1John 3:19 – TIPs

truth

Nida (1947, p. 230) says this about the translation of the concept of “truth”: “The words for ‘truth’ and ‘true’ are not always the most readily discovered in aboriginal languages. In some instances the only expression which corresponds to ‘true’ is something like ‘it happened.’ A falsehood is something that ‘did not happen.’ In a good many languages the meaning of ‘truth’ is expressed by the words signifying ‘straight’ and ‘direct.’ Untruth is accordingly ‘crookedness.’ An abstract noun such as English “truth” is quite difficult to find in some instances. Only an expression such as ‘true statement’ or ‘true word’ will be found to correspond to English ‘truth.’”

The Greek, Latin, Ge’ez, and Hebrew that is usually translated in English as “truth” is translated in Luchazi with vusunga: “the quality of being straight” (source: E. Pearson in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 160ff. ), in Obolo as atikọ or “good/correct talk” (source: Enene Enene), and in Ekari as maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (esp. in John 14:6 and 17; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).

Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) tells of the translation into Kui which usually is “true-thing.” In some instances however, such as in the second part of John 17:17 (“your word is truth” in English), the use of “true-thing” indicated that there might be other occasions when it’s not true, so here the translation was a a form of “pure, holy.”

The translation committee of the Malay “Good News Bible” (Alkitab Berita Baik, see here ) wrestled with the translation of “truth” in the Gospel of John:

“Our Malay Committee also concluded that ‘truth’ as used in the Gospel of John was used either of God himself, or of God’s revelation of himself, or in an extended sense as a reference to those who had responded to God’s self-disclosure. In John 8:32 the New Malay translation reads ‘You will know the truth about God, and the truth about God will make you free.’ In John 8:44 this meaning is brought out by translating, ‘He has never been on the side of God, because there is no truth in him.’ Accordingly Jesus ‘tells the truth about God’ in 8:45, 46 (see also 16:7 and 8:37a). Then, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’ (John 14:6) becomes ‘I am the one who leads men to God, the one who reveals who and what God is, and the one who gives men life.” At 3:21 the translation reads ” … whoever obeys the truth, that is God himself, comes to the light …’; 16:13a appears as ‘he will lead you into the full truth about God’; and in 18:37 Jesus affirms ‘I came into the world to reveal the truth about God, and whoever obeys God listens to me.’ On this basis also 1:14 was translated ‘we saw his glory, the glory which he had as the Father’s only Son. Through him God has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace)’; and 1:17 appears as ‘God gave the law through Moses; but through Jesus Christ he has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace).'” (Source: Barclay Newman in The Bible Translator 1974, p. 432ff. )

The German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) has followed a somewhat similar path to the Malay committee 50 years earlier in the gospel of John. In John 1 it translates “truth as “God’s nature,” in John 3 as “God’s will,” in John 8 as “God’s reality,” in John 14 as “encountering God,” and in John 16 as “God’s truth.”

mind (heart / soul) (letters of John)

The concept that is expressed as “mind” in English is translated as “head-heart” in Yatzachi Zapotec. This concept is applied to terms that are translated in English as “fellowship” (“head-hearts are one”), the “inner-self” (“have no evil” is “have no evil in our head-hearts”), “eye” (in the sense of “understanding”), “heart” and “soul.”

Source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation November 1964, p. 1-22.

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (1John 3:19)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the inclusive form (including the addressee).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (1 John 3:19)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 John 3:19:

Uma: “If we love our relatives, that is a sign so that we really know that we are God’s children, with the result that our hearts will be still/quiet to face him.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “If we (dual) truly love our (incl.) fellow-men that is a sign that we (dual) follow the true teaching therefore it is peaceful in our (dual) livers in the presence of God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For if we do this, we (incl.) can know that we really are sons of the true God. And because of that, it is no longer necessary for us to be ashamed in his presence,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “If that is how we love-one-another, that’s how we know that it’s true that we have been joined to God. And even if our minds accuse us, we can nonetheless cause-our minds -to-be-peaceful so that we will not be ashamed to pray to him. For we know that God’s thoughts are higher/more-important than our thoughts and he totally knows everything. He knows that we have been joined to him.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Therefore herein we will know that as for us, we are under the jurisdiction of truth which comes from God. And therein also, our heads will not now be troubled when approaching him.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “If we truly love our fellowmen, then we know for sure that we do what is said in what is truly God’s word. Then we have peace of heart because God will not be angry with us.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Yatzachi Zapotec: “We know that we are children of God, if we love our fellows with all our hearts. And if there are times when we think in our head-hearts that we are not worthy for God to say”
Eastern Highland Otomi: “And if we really have love, we will know that we follow the true Word. And our hearts will rest before the face of God.”
Tzotzil: “Because if we love each other thus we know that we have really and truly believed. Therefore we are one-hearted (at peace) in the presence of God.”
Garifuna: “If we love each other thus, then we know that we are in (progressive) (united to) the true belief (faith). Also then there is tranquillity with our hearts before God. (we are not worried, upset).” (Source for this and two above: John Beekman in Notes on Translation 12, November 1964, p. 1ff.)

pronoun for "God"

God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).

Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.

In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.

While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”

In Kouya, Godié, Northern Grebo, Eastern Krahn, Western Krahn, and Guiberoua Béte, all languages of the Kru family in Western Africa, a different kind of systems of pronouns is used (click or tap here to read more):

In that system one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and one for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.

Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains in the following way: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”

In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)

Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”

In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )

In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)

The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.

Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are Twents as well as the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In both languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Gender of God .

Translation: Chinese

在现代汉语中，第三人称单数代词的读音都是一样的（tā），但是写法并不一样，取决于性别以及是否有生命，即男性为“他”，女性为“她”，动物、植物和无生命事物为“它”（在香港和台湾的汉语使用，动物则为“牠”）。这些字的部首偏旁表明了性别（男人、女人、动物、无生命事物），而另一偏旁通常旁提示发音。

到1930年为止，基督教新教《圣经》经过整整一百年的翻译已经拥有了十几个译本，当时的一位圣经翻译者王元德新造了一个“神圣的”代词“祂”，偏旁“礻”表示神明。一般汉语读者会立即知道这字的发音是tā，而这个偏旁表示属灵的事物，因此他们明白这个字指出，三位一体的所有位格都没有性别之分，而单单是上帝。

然而，最重要的新教圣经译本（1919年的《和合本》）和天主教圣经译本（1968年的《思高圣经》）都没有采用“祂”；虽然如此，许多其他的圣经译本采用了这个字，另外还广泛出现在赞美诗和其他基督信仰的书刊中。（资料来源：Zetzsche）

《吕振中译本》的几个早期版本也使用“祂”来指称“上帝”；这个译本的《新约》于1946年译成，整部《圣经》于1970年完成。克拉默斯（Kramers）指出：“‘他’的这种新写法（即‘祂’）产生了一个小问题，就是在指称耶稣的时候，是否一律使用这个敬语代词？《吕振中译本》遵循的原则是，在称呼耶稣这个人的时候，用一般的‘他’，而在称呼耶稣神性的时候，特别是升天之后的耶稣，则用尊称‘祂’。”

Translator: Simon Wong

before / in the sight of / presence of (God) (Japanese honorifics)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-mae (御前) or “before (God)” in the referenced verses. In some cases in can also be used in reference to being before a king, such as in 1 Samuel 16:16.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on 1 John 3:19

In Greek New Testament the paragraph begins with [kai], a reading of doubtful authority. In the majority of translations this word is not represented, and rightly so.

By this is best taken as pointing backward (as in 4.6 and, according to one interpretation, in 2.5). Then the line of thought is: by the fact that we love in deed and in truth, we know that we are of the truth. To bring this out clearly Good News Translation has “this, then, is how we will know.”

We shall know is not in the present tense, as in verse 16, but in the future tense. This serves here to express that the knowledge depends upon the fulfillment of the condition laid down in verse 18. Consequently the future tense expresses what can or may happen rather than what will happen; hence ‘we can/may know.’

We are of the truth: some acceptable renderings are ‘we belong to God, who is true,’ ‘we have the quality of truth (or of the true One),’ compare comments on 2.16 and 21.

And (shall) reassure our hearts: the clause is dependent on by this and as such is parallel to we shall know that …. To make this clear one may have to say something like ‘and (by this also we) can/may reassure our hearts.’ The plural of hearts is required by English usage because the subject is in the plural. It has distributive force, for which some other languages prefer a singular form (as does the Greek).

In “to reassure one’s heart,” the Greek verb can mean “to convince,” “to persuade,” “to win over,” but also (in Matt 28.14, for example) “to conciliate,” “to pacify,” “to satisfy,” “to set at ease or rest.” The last mentioned meaning fits the context here.

The syntactic structure of the phrase may have to be changed; for example, ‘the heart feels sure (or rests).’ Some equivalent idioms are ‘to be one-hearted (that is, at peace),’ ‘to be happy (of) heart,’ ‘the heart can breathe’ (that is, is relieved, as of a big problem).

Heart (in this and the next two verses) represents a Greek word that refers to the bodily heart, the seat of physical life, then, by extension, to the heart as the center and source of the whole inner life. In some receptor languages the corresponding term may literally mean ‘liver,’ ‘gall,’ or another part of the body; see comments on heart in verse 17. Since the word also stands for the self as a responsible person, the present phrase may also be rendered ‘to reassure oneself (or one’s conscience)’ (compare Phillips and Goodspeed).

Before him, or ‘in his/God’s sight,’ ‘when (we stand) in God’s presence’: the phrase is used in a metaphorical sense.

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 .

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 John 3:19

Paragraph 3:19–20

Read 3:19–20 in both Berean Standard Bible and Good News Translation. Compare the two versions.

Paragraph Theme: If we love one another we will not be ashamed before God when we are praying to him.

3:19a

this: (Pronoun Reference) The word this refers back to what John has said in the previous verse about loving each other truly. To make this clear in translation it may be necessary to restate it here.

we will know: (Tense) As the Berean Standard Bible indicates in English, the tense in the Greek is future, probably because John is saying that we will know that we belong to the truth if we put 3:18 into practice.

3:19b

we belong to the truth: (Meaning) The basic meaning of truth in John’s writings is “everything which is in accordance with God’s character.” This is because God is the real standard of what is true and right. So when John says we belong to the truth, he means that we belong to God and we are living according to his will.

3:19c

in His presence: (Meaning) John is referring to when we are praying or when we think about God and remember that we are in his presence.

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

Step into the multitudes of languages of the Bible and join the worldwide conversation!

Verse: 1 John 3:19