That punishment, externally imposed, thus hinges on a social debt not for nothing does the Old English gylt gloss the Latin debitum, “debt,” in the Lord’s Prayer. “Guilt” has a distant cousin in the Old English word gelt, “money.” It stems from a crime or offense that requires some sort of payment in atonement. Which one depends on who you are and where you came from. If you’re not, you’ll feel one or the other of these systems of admonition. If you’re a sociopath, you won’t feel either. You drink too much at a party, then drive home, merrily exceeding the speed limit.ĭo you feel shame for your behavior, or do you feel guilt?
#OLD ENGLISH GYLT FULL#
So, apparently, more liberties have been taken in the English translation to convey meaning.You borrow a book from a friend, knowing full well that you’ll never return it. Since "võlad" (debts) are in no way related to guilt in Estonian, this seems to be an interesting case of mistranslation that has persisted in our language purely due to tradition.ĮDIT: I just looked up the Greek and Latin translations of the prayer and have to admit that my attempt at etymological analysis was probably incorrect, since Latin has "debita" and Greek has "ὀφείλημα" (opheiléma), which, as I understand it, literally mean debts. Since the Estonian version of the prayer was most likely translated from (Low) German, I now understand why we say "võlad" instead of, for example, "süü" (guilt) or "patud" (sins). In Estonian, however, the thing that we ask to be forgiven and should forgive ourselves are literally "debts" (võlad), which (for me) gives the prayer an interesting commercial or transactional tone. In English, the prayer has two lines that are said either as "and forgive us our trespasses / as we forgive those who trespass against us " or "and forgive us our sins / as we forgive those who sin against us ". Ha, this is really interesting to me, because it made me think about the wording of the Our Father prayer in Estonian, which has always seemed strange to me. Please do not cite or rely upon AI tools when asking or answering questions on r/etymology. Language models are an emerging tool that can often give assertive but specious answers. Keep your posts and comments friendly and remember the human. Disputed origins should have a warningĬonnections and word origins that are speculative, disputed, or otherwise specious should be shared with wording that reflects the uncertain origin to avoid being misleading.
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