brother (fellow believer)

The Greek that is translated in English as “brother” or “brother and sister” (in the sense of fellow believers), is translated with a specifically coined word in Kachin: “There are two terms for brother in Kachin. One is used to refer to a Christian brother. This term combines ‘older and younger brother.’ The other term is used specifically for addressing siblings. When one uses this term, one must specify if the older or younger person is involved. A parallel system exists for ‘sister’ as well. In [these verses], the term for ‘a Christian brother’ is used.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae)

In Matumbi is is translated as alongo aumini or “relative-believer.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

In Martu Wangka it is translated as “relative” (this is also the term that is used for “follower.”) (Source: Carl Gross)

In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is often translated as Mitchristen or “fellow Christians.”

See also brothers.

complete verse (Romans 7:1)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 7:1:

  • Uma: “Relatives, you do know the laws of governing-ones/government. So certainly you know what I say here: we men [mankind] live under the power of laws of governing-ones while we still live. But if we die, the laws have no more power over us.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “My brothers who believe in Isa Almasi, it is certain you (pl.) understand what I am going to say because you know the law. The law has authority/right hep over a person as long as that person is alive.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Brothers, we (incl.) now understand what the government law is and we know that we (incl.) are under the commands of that law until we die. But when we die it is no longer possible to have us carry out the commands of the Law.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “You who are my brothers, I know you will understand this that I will say, because you all understand about law. You know then that the law has authority over a person only while he is living.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Listen my brothers, you know that concerning the law there is, it has authority to rule the person while he lives. But when the person dies, then the law no longer rules him.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

law

The Greek that is translated in English as “Law” or “law” is translated in Mairasi as oro nasinggiei or “prohibited things” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Noongar with a capitalized form of the term for “words” (Warrinya) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

In Yucateco the phrase that is used for “law” is “ordered-word” (for “commandment,” it is “spoken-word”) (source: Nida 1947, p. 198) and in Central Tarahumara it is “writing-command.” (wsource: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)

See also teaching / law (of God) (Japanese honorifics).

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (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 way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

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

Translation commentary on Romans 7:1

This verse follows closely the preceding verse (6.23). It is not without significance that Paul addresses his readers directly in this verse and again in verse 4 as my brothers. He introduces this section with an emphatic negative question (literally “do you not know?”) which the Good News Translation makes into a positive statement, certainly you understand (see Moffatt “surely you know”). As noted previously, my brothers may be translated either by a general term for kinship which would be applicable to the extended in-group of the church, or by an expression such as “fellow believers,” since this is its significance in this type of context.

What I am about to say … because all of you know about law is literally “because I am speaking to those who know law.” It may be that Paul is using “law” in a specific sense either as a reference to the Roman law or to the Jewish Law, though most commentators believe that he is simply referring to the idea of law in general. Paul is not speaking to specialists in the law (so Jerusalem Bible “who have studied law”), but to persons who have some general knowledge about law (New English Bible “who have some knowledge of law”). It is true that his illustration from marriage is more closely in keeping with the Jewish Law, but for Paul the Mosaic Law represents a specific expression of what is right for human conduct in general (see 2.12-16).

It is important that the expression what I am about to say be translated in such a way as to refer specifically to what follows. In some languages the equivalent may be “what I will say now,” “what you will soon be reading,” or “what I say, which follows.”

A generic statement concerning law may in many languages be better expressed as a plural—for example, “all of you know about laws” or even “… how laws are applied.”

Rules over a man may be rendered in some languages as “controls a man,” “says what he must do,” or “puts a man under obligation.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .