeta a tus padres.”
(El hombre) dijo: “Maestro, desde que crecí he cumplido y obedecido todos los mandamientos.”
Jesús lo miró y sintió cariño (y dijo): “Te falta una cosa: Vende todas tus cosas y reparte el dinero entre los pobres, y ven y sigueme, te advierto que Dios en el cielo te dará cosas más válidas.”
El hombre lo miró y en su mente se volvió desanimado y triste, y se paró y se fue y Jesús lo miró yendo.
Jesus was about to leave when a rich man saw him and came running up to him, knelt down and said: “Teacher, you are good, what shall I do to obtain eternal life?”
Jesus said: “Just now you told me I was good, why? Only God is good.
“You know the commandments: Don’t kill, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie against another person, don’t deceive, respect your parents.”
(The man) said: “Teacher, since I grew up I have fulfilled and obeyed all the commandments.”
Jesus looked at him and felt compassion (and said): “You lack one thing: sell all your things and hand out the money to the poor, and come and follow me, and I tell you that God will give you more valuable things in heaven.”
The man looked at him and became discouraged and said in his mind and got up and walked away, and Jesus watched him going.
A man ran up to Jesus, knelt down before him and said:
— You are a good teacher! I want to have eternal life! What do I have to do to get it?
Jesus:
— Why do you call me “good teacher”? In the whole world, God alone is good. You know God’s commandments, don’t you? Don’t murder. Don’t violate marital fidelity. Don’t steal. Don’t cheat other people. Respect your father and mother.
That man said:
— Master! I have been practicing all these commandments since my childhood. I obey all the commandments.
Jesus looked at him. He liked the man. Jesus said:
— One thing is lacking in you. Go and sell everything you have. Give all the money you have to the poor. Your wealth will be in heaven. And when you have distributed everything, come and follow me.
The man was very sad and went away sad. This man had many houses, much land, much livestock. He had a great deal of wealth.
Jesus said to the disciples:
— It’s very hard and difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
The disciples were confused.
Jesus said:
— My children, it is very hard and difficult for such a man to enter the kingdom of God. You know that it takes effort to thread the eye of a needle. Imagine that you have to thread a camel with its two big humps into the eye of a needle. It is very hard and difficult to do such a thing. And it is even more difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.
The disciples were confused and began to say:
– Who then can be saved?
Jesus said to them:
The disciples were confused and began to say:
— Who then can be saved?
Jesus said to them:
— If you try to enter the kingdom of God by yourselves, it is impossible. God alone can provide the way there.
Peter said:
— We have left everything and are ready to follow you.
Jesus said:
— I tell you precisely that the person who will leave his brothers, his sisters, mother and father, children, and fields and will be ready to follow me, who is ready to testify about Jesus in front of everyone, such a person even in his lifetime will receive a hundred times more houses, brothers, sisters, more fields, mothers, children, but will also receive many sufferings, but such a person will have eternal life.
And Jesus also said:
— He who now holds a high position, will therefore be humbled. And he who is now humbled will be exalted!
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Один человек подбежал к Иисусу, пал перед ним на колени и сказал:
— Ты — добрый учитель! Я хочу получить жизнь вечную! Что нужно сделать для этого?
Иисус:
— Зачем ты называешь меня «добрый учитель»? Во всем мире один только Бог добрый. Ты ведь знаешь заповеди Бога? Не убивай. Не нарушай супружескую верность. Не воруй. Не обманывай других людей. Уважай отца и мать.
Тот человек сказал:
— Учитель! Я исполняю все эти заповеди с детства. Я повинуюсь всем заповедям.
Иисус посмотрел на него. Этот человек ему понравился. Иисус сказал:
— Одной вещи недостает тебе. Иди и все, что у тебя есть, продай. Все полученные деньги раздай бедным. Твое богатство будет на небе. И когда ты все раздашь, приходи и следуй за мной.
Этот человек сильно огорчился и грустный ушел. У этого человек было много домов, много земли, много домашнего скота. У него было очень много богатства.
Иисус сказал ученикам:
— Богатому человеку войти в Царство Божье очень тяжело и трудно.
Ученики смутились.
Иисус сказал:
— Дети мои! Такому человеку войти в Царствие Бога очень тяжело и трудно. Вы знаете, что нужно постараться, чтобы вдеть нитку в ушко иголки. Представьте, что вы должны вдеть верблюда с его двумя большими горбами в такое ушко иголки. Очень тяжело и трудно сделать такое. А богатому человеку войти в Царство Бога еще труднее.
Ученики смутились и стали говорить:
— Кто же тогда может спастись?
Иисус им сказал:
— Если вы сами стараетесь войти в Царство Бога, это невозможно. Только Бог один может дать путь туда.
Пётр сказал:
— Мы оставили все и готовы следовать за тобой.
Иисус сказал:
— Точно говорю вам, что человек, который оставит братьев своих, оставит сестер своих, мать и отца, детей, поле и будет готов следовать за мной, кто готов свидетельствовать об Иисусе перед всеми, такой человек еще при своей жизни получит в сто раз больше домов, братьев, сестер, больше полей, матерей, детей, но также получит множество страданий, но будет у такого человека жизнь вечная.
И еще Иисус сказал:
— Кто сейчас занимает высокое положение, потому будет унижен. А кто сейчас унижен, будет превознесен!
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 10:19:
Uma: “You (sing.) yourself know the commands written in the Lord’s Law: ‘Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t give lying witness, don’t deceive, and we must honor our mother and father.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “You do know,’ he said, ‘the commandments of God. ‘Do not kill. Don’t commit fornication-adultery. Don’t steal. Don’t testify which is not true. Don’t cheat. Honor your mother and father.’ ‘” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “You know the commands of God which were handed down to us. they are: Don’t you murder; don’t sin against your spouse; do not steal; do not lie in court; do not cheat; and respect your father and mother.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “You (sing.) know the law of God that says, ‘Don’t kill, don’t commit-adultery, don’t steal, don’t testify telling-lies, don’t cheat/defraud, and honor your (sing.) father and your (sing.) mother.’ ‘” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Probably you know the laws. Don’t kill your (sing.) fellowman. Don’t behave immorally with one not your spouse. Don’t steal. Don’t give testimony which isn’t true. Don’t withold-more-than-your-share/what-isn’t rightfully-yours. Honor your father and mother.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
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 important aspect of addressing someone else in one’s or someone else’s family is by selecting the correct word when referring to them. One way to do this is through the usage of an appropriate title within a conversation as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
When the speaker humbly refers to his or her mother in the presence of respected interlocutor(s), haha (母) is often used as in the case of Abraham referring to his mother before Abimelech (Genesis 20:12). This form is very appropriately chosen as Abraham is speaking to Abimelech the king of Gerar. While haha can carry this humbling effect in reference to the speaker’s mother, in some types of dialogues/utterances such as in poetry (Song 3:4) and proverbial teachings (e.g. “honor your father and mother” in Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16 et al.), haha is used without the humbling effect. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
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®).
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