The Greek that is translated as “cup” in English is translated in Chol as vaso i yejtal bʌ wocol: “glass which is the picture of affliction.”
Wilbur Aulie (in The Bible Translator 1957, p. 109ff. ) explains: “Whatever the precise meaning of ‘cup’ may be in these verses may never be agreed upon, but in the Septuagint it is used metaphorically of adversity and divine punishment. In these verses we used a Spanish borrowing vaso ‘glass’ and added the explanatory phrase, ‘which is the picture of wocol‘. Wocol has a rather wide range of meaning, including affliction, trial, punishment, and retribution. The term vaso was preferred to copa, which is regularly used by Spanish-speaking Christians, since Chol Christians understand copa to be a small glass of intoxicating drink.”
The Greek that is translated with the capitalized “Father” in English when referring to God is translated in Highland Totonac with the regular word for (biological) father to which a suffix is added to indicate respect. The same also is used for “Lord” when referring to Jesus. (Source: Hermann Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. )
The Greek that is typically translated as “will” in English is translated in Warao as obojona, a term that “includes the concepts of consciousness, will, attitude, attention and a few other miscellaneous notions.” (Source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff.
In Hindi a differentiation is made between the way that the different persons of the Trinity are addressed by a regular person or by another person of the Trinity. When Jesus addresses God the Father or when God the Father addresses Jesus, a familiar form of address is used, unlike the way that any of them would be addressed with a honorific (pl.) form by anyone else.
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 22:42:
Noongar: “‘Father,’ he said, ‘if you want, you can take this cup away, this cup of suffering. But you must not do what I want: you must do what you want to do.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “He said: ‘Father, if you desire/want, please take-away-from-me [lit., remove-from-my-path] this suffering that is almost striking me. But not My desire/will that happens, it is better Your own will.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “He said, ‘O Father, if you wish/if it is your will do not leave me to be persecuted. But not my wish is to be followed but your wish.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And he said, ‘My Father, if it’s what You want, then don’t allow me to pass through this torment which you have destined for me; however, what I want should not be followed but rather what you want.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “‘Father,’ he said, ‘if you (sing.) want, please permit that I not endure this coming suffering of mine. But it shouldn’t be what I want but rather but you (sing.) want that is fulfilled.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “‘Father,’ he said, ‘if it’s possible/acceptable with you, hopefully you won’t cause-to-go-ahead this hardship/suffering which I am approaching. But not my will is what will be followed/obeyed, but on the contrary your will.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
ei boulei ‘if you will,’ i.e. ‘if you decide so,’ not ‘if you are willing to grant me what I want,’ cf. Plummer. boulomai, cf. on 10.22.
parenegke touto to potērion ap’ emou ‘take this cup away from me.’
plēn ‘but,’ cf. on 18.8.
mē to thelēma mou alla to son ginesthō ‘not my will but your (will) be done.’ For to thelēma cf. on 12.47. It should be noted that mou is a less emphatic possessive pronoun than to son. ginesthō lit. ‘must happen,’ is a very general expression.
Translation:
Remove this cup from me. One may have to add a reference to the intention of the act, cf. e.g. ‘take this can/mug from my hand that I need not drink it’ (Sranan Tongo); or to explain the metaphorical meaning of cup, ‘cup of heaviness’ (Guhu-Samane), ‘trouble bowl’ (Zarma); or to substitute a non-metaphorical rendering, e.g. ‘take away this pain/affliction from me’ (Tae’ 1933, similarly in a Copainalá Zoque dialect), ‘free me from having to suffer this trial’ (Dios Habla Hoy), and cf. ‘if there were some way in which you would not allow suffering to come to me’ (Tzeltal).
Not my will, but thine, be done, or, ‘not what I wish/desire be done but (only) what you wish/desire,’ ‘do not do what (or, do not let it happen just as) I want….’
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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