save

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The Greek term that is translated as a form of “save” in English is translated in Shipibo-Conibo with a phrase that means literally “make to live,” which combines the meaning of “to rescue” and “to deliver from danger,” but also the concept of “to heal” or “restore to health.”

In San Blas Kuna it is rendered as “help the heart,” in Laka, it is “take by the hand” in the meaning of “rescue” or “deliver,” in Huautla Mazatec the back-translation of the employed term is “lift out on behalf of,” in Anuak, it is “have life because of,” in Central Mazahua “be healed in the heart,” in Baoulé “save one’s head” (meaning to rescue a person in the fullest sense), in Guerrero Amuzgo “come out well,” in Northwestern Dinka “be helped as to his breath” (or “life”) (source: Bratcher / Nida), and in Noongar barrang-ngandabat or “hold life” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

In South Bolivian Quechua it is “make to escape” and in Highland Puebla Nahuatl, it is “cause people to come out with the aid of the hand.” (Source: Nida 1947, p. 222.)

See also salvation.

complete verse (Matthew 18:11)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 18:11:

  • Mairasi: “(Also do not look down on them because I Myself People/person Child [Son of Man], My coming was so that I would look for the people whose faces were dry [lost])” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Uma: “[[Because my intention/plan, I the Child of Mankind, coming to earth, is to search for people who are far from God and to lift them from the punishment of their sins.]]” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “(I, the Son of Man, my purpose for coming here to the world is to save the people who are far from God.)” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because I, the Older Sibling of Mankind, the reason I came here to the earth is so that I might free mankind so that they might not be punished because of their sins.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because I who am Child of a Person, I came here to go look-for and save the lost people.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And as for me who am the One From Heaven Born of Man/human, the reason I came here was in order to free/save the ones being lost.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The Man who came from heaven came to save the people who are lost.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 18:11

As RSV’s footnote indicates (see also Good News Translation), this verse is not found in the earliest and best Greek manuscripts. TC-GNT concludes that it was obviously borrowed from Luke 19.10, most likely with the intention of providing a connection between verse 10 and verses 12-14.

The phrase Son of man is first used in 8.20; see comments there.

To save the lost may need to be rendered “to save lost people.”

Some translators have found they have to make the relationship indicated by For quite explicit, as in “For the reason the Son of Man came is to save the lost” or “For the work of the Son of Man is to save….”

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 .