Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, translators typically select the inclusive form (including the writer and the readers of this letter).
Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.
Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 10:30:
Uma: “So, let’s not let-go-of our faith, relatives, for we know the Word of the Lord that say: ‘I am the one who avenges, I am the one who punishes.’ And it is also written like this: ‘The Lord judges [lit., sits-on] the cases of his people.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “For we (incl.) know God who said this, he said, ‘I will retribute, I will pay them back.’ And he also said, ‘It is God hep who judges his people.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For we know that God has said, ‘I will repay; I am the one to punish them because of their evil behavior.’ There is also a written word of God which says, ‘God will check up on the behavior of His followers.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Because we know that none other than God said, ‘I am the one who has authority to take-revenge. I am the one who will pay-back.’ He also is the one who said, ‘I the Lord am the one who will judge my people.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Because we know well (lit. not lost to us is) the ability of the one who said, ‘I am the Judge of people. I only will be the one to reciprocate.’ And it is also written, ‘God will certainly judge his people.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Yet we know what God will do. Because he said: ‘As for me, it is for me to apply punishment. I will pay back what people do,’ he said. And God said that he will judge the people who are in his hand.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
The Hebrew adonai in the Old Testament typically refers to God. The shorter adon (and in two cases in the book of Daniel the Aramaic mare [מָרֵא]) is also used to refer to God but more often for concepts like “master,” “owner,” etc. In English Bible translations all of those are translated with “Lord” if they refer to God.
In English Old Testament translations, as in Old Testament translations in many other languages, the use of Lord (or an equivalent term in other languages) is not to be confused with Lord (or the equivalent term with a different typographical display for other languages). While the former translates adonai, adon and mare, the latter is a translation for the tetragrammaton (YHWH) or the Name of God. See tetragrammaton (YHWH) and the article by Andy Warren-Rothlin in Noss / Houser, p. 618ff. for more information.
In the New Testament, the Greek term kurios has at least four different kinds of use:
referring to “God,” especially in Old Testament quotations,
meaning “master” or “owner,” especially in parables, etc.,
as a form of address (see for instance John 4:11: “Sir, you have no bucket”),
or, most often, referring to Jesus
In the first and fourth case, it is also translated as “Lord” in English.
Most languages naturally don’t have one word that covers all these meanings. According to Bratcher / Nida, “the alternatives are usually (1) a term which is an honorific title of respect for a high-ranking person and (2) a word meaning ‘boss’, ‘master’, or ‘chief.’ (…) and on the whole it has generally seemed better to employ a word of the second category, in order to emphasize the immediate personal relationship, and then by context to build into the word the prestigeful character, since its very association with Jesus Christ will tend to accomplish this purpose.”
When looking at the following list of back-translations of the terms that translators in the different languages have used for both kurios and adonai to refer to God and Jesus respectively, it might be helpful for English readers to recall the etymology of the English “Lord.” While this term might have gained an exalted meaning in the understanding of many, it actually comes from hlaford or “loaf-ward,” referring to the lord of the castle who was the keeper of the bread (source: Rosin 1956, p. 121).
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Following are some of the solutions that don’t rely on a different typographical display (see above):
Iyansi: Mwol. Mwol is traditionally used for the “chief of a group of communities and villages” with legal, temporal, and spiritual authority (versus the “mfum [the term used in other Bantu languages] which is used for the chief of one community of people in one village”). Mwol is also used for twins who are “treated as special children, highly honored, and taken care of like kings and queens.” (Source: Kividi Kikama in Greed / Kruger, p. 396ff.)
Binumarien: Karaambaia: “fight-leader” (Source: Oates 1995, p. 255)
Warlpiri: Warlaljamarri (owner or possessor of something — for more information tap or click here)
We have come to rely on another term which emphasizes God’s essential nature as YHWH, namely jukurrarnu (see tetragrammaton (YHWH)). This word is built on the same root jukurr– as is jukurrpa, ‘dreaming.’ Its basic meaning is ‘timelessness’ and it is used to describe physical features of the land which are viewed as always being there. Some speakers view jukurrarnu in terms of ‘history.’ In all Genesis references to YHWH we have used Kaatu Jukurrarnu. In all Mark passages where kurios refers to God and not specifically to Christ we have also used Kaatu Jukurrarnu.
New Testament references to Christ as kurios are handled differently. At one stage we experimented with the term Watirirririrri which refers to a ceremonial boss of highest rank who has the authority to instigate ceremonies. While adequately conveying the sense of Christ’s authority, there remained potential negative connotations relating to Warlpiri ceremonial life of which we might be unaware.
Here it is that the Holy Spirit led us to make a chance discovery. Transcribing the personal testimony of the local Warlpiri pastor, I noticed that he described how ‘my Warlaljamarri called and embraced me (to the faith)’. Warlaljamarri is based on the root warlalja which means variously ‘family, possessions, belongingness’. A warlaljamarri is the ‘owner’ or ‘possessor’ of something. While previously being aware of the ‘ownership’ aspect of warlaljamarri, this was the first time I had heard it applied spontaneously and naturally in a fashion which did justice to the entire concept of ‘Lordship’. Thus references to Christ as kurios are now being handled by Warlaljamarri.” (Source: Stephen Swartz, The Bible Translator 1985, p. 415ff. )
Mairasi: Onggoao Nem (“Throated One” — “Leader,” “Elder”) or Enggavot Nan (“Above-One”) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Obolo: Okaan̄-ene (“Owner of person(s)”) (source: Enene Enene)
Lotha Naga: Opvui (“owner of house / field / cattle”) — since both “Lord” and YHWH are translated as Opvui there is an understanding that “Opvui Jesus is the same as the Opvui of the Old Testament”
Seediq: Tholang, loan word from Min Nan Chinese (the majority language in Taiwan) thâu-lâng (頭儂): “Master” (source: Covell 1998, p. 248)
Thai: phra’ phu pen cao (พระผู้เป็นเจ้า) (divine person who is lord) or ong(kh) cao nay (องค์เจ้านาย) (<divine classifier>-lord-boss) (source: Stephen Pattemore)
Arabic often uses different terms for adonai or kurios referring to God (al-rabb الرب) and kurios referring to Jesus (al-sayyid الـسـيـد). Al-rabb is also the term traditionally used in Arabic Christian-idiom translations for YHWH, and al-sayyid is an honorary term, similar to English “lord” or “sir” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
Tamil also uses different terms for adonai/kurios when referring to God and kurios when referring to Jesus. The former is Karttar கர்த்தர், a Sanskrit-derived term with the original meaning of “creator,” and the latter in Āṇṭavar ஆண்டவர், a Tamil term originally meaning “govern” or “reign” (source: Natarajan Subramani).
Burunge: Looimoo: “owner who owns everything” (in the Burunge Bible translation, this term is only used as a reference to Jesus and was originally used to refer to the traditional highest deity — source: Michael Endl in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 48)
Aguacateco: Ajcaw ske’j: “the one to whom we belong and who is above us” (source: Rita Peterson in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 49)
Konkomba: Tidindaan: “He who is the owner of the land and reigns over the people” (source: Lidorio 2007, p. 66)
Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient GreekSeptuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew adonai was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments: “Another case is the use of kurios referring to Jesus. For Yahweh (in English Bibles: ‘the Lord‘), the Septuagint uses kurios. Although the term kurios usually has to do with one’s authority over others, when the New Testament authors use this word from the Septuagint to refer to Jesus, they are making an extraordinary claim: Jesus of Nazareth is to be identified with Yahweh.”
We, that is, the writer and his first readers, know that God was the speaker in Deuteronomy 32.35-36 (compare Psa 135.14 and Rom 12.19). However, some present-day receptors may not know this, or at least may be puzzled for a moment. To make the meaning plain for modern readers, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translates “We know that the Lord (God) has said….”
In other places where the writer divides a quotation taken from the Old Testament, the result is to emphasize the last part of the quotation. This may be the case here. If so, the implied meaning will be “God will take revenge, not only on his adversaries in other nations (see verse 27), but also, indeed especially, on his own people.” This would fit the context well, since the rest of the chapter is concerned with the Christian community. It is likely that the existing Hebrew text of Deuteronomy 32.35, and followed in Hebrews and Romans 12.19, is an abbreviation of the original “in the day of judgment,” preserved in the Septuagint and other witnesses.
If this explanation is correct, translators will need to find some way of emphasizing the second part of the quotation, perhaps by expanding the words which introduce it (literally “And again” [Revised Standard Version], as for example in the Greek of 1.5). The translation of the introductions to the quotations in 5.5, 6 may serve as a model; there the meaning is “God calls Christ not only his Son, but also a priest….”
The introductions to both parts of the quotation in 10.30 may need expansion for other reasons also. We know who said may be rendered “we know who it was who said,” “we know that it was the Lord who said,” or “… that it was God who said.” The word for know suggests knowledge of facts, not in this context knowledge of people. Similarly, and who also said may be translated “We also know who it was who said.”
The meaning of the first quotation may need expansion; for example, “I will pay you back for the wrong you have done,” or if there is any danger of “pay back” being misunderstood as referring to compensation or reward, “I will certainly make you suffer for the evil you have done.”
In its Old Testament context, the second quotation means “The Lord will prove his people right,” but The Lord will judge his people is certainly how the writer of Hebrews understands the Old Testament text. In some languages this must be adjusted to “I will judge my people,” since God is the assumed speaker.
Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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