The Greek that is usually translated as “humble” or “lowly” in English is translated in Eastern Highland Otomi as “one who doesn’t elevate himself,” in Yatzachi Zapotec as “those who think they aren’t worth much,” in Alekano as “those who stay low” (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.), in Mezquital Otomi as “poor brothers,” in Isthmus Zapotec as “the one is little honored,” in Highland Totonac as “just ordinary people,” and in Yatzachi Zapotec as “poor people who have nothing” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.).
The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) was transferred into the traditional style of Busa praise song by Mallam Salihu Bata, praise singer in Kaiama, Kwara State, Nigeria (and back-translated into English) as this:
I praise the Lord God in my heart
I praise the Lord God in my heart
I praise the Lord God and my liver is pleased
My Lord God saves, he frees my head
My Lord God saves, he frees my head
He has mercy upon me
He has intently remembered all my concerns
He has intently remembered the concerns of his pitiable slave
Today and in the future everybody calls me the blessed one
all tribes call me the blessed one
God the mighty King has done great things for me
God the mighty King has done great things for me
God the mighty King has a bright and supreme name
God the mighty King has mercy
for people who fear him and
for their children and
for their grandchildren
He showed his hand of awful power
He scattered proud people
and their proud plans
He scattered great chiefs
from their positions
He lifted up the pitiable
He filled the hungry with food
He sent off the moneymen with empty hands
He helped his slave Israel
as he had covenanted with their forefathers
He has intently remembered Ibrahim’s matters
and his grandchildren
and his grandchildren’s grandchildren
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 1:52:
Noongar: “He brings down great kings sitting in high places, and he lifts up the weak people.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “He removes kings from their rank. He makes humble people [lit., people of low hearts] high.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “He removes the kings from their kingdoms and he makes great the ones with a humble liver.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “There are high kings whose rank he lowered, and there are also those people whose rank is very small, and he has raised up their rank.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “He also makes-low the high-ones who rule and also makes-high the people who are low.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “There are kings from whom he removed the kingship. And there are ordinary/unimportant people whom God has caused to be great/important.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
dunastēs † ‘ruler’; the word refers either to human sovereigns or to divine rulers; the former meaning here; hence translations like “kings” (Phillips), “monarchs” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation).
thronos, cf. on v. 32.
hupsōsen tapeinous ‘he has exalted the people of low position,’ contrasting with the preceding clause. Hence hupsōsen is the opposite of katheilen apo thronōn and dunastas is the opposite of tapeinous.
hupsoō ‘to lift up,’ here in the figurative sense ‘to raise to a high position.’
tapeinos ‘of low position,’ cf. on tapeinōsis in v. 48, which suggests a corresponding interpretation.
Translation:
He has put down the mighty from their thrones, or, because of the necessity to render “throne” by a descriptive or non-metaphorical expression (cf. above on v. 32), ‘he causes-to-shrink the authority of princes’ (Balinese), ‘he made low the titles (i.e. reputations) of men who were sitting high’ (Southern Subanen). This may reinforce the contrast between the two lines of this verse, because the renderings to be used are more directly and completely opposite to each other than is the case in the Greek, cf. e.g. ‘he humbles the high, he heightens the humble’ (Tboli), ‘the great ones, he has made them down, those who are not great, he has made them up’ (Apache). The plurals are distributive. — The mighty has also been rendered, ‘great rulers’ (Marathi), ‘possessors of power’ (Telugu, Tamil).
And has adversative meaning, often expressed by ‘but,’ or by simple juxtaposition of the two clauses.
For those of low degree cf. on “low estate” in v. 48.
Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.
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