Matthew 1:18-2:11: The Story of Jesus' Birth

We have earlier attempted Neo-Quenya translations of certain Old Testament passages. Here is a section from the New Testament, the birth of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. Names of places and people are only partially Quenyarized in form; names like Yósef (Joseph) and Ves-Lehem (Bethlehem) have final consonants not allowed in actual Quenya words. As for "Jesus" and "Mary", Tolkien himself used Yésus and María in Quenya texts; Hristo as the Quenya form of "Christ" is also Tolkien's own phonological adaptation of this word. Otherwise see verse-by-verse discussions below.

[From Chapter 1] 18 I colië Yésus Hristova martanë sië: Írë amillerya María né nauta vestien Yósef, nes hírina lapsarwa i Airefëanen, epë nentë ertainë. 19 Mal Yósef vennorya, i né faila ar úmë merë naitya se, mernë lerya se nuldavë. 20 Mal apa sannes sin, en! i Heruo vala tullë senna oloressë, quétala: "Yósef Lavirion, áva rucë mapiello María vesselya mardenna, an ya ná nostaina sessë i Airefëanen ná. 21 Coluvas yondo, ar estuvalyes Yésus, an etelehtuvas lierya úcarintallon." 22 Ilqua sina martanë quantien ya i Heru quentë tercánoryanen, quétala: "En! i vendë nauva lapsarwa ar coluva yondo, ar antuvantë sen i essë Immanuel" - ya tëa "Aselvë Eru". 24 San Yósef, apa cuivierya fúmeryallo, carnë ve i Heruo vala cannë sen, ar mampes vesserya mardenna. 25 Mal úmes ista se epë colles yondo, ar ánes sen i essë Yésus.
          [Chapter 2] Apa Yésus né cólina Ves-Lehemessë Yúrëo i auressen Heros i arano, en! elentirmor rómenyë ménallon tuller Yerúsalemenna, 2 quétala: "Massë ëa i ná cólina aran i Yúrain? An Rómessë cennelmë elenerya, ar utúlielmë cavien sen." 3 Íre hlarnes sin, Aran Heros né horyaina, ar ilya Yerúsalemo as se, 4 ar hostala ilyë i hérë airimor ar i parmangolmor imíca i lië, maquentes te pa i colienómë i Hristo. 5 Quententë senna: "Ves-Lehemessë Yúrëo, an sië ná técina i Erutercánonen: 'Ar elyë, Ves-Lehem Yúrëo, laumë i ampitya imíca i cánor Yúrëo; an elyello tuluva túro, i nauva mavar Israel lienyan.' "
          7 San Heros nuldavë tultanë i elentirmor ar maquentë te pa i lú ya minyavë cennentë i elen. 8 Mentaneryet Ves-Lehemenna quétala: "Á lelya, á saca i hína, ar írë ihírielles á nyarë ninna, sa yando inyë polë lelya cavien sen." 9 Írë hlarnentë i aran lendentë oa, ar en! i elen ya cennentë Rómessë lendë epë te, tenna pustanes or i nómë yassë engë i hína. 10 Cenië i elen ánë tien alta alassë. 11 Lendentë mir i coa ar cenner i hína as María amillerya, ar lantala undu canwentë sen. Pantanentë harmantar ar áner sen annar, malta ar ninquima ar nísima suhtë.

Or verse by verse:

18 I colië Yésus Hristova martanë sië: Írë amillerya María né nauta vestien Yósef, nes hírina lapsarwa i Airefëanen, epë nentë ertainë.
The birth [colië, "bearing"] of Jesus Christ happened like this [sië, "thus"]: When his mother Mary was betrothed to Josef [né nauta vestien Yósef = "was obliged to marry Joseph"], she was found [to be] pregnant by the Holy Spirit, before they were united. [*Lapsarwa "baby-having" = pregnant: lapsë "babe" + the suffix -arwa "having". *Ertainë pl. of *ertaina "united", from *erta- "unite", the unattested cognate of Sindarin ertha- as in aderthad "reunion".]

19 Mal Yósef vennorya, i né faila ar úmë merë naitya se, mernë lerya se nuldavë.
But Joseph her husband, who was righteous [faila "just"] and did not wish to put her to shame, wished to divorce [lerya- "release"] her secretly. [The word for "husband" is given as verno in the Etymologies as printed in LR, entry BES. But according to VT45:7, verno is a misreading for venno in Tolkien's manuscript. Naitya- "put to shame", QL:65.]

20 Mal apa sannes sin, en! i Heruo vala tullë senna oloressë, quétala: "Yósef Lavirion, áva rucë mapiello María vesselya mardenna, an ya ná nostaina sessë i Airefëanen ná.
But after he thought this, look! the angel of the Lord came to him in a dream, saying: "Joseph son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife home [mardenna, allative], for [that] which is begotten in her is by the Holy Spirit. [Sannes "he thought"; the verb *sana- "think", pa.t. *sannë rather than *sananë, has been isolated from sanar "thinker", VT41:13. We use vala for "angel", since Tolkien translated this word as "angelic spirit" in Appendix E to the LotR. Lavirion "Lavir-son"; the name David must become Lavir (archaic Laviz) in Quenya sounds. Áva rucë mapiello "do not fear to take"; according to WJ:415, the verb ruc- "to fear" is constructed with "from" (ablative in -llo) referring to that which is feared, here mapië the gerund of mapa- "take, seize".]

21 Coluvas yondo, ar estuvalyes Yésus, an etelehtuvas lierya úcarintallon.
She will bear a son, and you will call him Jesus, for he will save [or "deliver", etelehta-] his people from their sins. [In this text, the verb col- "bear" is repeatedly used with reference to bearing or giving birth to a child, though possibly Tolkien only meant col- to mean "bear, carry" in the most basic sense. Nosta- means "give birth" according to one early source, but later sources define this verb as "beget" instead (so used here: passive participle nostaina "begotten" in verse 20). The form úcarintallon "from their sins" includes *-nta as the ending for "their", extrapolated from -ntë "they".]

22 Ilqua sina martanë quantien ya i Heru quentë tercánoryanen, quétala: "En! i vendë nauva lapsarwa ar coluva yondo, ar antuvantë sen i essë Immanuel" - ya tëa "Aselvë Eru".
All this [ilqua sina, "everything this"] happened to [ful]fill [that] which the Lord spoke by his prophet [or "herald", tercáno], saying: "Look! the maiden will be pregnant and shall bear a son, and they will give him the name Immanuel" - which means "With Us [Is] God". [Tëa "indicates" (VT39:6) = *"means". Aselvë "with us"; compare aselyë "with thee", VT43:29).]

24 San Yósef, apa cuivierya fúmeryallo, carnë ve i Heruo vala cannë sen, ar mampes vesserya mardenna.
Then Joseph, after waking up from his sleep [lit. "after his awakening from his sleep"], did as the angel of the Lord [had] commanded him [dative], and he took his wife home. [*Mampes "he took"; *mampë is probably a better pa.t. of mapa- than *mapanë.]

25 Mal úmes ista se epë colles yondo, ar ánes sen i essë Yésus.
But he did not know her [in the Biblical sense!] before she bore a son, and he gave him the name Jesus.

[Chapter 2] 1 Apa Yésus né cólina Ves-Lehemessë Yúrëo i auressen Heros i arano, en! elentirmor rómenyë ménallon tuller Yerúsalemenna,
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, look! star-gazers from eastern regions came to Jerusalem, [Bethlehem represents Hebrew Beth-Lechem "House of Bread"; by Quenyarizing it as Ves-Lehem with a hyphen included to distinguish the two elements, the impossible cluster sl is avoided (sort of!) Other Quenyarized names: Yúrëa "Judea", here in genitive form Yúrëo "of Judea"; Yerúsalem "Jerusalem" (final -m does not occur in "real" Quenya words, so the phonological adaptation is only partial). The name Herod we Quenyarize as Heros rather than Heror: Normally, postvocalic d would come become z and then r, but Tolkien indicated that this did not happen when there was already an r in an adjacent syllable (WJ:413); in such cases z rather became s.]

2 quétala: "Massë ëa i ná cólina aran i Yúrain? An Rómessë cennelmë elenerya, ar utúlielmë cavien sen."
saying: "Where is [the one] who is born king to the Jews? For in [the] East we saw his star, and we have come to do him obeisance." [*Massë "where" (a form I believe occurs in Tolkien's unpublished material). *Yúra "Jew", from Hebrew Y(eh)udâ; here dative plural Yúrain. Verb *cav- "bow, make obeisance": this is a phonological updating of caw- in Tolkien's early "Qenya Lexicon" (QL:45). Tolkien later decided that intervocalic w becomes v in Quenya, but since we do assume that our updated form *cav- represents older caw-, the nasal-infixed past tense is *canwë (verse 11).]

3 Írë hlarnes sin, Aran Heros né horyaina, ar ilya Yerúsalemo as se,
When he heard this, King Herod was agitated, and all of Jerusalem with him, [*Horyaina, here translated "agitated", is the passive participle of horya- "have an impulse, be compelled to do something" (VT45:22).]

4 ar hostala ilyë i hérë airimor ar i parmangolmor imíca i lië, maquentes te pa i colienómë i Hristo.
and gathering all the chief priests and the scribes among the people, he asked them about the birth-place of the Christ. [*Airimo "priest" or "holy man": airë, airi- "holy" + the personal (masculine) ending -mo. *Parmangolmo "scribe", literally "book-scholar". Colienómë, "birth place" or "bearing-place": *colië + nómë.]

5 Quententë senna: "Ves-Lehemessë Yúrëo, an sië ná técina i Erutercánonen: 'Ar elyë, Ves-Lehem Yúrëo, laumë i ampitya imíca i cánor Yúrëo; an elyello tuluva túro, i nauva mavar Israel lienyan.' "
They said to him: "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus [it] is written by the prophet [Erutercáno "God-herald"]: 'And you, Bethlehem of Judea, is by no means the smallest among the governors of Judea; for from you [there] shall come a ruler, who will be shepherd for my people Israel.' " [Laumë, strong negation, here translated "by no means". See the entry LA- in the Etymologies. Ampitya "smallest": pitya "small" with the superlative/intensive prefix an-, here assimilated am- before a p- (compare amparca from parca "dry", VT45:5). *Túro "ruler", from the verb tur- "rule"; also compare the ancient primitive form tûrô mentioned in Etym, entry TUR.]

7 San Heros nuldavë tultanë i elentirmor ar maquentë te pa i lú ya minyavë cennentë i elen.
Then Herod secretly summoned the star-gazers and asked them about the time when they first saw the star. [I lú ya... "the time that/when..." *Minyavë, "first" as adverb: minya "first" (adj.) + the adverbial ending -.]

8 Mentaneryet Ves-Lehemenna quétala: "Á lelya, á saca i hína, ar írë ihírielles á nyarë ninna, sa yando inyë polë lelya cavien sen."
He send them to Bethlehem saying: "Go, seek [for] the child, and when you have found him tell me, that also I can go to do him obeisance." [Mentane-rye-t "sent-he-them": we presuppose *-rye- as the long 3rd person sg. ending; compare the corresponding possessive ending -rya "his, her". Ihírielles "you have found him", with -lle- as the ending for plural "you".]

9 Írë hlarnentë i aran lendentë oa, ar en! i elen ya cennentë Rómessë lendë epë te, tenna pustanes or i nómë yassë engë i hína.
When they heard the king they went away, and look! the star that they saw [or, had seen] in [the] East went before them, until it stopped above the place where the child was.

10 Cenië i elen ánë tien alta alassë.
Seeing the star gave them great joy. [Tien, "(to) them", dative.]

11 Lendentë mir i coa ar cenner i hína as María amillerya, ar lantala undu canwentë sen. Pantanentë harmantar ar áner sen annar, malta ar ninquima ar nísima suhtë.
They went into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling down they did him obeisance. They opened their treasures and gave him gifts, gold and frankincense and fragrant gum [i.e., myrrh]. [Since the pronoun se, dative sen, covers both "he" and "she" the Quenya text is ambiguous; it could also be taken to mean that it was to "her" (Mary) the star-gazers did obeisance and gave gifts. For clarity, sen could be replaced by i hínan ("to the child") here. *Ninquima "frankincense", etymologically simply "something white" (ninquë, ninqui- "white"), imitating the etymology of the word used in the original Greek text: Libanos (in this verse in accusative form libanon) comes from Hebrew levonâ, which in turn is derived from a root meaning "white", referring to the milky colour of this substance. "Myrrh" we paraphrase as "fragrant gum": The early (1915) "Qenya" word sukte "resin, gum", occurring in QL:86, we update to LotR-style Quenya as *suhtë (since Tolkien later decided that kt becomes ht in Quenya). The phrase nísima suhtë "fragrant gum" also occurs in our translation of Genesis 2:12 (in that case translating Hebrew bedolach rather than levonâ, though).]

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