truly truly - I tell you

The Greek that is often translated in English as “truly, truly, I tell you” or similar is translated in the Russian BTI translation (publ. 2015) as Поверьте Мне (Pover’te Mne) or “trust me.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

See also Amen.

complete verse (Matthew 24:47)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 24:47:

  • Uma: “Indeed I tell you, his noble will appoint [lift] him and give him power to take care of all his wealth.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “I truly tell you that his master will entrust to him all his wealth/possessions.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I tell you that the faithful servant, all the possessions of his master will be entrusted to him.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “What I say to you is true that his master will raise-him-up so he will be in charge of all his possessions.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “This which I will say to you is true. He is the one who will be given by his master to be in charge of all the possessions of that master of his.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Truly I tell you that concerning all the boss owns, he will entrust it all to that worker.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

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.

Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.

In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.

Translation commentary on Matthew 24:47

Truly, I say to you: see comment at 5.18.

Possessions (see 19.21 and 25.14) may be used of anything that a person owns; New Jerusalem Bible has “everything he owns,” while others have “property” (Good News Translation, New English Bible, New American Bible, Phillips).

Verses 45-47 need to be translated together if the passage is to be natural. One possibility is:

• Suppose there is a servant who is loyal and obedient so that his master puts him in charge of the rest of the household and tells him to give them all their food supplies at the proper time. If the master comes and finds him doing this work, then things will be well for that servant because the master will put him in charge of all his property.

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 .