The third word in our series of difficult words to translate is worthy. I remember sitting with the translation team one day trying to elicit an Enga translation for the word worthy I said, “Let’s say that you say to your son, ‘If you behave well, I will buy you ice cream’ (yes, they have ice cream in Papua New Guinea). So let’s say that your son does behave well, then he would be ______ to receive the ice cream. How would you fill in the blank?” Well, instead of filling in the blank for me, all I got was blank stares! And after many similar failed attempts to try to elicit a translation of the word worthy I came to the conclusion that the word worthy is untranslatable into the Enga language with any sort of direct equivalent. So that meant that we had to find another way to say the same thing.
Of course, the most basic definition of the word worthy is that it describes something that has worth. That means that it has value that is consistent with something else to which it is compared. For example, we say that a car is worth $10,000 when there is someone who is willing to pay that much for the car. To say that our 1989 Toyota Hilux is worth $100,000 would not be consistent with what anyone would be willing to pay, and so it would be wrong to say that it is worth that much. So when we describe people as being worthy, we are saying that there is something about them that is consistent with something else to which they are being compared. To say that a person is worthy doesn’t really make sense unless you say (or imply) what the value of that person is being compared to. For example, in Luke 15:19, when the prodigal son says to his father, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son,” he is saying that his personal value is not consistent with the value of being considered his father’s son. Another way we could say this is that he is no longer deserving or sufficient to be called his son.
Because Enga does not have a word that is equivalent to the word worthy, we translate the concept by focusing on the goodness or badness of the person in comparison to the action or circumstance under consideration. For example, we translated Luke 15:19 as follows: “I am not a good man, so do not call me your son.” This emphasizes that the goodness of the prodigal son is not commensurate with being called his father’s son. Similarly, in Luke 7:6, the centurion sends a message to Jesus, saying, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.” In Enga, we have translated this as, “Big Man, I am an unimportant person with no reputation, so do not come to my house.” Again, the centurion does not consider his personal value to be commensurate with the idea of a person like Jesus entering his house.
So while Enga has no word that is equivalent to the English word worthy, the concept is very much translatable. By the way, how do you think an Engan man would tell his son that he is worthy of getting ice cream? He would probably just say, “You have been good, and so you will get ice cream.” Sometimes I appreciate that Enga avoids abstract concepts like worthiness and states the matter in a simple, straightforward manner. Although it can sure cause us translation headaches from time-to-time, and sometimes I myself feel unworthy of the task!
Of course, the most basic definition of the word worthy is that it describes something that has worth. That means that it has value that is consistent with something else to which it is compared. For example, we say that a car is worth $10,000 when there is someone who is willing to pay that much for the car. To say that our 1989 Toyota Hilux is worth $100,000 would not be consistent with what anyone would be willing to pay, and so it would be wrong to say that it is worth that much. So when we describe people as being worthy, we are saying that there is something about them that is consistent with something else to which they are being compared. To say that a person is worthy doesn’t really make sense unless you say (or imply) what the value of that person is being compared to. For example, in Luke 15:19, when the prodigal son says to his father, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son,” he is saying that his personal value is not consistent with the value of being considered his father’s son. Another way we could say this is that he is no longer deserving or sufficient to be called his son.
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| Our 1989 Toyota Hilux—definitely not worthy of $100,000 |
So while Enga has no word that is equivalent to the English word worthy, the concept is very much translatable. By the way, how do you think an Engan man would tell his son that he is worthy of getting ice cream? He would probably just say, “You have been good, and so you will get ice cream.” Sometimes I appreciate that Enga avoids abstract concepts like worthiness and states the matter in a simple, straightforward manner. Although it can sure cause us translation headaches from time-to-time, and sometimes I myself feel unworthy of the task!
