The Greek terms that are translated into English as “preach” or “proclaim” are regularly rendered into Aari as “speaking the word of salvation.” (Source: Loren Bliese)
Other languages (back-) translate it in the following manner:
Tzeltal: “he explains, they hear” (“the goal of all preachers”)
Copainalá Zoque: “a preacher is ‘one who speaks-scatters'” (a figure based on the scattering of seed in the process of sowing) (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
Shilluk: “declare the word of of God” (source: Nida 1964, p. 237)
In Luang it is translated with different shades of meaning:
For Acts 9:20, 10:42: nakotnohora: “talk about” (“The generic term for preaching.”)
For Acts 8:4, 8:5, 8:25: rodkiota-ralde’etnohora — “bring words, give news about.” (“This term is used when the preacher is moving from place to place to preach.”)
Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.
In choosing a word for the Greek that is typically translated as “gospel” in English, a number of languages construct a phrase meaning “good news,” “joyful report” or “happiness-bringing words.” In some instances such a phrase may be slightly expanded in order to convey the proper meaning, e.g. “new good word” (Tzotzil), or it may involve some special local usage:
the Germandas Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) translates as “all-transformative good news” (alles verändernde gute Botschaft), also “good news”
Vitaly Voinov tells this story about the translation into Rutul (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight):
“In Rutul, it was only during the most recent consultant checking session that I realized that the Rutul word for Gospel – Incir (from Arabic إنجيل — Injil) — sounds and looks exactly like the word that means ‘fig’ in Rutul. This is a case of homonymy, in which two completely non-related words from differing historical sources have come to sound exactly alike. Most Rutul speakers know that incir means ‘fig’ because they grow this fruit in their yard or buy it at the market every week. However, because the religious sphere of discourse was heavily disparaged during the Soviet era, most people simply never encountered Incir with the meaning of ‘Gospel.’ This meaning of the word, which Rutuls of the pre-Soviet era knew from the Koran, simply fell into disuse and never had much reason for returning into contemporary Rutul since there is no Christian church established among the people. So if the translator continues to use the term Incir as the rendering for ‘Gospel,’ he runs the risk that most readers will, at best, read the word with a smile because they know that it also means ‘fig,’ and, at worst, will completely misunderstand the word. The seemingly ‘easy’ solution in this case is for the translator to use a Rutul neologism meaning ‘Joyful Message’ or ‘Good News,’ [see above] instead of Incir; but in fact it is not all that easy to make this change if the translator himself insists on using the historical word because at least some Rutuls still understand it as meaning ‘Gospel.’ This is a situation in which the translation team has to gradually grow into the understanding that a fully intelligible translation of Scripture is preferable to one that maintains old words at the cost of alienating much of the readership.”
The Greek that is translated as “all the gentiles” or “all nations” in English is translated as “all people” in Tzeltal, as “all mankind” in Highland Totonac, or “the peoples who are everywhere” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
In the GermanGute Nachricht (Good News) translation of 1982, this occurrence of the Greek term which is translated in most English versions of “kingdom (of God or heaven)” is translated with a form of “once God finalizes his creation (or “work”) . . . ” (Wenn Gott sein Werk vollendet . . .). For an explanation of the differentiated translation in German as well as translation choices in a number of languages, see Kingdom (of God / heaven).
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 24:14:
Uma: “And the Good News that says how God becomes King will be spread all over the world so that all mankind can hear. After that, then the end of the world will come.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “And the good news about God’s ruling will be proclaimed/preached in the whole world so that all mankind will know. After that the end of the world will come.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And this good news about how God will rule will be spread to all the world so that all mankind might know. And when that is finished, that will be the end.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “The good news concerning God’s ruling, it will be preached in the collective-countries of this world so that all people will hear, and then the end of the world will arrive.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “And this Good News concerning the kingdom of God will be spread by being taught all over the world, so that all nations will comprehend it. And then that is when the end of the world will be.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Before all that must be has happened there will spread the good news all over the world in order that all the people know about entering the hand of God.” (Source: Tenango Otomi 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 way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-kuchi (御国) or “kingdom (of God)” in the referenced verses. (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®).
This saying, in a somewhat abbreviated form, is found earlier in the Marcan discourse on the last things (13.10). Matthew seems to have transferred it here in order to focus upon the urgency of love (verse 12).
Gospel was discussed at 1.1. Kingdom was first discussed at 3.2. This gospel of the kingdom may best be interpreted with Good News Translation to mean “Good News about the Kingdom,” or “… about the coming rule of God,” or “… about how God is coming to rule.” In Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition the first part of this verse is translated “The good news must first be proclaimed throughout the entire world. Everyone must hear the invitation to God’s new world.” In this context the gospel of the kingdom may also be expressed as “this Good News about God’s reign” or “this Good News about being part of God’s Kingdom.”
Will be preached is a passive construction which must often be expressed as an active one, as in “People will preach everywhere in the world about the Good News of God’s ruling” or “People must proclaim everywhere in the world the Good News about how God will reign.” But it must be related if possible to as a testimony to all nations. Barclay has “so that all nations may be confronted with the truth,” but another possibility is “so that everyone will have the chance to hear (or, accept) it.” The sentence can possibly be restructured, as for example “And it must happen that people proclaim the Good News about God’s rule everywhere in the world, so that all countries have an opportunity to accept it.”
And then the end will come may be translated “only then will the end of the world come” or “only then will God bring the world to an end.”
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 .
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