neighbor

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The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “neighbor” in English is rendered into Babatana as “different man,” i.e. someone who is not one of your relatives. (Source: David Clark)

In North Alaskan Inupiatun, it is rendered as “a person outside of your building,” in Tzeltal as “your back and side” (implying position of the dwellings), in Indonesian and in Tae’ as “your fellow-man,” in Toraja-Sa’dan it is “your fellow earth-dweller,” in Shona (translation of 1966) as “another person like you,” in Kekchí “younger-brother-older-brother” (a compound which means all one’s neighbors in a community) (sources: Bratcher / Nida and Reiling / Swellengrebel), in Mairasi “your people” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Mezquital Otomi as “fellow being,” in Tzeltal as “companion,” in Isthmus Zapotec as “another,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “all people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in most modern German translations as Mitmensch or “fellow human being” (lit. “with + human being”).

In Matt 19:19, Matt 22:39, Mark 12:31, Mark 12:33, Luke 10:27, Luke 10:29 it is translated into Ixcatlán Mazatec with a term that refers to a person who is socially/physically near. Ixcatlán Mazatec also has a another term for “neighbor” that means “fellow humans-outsiders” which was not chosen for these passages. (Source: Robert Bascom)

In Noongar it is translated as moorta-boordak or “people nearby” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

love your neighbor as yourself

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “love your neighbor as yourself” is translated in Shilluk, Anuak, and Nuer as “love your neighbors as yourselves.” In those and other languages a plural form has to be used if it is to be applied to more than one person where in English a singular can stand for many (compare everyone, each, whoever, any). (Source: Larson 1998, p. 42)

See also he who / whoever and neighbor.

neighbor - relative

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “neighbor” or “relative” in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) and the Buku Lopatulika translation (1922/2018) with just one word: nansi. This word can also be translated as neighbors whom you share a blood relation with because in Chewa context a community is mostly comprised of people of blood relations. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

complete verse (Matthew 19:19)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 19:19:

  • Uma: “we (incl.) must honor our mother and father, and love our (incl.) companions like we (incl.) love ourselves.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “honor your mother-father; and you shall love your companion as you love yourself.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “respect your father and your mother; and treat well your companion; think of him as you would your own breath.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “respect/honor your (sing.) father and your (sing.) mother, and love your (sing.) companions like your (sing.) love for yourself (sing.),’ said Jesus answering.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Honor your father and your mother, and value your fellowman just like your valuing of your own body.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Honor your father, honor your mother.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

addressing one’s mother humbly / neutrally in Japanese

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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 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. )

Translation commentary on Matthew 19:19

The commandment Honor your father and mother was discussed at 15.4.

Surprisingly (at least to many English speakers) love often proves to be very difficult to translate. Translators should avoid a word that would mean “lust” and should look instead for a word or phrase that means “to have concern for” or “to care about very strongly.”

Neighbor is translated “fellow man” by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch. In the Leviticus context the reference is to fellow Jews, but in the setting of the Gospel the word is inclusive of all persons with whom an individual has any contact.

As has been taken by some in the sense of “in the same manner as,” but probably “just as much as” is better. Thus the sentence can be “You should be concerned for your fellow men as much as you are concerned for yourself.” Notice that although neighbor is singular, it is often natural to render it with a plural, “fellow men.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .