happiness / joy

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “joy” or “happiness” is translated in the Hausa Common Language Ajami Bible idiomatically as farin ciki or “white stomach.” In some cases, such as in Genesis 29:11, it is also added for emphatic purposes.

Other languages that use the same expression include Southern Birifor (pʋpɛl), Dera (popolok awo), Reshe (ɾipo ɾipuhã). (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

See also Seat of the Mind / Seat of Emotions, rejoiced greatly / celebrated, the Mossi translation of “righteous”, and joy.

joy

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The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated with “joy” or “gladness” in English is translated with various associations of “sweetness” or taste: Bambara has “the spirit is made sweet,” Kpelle translates as “sweet heart,” and Tzeltal as “the good taste of one’s heart,” Uduk uses the phrase “good to the stomach,” Baoulé “a song in the stomach,” Mískito “the liver is wide open” (“happily letting the pleasures flooding in upon it”) (source: Nida 1952), Mairasi says “good liver” (source: Enggavoter 2004), Noongar has koort-kwabba-djil or “heart very good” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang), and Chicahuaxtla Triqui “refreshed heart” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.).

See also Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling,” happiness / joy, and exceeding joy.

he who, whoever

The Greek that is typically translated with a generic expressions such as “he who,” “whoever,” or “if anyone” in English is translated with the plural form (“they”) in Daga. “A literal translation of these conveys the idea that one specific unnamed individual is being dis cussed. Thus, for instance, in John 5:24 ‘he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life’ meant in Daga that there was one fortunate individual to whom it applied.”

See also love your neighbor as yourself.

complete verse (Matthew 13:20)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 13:20:

  • Uma: “‘The seed that fell in the stony ground stands-for people who hear the world of God and right away their hearts are glad to hear it.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “The seeds that fell on the bedrock is a figure of the people who hear the message of God and immediately believe and are happy/glad.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And that which was planted that fell on the thin soil on top of the rock, are like people that hear the word of God and they really like to listen to it.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “What fell also in the stony-area, those are the people who are happy to receive the Word of God upon their hearing it.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “This rocky place which was scattered on, what this refers to is people who listen and immediately they happily acknowledge-as-true the word of God.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Other people are compared to the ground which is not deep with the stone in it, where the seeds landed. Upon hearing the word, these people rejoiced greatly, looking well upon it.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 13:20

As for what was sown on rocky ground: for the meaning of rocky ground see Matthew 13.5. The same translational problems exist here as in the previous verse, and Jerusalem Bible translates “The one who received it on patches of rock is the man who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch renders “With others it is as with the seed which fell on rocky ground. They hear the Good News and receive it at once with joy.”

In many cases it is easier to translate this verse if the order is reversed: “And when a person hears the word and accepts it joyfully, that is just like when some of the seed fell on rocky ground.” Even with this order, it is usually possible to continue with the next verse naturally, as in “That person has no root….” However, there are also translators who treat verses 20 and 21 together, moving this first phrase of verse 20 to the end of verse 21: “And there are other people who hear the word and immediately accept it gladly. But the message does not really take root in them, and when trouble or persecution comes because of this message, they abandon it quickly. When that happens, it is just like when some of the seed fell on rocky ground.”

The text says what was sown, but most of the examples we have given say “the seed that was sown.”

Again, the singular he who hears can just as easily be plural, “people who hear,” depending on the receptor language.

This verse says simply hears the word, which differs from the “word of the kingdom” of verse 19. “Hears the message,” “… message I bring,” or “… message from God” are all possibilities.

Receives it can be rendered “accepts it,” “welcomes it,” or even “believes it.”

Immediately … with joy is given emphasis in the Greek sentence structure. Translators should therefore find a way of doing the same in the receptor language texts. Examples are “right then with enthusiasm” and “immediately and with much joy.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .