complete verse (Matthew 8:32)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 8:32:

  • Uma: “Yesus said: ‘Get out!’ Those demons really went out, they immediately entered in the pigs. From there, the pigs ran and went plunging from the edge/banks of the lake going into the water, they drowned [lit., died bloated].” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Isa said, ‘Go now.’ So-then the demons came out of the people and entered into the bodies of the pigs. Immediately the herd of pigs ran down the hill to the cliff and into the lake and they all drowned.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “‘It can be,’ said Jesus, ‘go into them,’ and they went out and they went into the pigs. Now all the pigs, they ran to a cliff, and they jumped into the lake and they were all drowned.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘OK, go,’ said Jesus. So they abandoned the men and went to possess the pigs. Then the pigs all-ran going-downhill and then they fell into the lake and they drowned.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Jesus replied, ‘Go ahead!’ The evil spirits left those two people and moved to that herd of pigs. Well, what else but those pigs ran straight to the cliff-like bank of the lake. They fell down from there and were all drowned.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Jesus gave permission to the evil spirits, saying: ‘Go on over there to where the pigs are then.’ Therefore the evil spirits left the men they had walked with, they went into the hearts of the pigs. Then the pigs started to run, they went rushing into the lake. All were drowned in the water.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

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

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.

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

sea / lake

The various Greek, Aramaic, Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 8:32

And he said to them, “Go”: in order to place greater emphasis on the command of Jesus, Good News Translation inverts the order: “ ‘Go,’ Jesus told them.” However, this will not be possible in all languages, and translators should use whatever order is most natural. Some will have to use indirect speech, as in “He told them they should go,” but effort should be made to place the emphasis on the command.

Them, of course, refers to the demons who spoke to him in verse 31, not to the men.

The demons came out, that is, they “left the men” or “went out of the men.” They then went into the pigs, or “entered the pigs,” or “took possession of the pigs.” Translators should use the normal expression for spirit possession in their language.

And behold: see comments on 1.20; 8.2. The expression is here used to focus attention on what happened when the demons went into the pigs. Perhaps this can be brought out by a phrase such as “At once” or “And then.”

The exact relation between the verbs rushed and perished is not clear. In Greek rushed is singular whereas perished is plural. It is possible that the herd is the subject of each verb, and most translations imply that this is the case. But is also quite possible that the function of the plural is to indicate that both the pigs and the demons were drowned. This would then affirm that at the command of Jesus the demons met their destruction before the day of the final judgment.

This can possibly be emphasized with a rendering such as “The whole herd of pigs rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and the pigs and demons were drowned.” But even without this being explicit, the implication is that the demons were destroyed. It is therefore probably enough to say that the herd was drowned.

As before, sea can be “lake.”

Bank is often translated as “cliff,” since it is rivers that have banks, not lakes. “Hillside” is also acceptable.

Good News Translation translates perished in the waters as “was drowned.”

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 .