doubt

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “doubt” in English versions is translated with a term in Tzeltal that means “heart is gone.” (Nida 1952, p. 122)

In other languages it is represented by a variety of idiomatic renderings, and in the majority of instances the concept of duality is present, e.g. “to make his heart two” (Kekchí), “to be with two hearts” (Punu), “to stand two” (Sierra de Juárez Zapotec), “to be two” or “to have two minds” (Navajo), “to think something else” (Tabasco Chontal), “to think two different things” (Shipibo-Conibo), “to have two thoughts” (Yaka and Huallaga Huánuco Quechua), or “two-things-soul” (Yucateco).

In some languages, however, doubt is expressed without reference to the concept of “two” or “otherness,” such as “to have whirling words in one’s heart” (Chol), “his thoughts are not on it” (Baoulé), or “to have a hard heart” (Piro). (Source: Bratcher / Nida, except for Yucateco: Nida 1947, p. 229 and Huallaga Huánuco Quechua: Nida 1952, p. 123)

In Chokwe “kwalajala is ‘to doubt.’ It is the repetitive of kuala, ‘to spread out in order, to lay (as a table), to make (as a bed),’ and is connected with kualula ‘to count.’ [It is therefore like] a person in doubt as one who can’t get a thing in proper order, who lays it out one way but goes back again and again and tries it other ways. It is connected with uncertainty, hesitation, lack of an orderly grasp of the ‘count’ of the subject.” (Source: D. B. Long in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 87ff.)

Come and see that he is alive (image)

“Jesus allows himself to be touched by all. This picture shows a selection of all types of people from various regions and even a foreigner.”

Drawing by Sawai Chinnawong who employs northern and central Thailand’s popular distinctive artistic style originally used to depict Buddhist moral principles and other religious themes; explanation by Paul DeNeui. From That Man Who Came to Save Us by Sawai Chinnawong and Paul H. DeNeui, William Carey Library, 2010.

For more images by Sawai Chinnatong in TIPs see here.

See also Thomas with the risen Christ (image).

complete verse (Luke 24:38)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 24:38:

  • Noongar: “But he said to them, ‘Why are you frightened? Why don’t you believe in your hearts?” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “Yesus said to them: ‘Why are you afraid and uncertain?” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But he said to them, ‘Why are you startled and why are you still doubting?” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However, Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you afraid of me? Why do you doubt me?” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “So then he said to them, ‘Why are you afraid and doubting about me?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “That’s why Jesus said to them, ‘What are your minds/thinking agitated about? Why do you continue to be of two minds?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 24:38

Exegesis:

ti tetaragmenoi este ‘why are you perturbed?,’ cf. on 1.12.

dia ti dialogismoi anabainousin en tē kardia humōn ‘why do doubts arise in your heart?’ dia ti is slightly more emphatic than ti. For dialogismos cf. on 9.46; here it denotes unspoken thoughts concerning the truth of what they see, hence ‘questionings,’ ‘doubts.’ anabainō is used in a metaphorical sense.

Translation:

For troubled see on 1.29.

Why do questionings rise in your hearts, ‘why are you asking yourselves, “Who/What is this” ,’ ‘why do you doubt.’ The concept ‘to doubt’ is often rendered by an idiomatic expression comparable to English ‘to be in two minds,’ e.g. ‘to stand two’ (Zapotec of Juarez), ‘one’s heart is made two’ (Kekchi), ‘one’s heart is forked’ (Ekari). Some idioms used do not have such an English equivalent, e.g. ‘to whirl words in one’s heart’ (Chol), ‘to place it on one’s heart’ (San Mateo del Mar Huave), ‘not to be able to get things in the proper order,’ a repetitive form of the verb ‘to spread out in order’ (Chokwe), ‘not to think (or, to become without thought) in one’s heart’ (Bulu, Yamba).

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.