light vs. darkness

The Greek in 1 John 2:9 that is translated as “light” and “darkness” in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with Strahlkreis des Lichtes and Bannkreis der Finsternis or “light’s circle of beams” and “darkness’s circle of influence (or: “spell”).

complete verse (1 John 2:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 John 2:9:

  • Uma: “People who say they are in the light, and they hate their relatives, they are still in the darkness.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Whoever says that he is already in the light, but he hates his fellow truster in Isa Almasi he is still in darkness up to now.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “If there is a person who says that God has illuminated his mind, but he is the enemy of his companion, he is still in the darkness.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “If there is one who says that he is in the light/brightness while-at-the-same-time he hates a companion of his, he is still in the darkness just the same.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “The one who says that as for him, he is now in the light/enlightenment, but he is still ignoring/spurning his sibling in believing, the truth is, he is still in darkness.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “He who says that he is now living good, yet he hates his brother, is still living in evil.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “If we say we are present where there is light because of our doing good, but if we hate our fellows, we are still in darkness because we are doing evil by hating our fellows.”
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “He who says he is living in God’s light, and hates his sibling, but still the same-as-before he is living in the darkness.”
  • Tzotzil: “If we say ‘I am in the sunlight,’ if we hate a Christian brother, we are still in darkness.” (Source for this and two above: John Beekman in Notes on Translation 12, November 1964, p. 1ff.)

Translation commentary on 1 John 2:9

For the phrase he who says, see 1 John 2.4 and the general remarks on 3-11.

(That) he is in the light, or ‘(that) he lives in the light,’ ‘that he is/lives where it is light/bright,’ is again in indirect discourse; compare verse 6. The same expression is used in 1.7 with reference to God. The present tense has durative force.

And is adversative here; hence ‘but,’ ‘and yet,’ ‘but at-the-same-time.’

The clause hates his brother does not continue “he is in the light” but is parallel to “he who says.” The noun in the singular serves here to show that the reference is not to a specific brother but to brothers in general. This may require a generic plural; compare, for example, ‘older and younger brother (or siblings).’

“To hate” is here (and in 2.11; 3.15; 4.20) the direct opposite of “to love.” It does not focus on feelings of aversion (as in 3.13, which see) but on deeds neglecting love, helpfulness, and self-sacrifice (compare 3.17); hence ‘does not love at all,’ ‘does not put first,’ ‘treats as an enemy.’

† Brother (also in 2.10-11; 3.10, 12-17; 4.20-21; 5.16; 3 John 5, 10): the Greek term was used by Jews and non-Jews to indicate a member of one’s religious group, here a member of the Christian congregation. Accordingly it means “fellow Christian,” whereas “neighbor” (as used, for example, in Luke 10.27-28, 36) means basically “fellow man.”

In the Johannine writings brother is still a living metaphor. Christians are each other’s brothers and sisters, because they all are “children of God” (5.2), have the same characteristics (3.9-10), follow Christ’s commandments (2.7; 2 John 5), and are called “my brothers” by Jesus himself (John 20.17). If in the receptor language ‘brother’ would not be understood in this metaphorical sense, one can best make explicit the religious sense, saying, for example, ‘brother because of the Lord.’

Where a nonmetaphorical rendering must be used, one should try to find a term expressing an intimate relationship in the language concerned; for example, ‘his-one,’ said of a member of one’s in-group, ‘the other,’ said of a member of one’s clan. In some cases the renderings of brother and “neighbor” would coincide and therefore have to be distinguished by a qualifying word, as in ‘Christian fellow-man – fellow-man,’ ‘associate in Christ – associate.’

Is in the darkness still is the opposite of “is in the light” and may require similar adjustments. For in the darkness compare 1.6.

Still renders two Greek words meaning literally “until now,” “up to the present time.” This should not be interpreted, however, as stating that being in the darkness comes to an end in the present, that is, at the moment John wrote down these words. To bring this out, several versions do as Revised Standard Version and use ‘still’ or, more explicitly, ‘just as he was before,’ ‘still the same as before.’

Quoted with permission from Haas, C., de Jonge, M. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on The First Letter of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .