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

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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.

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

Translation commentary on Mark 9:23

Text:

After dunē ‘(if) you can’ Textus Receptus adds pisteusai ‘to believe,’ which is omitted by all modern editions of the Greek text.

Exegesis:

to ei dunē ‘the if you can’: here the definite article to ‘the’ is the equivalent of quotation marks in modern writing (cf. 9.10). In effect, Jesus takes the phrase ‘if you can’ which the father applied to him and applies it to the father: ‘Jesus said to him, (This saying of yours) If you can….’ Cf. Translator’s New Testament; Arndt & Gingrich: “as far as your words ‘If you can’ are concerned.”

dunata (10.27; 13.22; 14.35, 36) ‘possible.’

tō pisteuonti (cf. 1.15) ‘to him who has faith,’ ‘to him who believes’: if an object is to be supplied, it will be faith in God.

Translation:

If you can is a highly elliptical expression and is likely to be badly misunderstood unless the contextual setting is more evident. In many instances people interpret this phrase as meaning ‘if you can do so, then all things are possible….’ However, this is not the meaning of the passage and in order to make clear what the intent of this expression is, one can translate ‘why do you say, If you can? Why, all things are possible to him who believes.’ Indonesian and Toraja-Sa’dan translate ‘What about: if you can take it on you.’ In Sapo the rendering is ‘why do you ask if I fit?,’ in which the direct form is shifted to the indirect and ‘fit’ is the idiomatic term expressing capacity for a particular action.

Possible is interpreted in two different ways: (1) anything can happen with respect to one who believes (i.e. the one who has faith can be the recipient of any and all kinds of miraculous benefits) and (2) the one who has faith can do anything. It is this second meaning which should be reproduced here, in which case some languages require the direct, rather than the indirect statement, e.g. ‘the one who has faith can do all things.’

For faith see 1.15.

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 .

SIL Translator's Notes on Mark 9:23

9:23a–b

If You can?: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as If You can? is literally, “the ‘if you can.’” It indicates that Jesus was repeating the words “If you can” that the man had said to him in 9:22b. It also indicates that Jesus was about to respond to these words. Use a natural way in your language to indicate that Jesus was repeating the man’s words.

The phrase If you can also expresses a mild rebuke. It indicates that the man should not doubt that Jesus could help him.

Some ways to translate If you can in this context are:

• As an introductory phrase. For example:

Jesus said to the father, “You said, ‘If you can!’ ” (New Century Version)
-or-
As for your words ‘If you can,’ know/realize that everything is possible…

• As a rhetorical question. In some languages it may be necessary to use a pronoun like “I” to show that Jesus was talking about himself. For example:

Why do you doubt/question that I can do anything about this?

• As a statement or command. For example:

As for whether I can do anything…
-or-
You should not doubt that I can do this.

echoed Jesus: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as echoed Jesus is more literally “Jesus said to him.” The Berean Standard Bible places these words in the middle of what Jesus said. It also puts the subject Jesus after the verb echoed. In Greek, these words occur before the question. Place the words echoed Jesus where it is natural in your language and in a natural word order.

All things are possible to him who believes: In this context the phrase All things are possible means that anything can be done or anything may happen if a person believes. For example, the New Revised Standard Version says:

All things can be done for the one who believes.

The phrase to him who believes refers to anyone who believes. For example, the New Living Translation says:

if a person believes

In some languages it may be necessary to express the clause All things are possible to him who believes in a more active way. If that is true in your language, you may need to supply God or Jesus as the subject. For example:

I/God can do anything for the person who believes.

believes: In this context, the word believes refers to believing in Jesus. A person who believes is one who trusts that Jesus can do all things. This person is confident that Jesus has the power to help him or her.

Here are some other ways to translate believes:

relies/depends on me
-or-
trusts in me
-or-
has confidence that I can do all things

Your language may use an idiom for this meaning. See believe, Meaning 3, in the Glossary.

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