complete verse (1John 3:24)

Following are a number of back-translation of 1John 3:24:

Yatzachi Zapotec: “If we are doing what he commands, we are constantly with God, and God is constantly with us. And we know that he is constantly with us because he has given us his Spirit.”

Eastern Highland Otomi: “Whoever does what he says, lives with God, and God also resides in his heart. And we know that we live with God because he gave us his good Spirit.”

Tzotzil: Because if we obey his commands, we are in his presence. God is in our hearts. Because is in our hearts the Holy Spirit that God has given us, therefore we know that God is in our hearts.”

Source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation 12, November 1964, p. 1ff.

in him

The Greek phrase that is used numerous times in 1 John and that is translated into English as “in Him” is translated in Northern One (Wolwale) as “really stick to and really remain good friends with God.”

John Nystrom (in The PNG Experience ) explains:

“In the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea, several people gathered to conduct the final checking on the books of 1, 2, and 3 John and Jude. They were challenged to find the best way to write the description of a believer’s intimate union with Christ. The writer of 1 John says we are ‘in Him.’ That’s easy to express in English, but not in languages that only use ‘in’ for things inside other things, but don’t use it in a metaphorical way. How would you express this concept without using the word ‘in’?

“Unsure how to translate this, the team asked Wolwale local language expert Philip Musi for advice. Philip explained while demonstrating by putting his hand firmly to a nearby post, ‘It’s like a lizard who has really stuck himself to a tree.’ Everyone in the room knew exactly what that looked like.

“Now the revised draft of 1 John 2:28a in the Northern One Wolwale language reads: Kongkom uporo kinini, pone samo pangkana ka samo paipe fori uporo plau God.

“A rough English back translation is: ‘My good children, you-all really stick to and really remain good friends with God.'”

he who, whoever

The Greek that is typically translated with a generic expressions such as “he who,” “whoever,” or “if anyone” in English is translated with the plural form (“they”) in Daga. “A literal translation of these conveys the idea that one specific unnamed individual is being discussed. Thus, for instance, in John 5:24 ‘he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life’ meant in Daga that there was one fortunate individual to whom it applied.”

See also love your neighbor as yourself.

complete verse (1 John 3:24)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 John 3:24:

  • Uma: “People who follow God’s commands, they stay in harmony with him, and he with them. This is a sign so that we know God stays in harmony with us, because he has given us his Spirit.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Anybody who follows/obeys the commands of God is one with God and God stays/remains with him. We (dual) know that we are one with God because of the Holy Spirit that he caused to live in our (dual) livers.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Anyone who obeys the commands of God has become one with God and God lives in him. We know that God lives here in us (incl.) for we have been inspired by the Holy Spirit.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The one who obeys the commands of God, he remains in God and God also remains in him. The way-we-know that God remains in us, the Holy Spirit whom God gave is in us.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well he who is obedient to the commands of God, his life really is holding fast to God, and as for God, he indeed is holding fast to him. And as for this help to us by the Espiritu Santo whom he caused to indwell our body, that is how we can comprehend that God is holding fast to us.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “All those who obey what God commands are walkers-with-God. How we know that we walk with God is because of the Holy Spirit who was sent to us.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “If we are doing what he commands, we are constantly with God, and God is constantly with us. And we know that he is constantly with us because he has given us his Spirit.”
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “Whoever does what he says, lives with God, and God also resides in his heart. And we know that we live with God because he gave us his good Spirit.”
  • Tzotzil: Because if we obey his commands, we are in his presence. God is in our hearts. Because is in our hearts the Holy Spirit that God has given us, therefore we know that God is in our hearts.” (Source for this and two above: John Beekman in Notes on Translation 12, November 1964, p. 1ff.)

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (1John 3:24)

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.

Spirit (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-tama (御霊) or “Spirit (of God)” in the referenced verses.

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

See also Holy Spirit