Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.
As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.
Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.
In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.
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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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
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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 rare (られ) 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, no-rare-ru (乗られる) or “ride” is used.
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.
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 Mark 1:16-20:
As Jesus was strolling beside Lake Galilee,
he noticed two fishermen — brothers they were —
and they were casting their nets into the lake.
“Follow me!” commanded Jesus.
“I’ll give you power to bring in people.”
At this, they dropped their nets and followed him.
As Jesus continued walking along the shore,
he saw James and John Zebedee
sitting in a boat, mending their nets.
“Follow me!” commanded Jesus.
Leaving their father and the hired workers,
they followed him.
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®).
deute (6.31; 12.7) ‘come!’ ‘come here!’ is used as the plural of the adverb deuro ‘here!’ ‘come!’ which is regarded as an imperative. The meaning of the word in this context is not simply that of a physical going after, but of discipleship.
poiēsō … genesthai ‘I will make … to become’: the full force of the verbal phrase is ‘I will make you become in the future,’ after a course of preparation (as Grant says). The verb takes a double accusative: humas ‘you’ and haleeis anthrōpōn ‘fishers of men.’
haleeis anthrōpōn ‘fishers of men’: for the figure cf. Jer. 16.16, Ezek. 29.4-5. The genitive anthrōpōn ‘of men’ is not possessive, of course: the meaning is ‘fishers who fish (or catch) men.’
Translation:
Fishers of men is such a well-known phrase to us that we seldom suspect that it can provide the basis for considerable misunderstanding in translations. However, it does, for if the expression used for ‘catching fish’ contains the same verb as is used in speaking of those who round up forced labor (as in parts of Africa) or who arrest people, there will inevitably be misunderstanding. In one language ‘I will make you catchers of men’ implied that Jesus was going to make his disciples into policemen. In still another language the word for ‘getting men’ implied that the disciples would become assassins. One of the difficulties is the bold form of the metaphor which does not provide a linguistic clue to the reader that this expression is not to be taken literally. However, by changing the metaphor into a simile most of the trouble is avoided, e.g. ‘you will catch men as if you were catching fish’ (Barrow Eskimo) and ‘just like you catch fish, I will make you catch men’ (San Blas Kuna). In some instances some of the metaphorical power of the expression is lost but the essential truth can be preserved, e.g. ‘give power to bring men’ (Southern Bobo Madaré) or ‘make you become ones who are men bringers’ (Mossi ).
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Come, follow Me: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Come, follow Me is literally “Come after me.” Jesus said this to invite Simon and Andrew to go with him and become his disciples. Jesus did not simply want them to walk along behind him. He wanted them to be with him and learn from him. In some languages you may need to indicate this explicitly. For example:
Come, be my disciples (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)
See disciple in the Glossary for information on how to translate it.
Jesus said: The Berean Standard Bible has placed the phrase Jesus saidin the middle of what Jesus was saying. In the Greek text it comes before Jesus’ words. In some languages, the phrase Jesus said would occur after his words in 1:17b. You should place this phrase wherever it is most natural in your language.
1:17b
I will make you fishers of men: This statement is a figure of speech. It indicates that Jesus would train the disciples to gain people for the kingdom of God. This work of gaining people contrasted with their work of gaining fish.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
I will teach you how to catch people instead of fish. (God’s Word) -or-
I will show you how to fish for people! (New Living Translation)
In some languages an expression like “catch people” may imply a wrong meaning. It may imply that they were going to gather people to do forced labor or that they were going to catch criminals. In other languages it may not be possible to use a phrase like “fish for people.”
If that is true in your language, here are some other ways to translate it:
I will teach you how to bring in people instead of fish (Contemporary English Version) -or- You have been gaining fish, butnow I will show you how to gain people to believe in me. -or-
Your work has been to catch fish. But now I will teach you to do the work of bringing people to me.
If a literal translation of 1:17b is well known in a major language version in your area, you may want to mention this literal wording in a footnote. For example:
Here is a more literal translation of these words: “I will teach you to fish for people.”
make you: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as make you is literally “make you to become.” It means “teach or train you” to do a different kind of work. It does not imply that Jesus would force them to change their work.
men: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as men refers to people in general. It does not refer only to males.
General Comment on 1:17a–b
In some languages it may be more natural to reorder the parts of 1:17a–b. For example:
17aHe said to them, “17bUntil now your(dual)work has been to catch fish.17aCome(dual) with me and become(dual) my disciples 17band then I will teach you(dual) to do the work of persuading people to believe in me.”
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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.
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