20When the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone else?’ ”
Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.
As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff.), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.
John addresses Jesus with the formal pronoun
Voinov explains: “This relationship is somewhat complicated. John and Jesus are relatives, John being the older. However, John recognizes Jesus as more important than himself, as the Messiah whose sandal straps he is not worthy to untie (Mark 1:7). At the same time, Jesus highly respects John, submitting to the inferior position by receiving John’s baptism, and later calling him the greatest among the prophets (Matt 11:7-15). In the Tuvan translation, we finally decided that the overall circumstances indicate that John addresses Jesus with the formal pronoun as a sign of respect.”
The name that is transliterated as “John (the Baptist)” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language and Mexican Sign Language as “baptize” (source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff.)
“John the Baptist” in Mexican Sign Language (source: BSLM )
In German Sign Language (Catholic) it is translated with the sign for the letter J and the sign signifying a Catholic baptism by sprinkling on the head.
In American Sign Language it is translated with the sign for the letter J and the sign signifying “shout,” referring to John 1:23. (Source: RuthAnna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“John” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
A question of cultural assumptions arose in Tuvan. The instinctive way to translate this name denotatively would be “John the Dipper,” but this would carry the highly misleading connotation that he drowned people. It was therefore decided that his label should focus on the other major aspect of his work, that is, proclaiming that the Messiah would soon succeed him. (Compare his title in Russian Orthodox translation “Иоанн Предтеча” — “John the Forerunner.”) So he became “John the Announcer,” which fortunately did not seem to give rise to any confusion with radio newsreaders! (Source: David Clark in The Bible Translator 2015, p. 117ff.)
In Noongar it is translated as John-Kakaloorniny or “John Washing” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
Following is a Syriac Orthodox icon of John the Baptist from the 18/19th century (found in the Cathedral of Saints Constantine and Helen, Yabrud, Syria).
The wings are often depicted in icons of John the Baptist because of his status as a messenger. The scroll that John the Baptist holds quotes John 1:29 and reads (translated into English): “I saw and witnessed concerning him, ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.’”
Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )
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 exclusive form (excluding Jesus).
Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 7:20:
Noongar: “The two came to Jesus and they said, ‘John the Baptist sent us, asking you if you are that One Man. John said that he is coming. Or must we expect another man?'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “Those two messengers really went, and they said to Yesus: ‘The reason we have come, Teacher, Yohanes ordered us (excl.) to ask you [lit, us (incl.), which is often used for second person honorific], whether you [lit, we (incl.)] are the Redeemer King that God promised, or whether there is still another that we (excl.) wait for.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “When the two came to Isa, they said, ‘Yahiya who bathes the people sends us here because he would like to know if you are the one foretold to come to the world or if there is still someone different that we (excl.) should expect to come.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when they arrived there to Jesus, they said, ‘The reason we have come here to you is because John, the Baptizer, sent us because he wants us to ask if you are the one he has been preaching that is to be sent by God, or is there someone else besides you, to be expected?'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “When they arrived where Jesus was, they said, ‘Juan the Baptizer sent us (excl.) to inquire if you (sing.) are the one God promised would come or if there is another to be waited for.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “When those who had been sent reached Jesus, they related it to him, saying, ‘We have been sent here by Juan who was baptizing, to ask you whether you are that one who was promised to come here or are we to wait for someone else?'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Italian (La Sua Parola è Vita): “When they came to Jesus, the two repeated John’s words.” (Cotrozzi 2019 explains: “Hebrew is notorious for its habit of repeating phrases and clauses to highlight chunks of discourse. This occasionally applies to the Greek of the New Testament, reflecting the Semitic background of its authors or their sources. Luke emphasizes the question put to Jesus by repeating it a second time verbatim in 7:20 [cf. 7:19]. The problem is that a literal rendering at this point is rather annoying.”)
paragenomenoi de pros auton ‘and after they came to him,’ cf. on v. 4.
Iōannēs ho baptistēs lit. ‘John the Baptizer’ (cf. the virtually equivalent ho baptizōn ‘he who baptizes’ in Mk. 1.4). The traditional rendering ‘John the Baptist’ is more a transliteration than a translation.
Translation:
The men, or, “the messengers” (New English Bible), ‘those two’ (Bahasa Indonesia).
To him. Often ‘to Jesus’ may be required.
John … has sent us to you has to become in Foe, ‘because John … sent us we came to you,’ using the near past tense (cf. on 1.19). — John the Baptist.
Are you … another? exactly repeats v. 19b, but now as a quotation in a quotation. This may make preferable certain adaptations, e.g. a shift to indirect discourse (Sranan Tongo), or a specification of the source of the quotation.
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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