The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “joy” or “happiness” is translated in the HausaCommon Language Bible idiomatically as farin ciki or “white stomach.” In some cases, such as in Genesis 29:11, it is also added for emphatic purposes.
Other languages that use the same expression include Southern Birifor (pʋpɛl), Dera (popolok awo), Reshe (ɾipo ɾipuhã). (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Peter 4:13:
Uma: “Just be glad about it, since you have received a share/portion of the suffering that Kristus received. Because of that, relatives, when the time comes for Kristus to show the bigness of his life to all people, your joy will be really great [lit., no kidding your joy].” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But you should be glad for because of the difficulties of yours you are already included in the persecution experienced by/that happened to Isa Almasi so that you will also be very glad/joyous when God honors/makes great Isa Almasi in the sight of all mankind.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Don’t be surprised, but rather rejoice very much, for by means of this you share in the afflictions which Christ endured. And because of that, you also will rejoice very much in the future when He reveals to us that golden going-home-place.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “So you should be happy if you are being hardshipped like the hardship of Cristo so that your happiness will be great on the day when his dazzling godhood will be revealed.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Don’t let yourselves be amazed by it, but rather be happy about it. For therein you have gotten included in the hardships which Cristo experienced. For as long as it’s like that, you will be able to be really happy at his returning here, when his praiseworthiness/glory will be made evident.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “When you suffer what Christ suffered, be glad then. But you will be supremely glad when he comes, because it will appear that he is supreme.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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 that system, one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and others 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: “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 the latter two 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. ).
In order to communicate effectively the contrast indicated by Rather, it may be necessary to refer back to the content of verse 12, for example, “do not be surprised, but be glad” or “instead of being bewildered, be glad.”
Instead of being alarmed, bewildered or surprised, the Christians should be glad when they suffer, because they in effect share in Christ’s own suffering. This idea of joy in the midst of sadness is already found in 1.6. Christ’s sufferings as an example for the Christian to follow is mentioned in 2.21 and following, and 3.18 and following; what is new here is the idea that in suffering, Christians are in effect sharing in the sufferings of Christ. But what does sharing in Christ’s sufferings mean? (1) Christians are suffering in the same way that Christ had suffered (compare Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “You receive part of what Christ had to suffer by your own suffering”; Moffatt “you are sharing what Christ suffered”); this would be a further statement of the imitatio Christi found in previous passages. (2) Sharing in Christ’s sufferings refers to the rite of baptism, in which the Christian symbolically experiences a death and a resurrection similar to Christ’s, and any suffering after baptism is suffering shared with Christ, since the Christian has already become part of the church, which is Christ’s mystical body. (3) The sufferings referred to here are part of what the early church understood as “messianic woes” before the end of the world. In view of the eschatological tone of the letter, and the reference to Christ’s glory being revealed in this verse, this interpretation has some merit. Furthermore, it is noted that Christ is literally “the Christ” or “the Messiah” and the use of the article before “Christ” is probably conditioned by the meaning of “suffering” which the writer had in mind. Although this third alternative is quite attractive, no modern translation, as far as one can ascertain, has opted for it. Therefore, in view of the theme of imitatio Christi which dominates some part of the letter, the first of these alternatives seems to be the most logical and offers the least difficulties in translation.
A strictly literal translation of you are sharing Christ’s sufferings may be misunderstood in a sense that “you are sharing in the result of Christ’s sufferings.” Another misinterpretation may result from understanding the expression as meaning that the Christian shares in the atoning work of Christ. It may therefore be better to avoid a term meaning “share” and to simply say “you are suffering in a way similar to the manner in which Christ suffered.”
That is literally “to the degree that” (compare Revised Standard Version “in so far as”; New American Bible “in the measure that”).
So that expresses the purpose of the Christian’s gladness in the face of persecution. You may be full of joy is literally “you may also rejoice and be glad,” an expression which is also found in Matthew 5.12. The expression refers to superlative joy; if the Christians are now glad because of their sufferings, then they will be much more glad afterwards (compare Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “you will rejoice all the more”; Phillips “you will be filled with the most tremendous joy”; Jerusalem Bible “you will enjoy a much greater gladness”). In a number of languages it is quite impossible to speak of being “full of joy.” One can of course “be very joyous” or “be extremely happy” or “be even more happy,” but “to be full of an emotion” is a relatively rare way of speaking.
All of this will happen when his glory is revealed (literally “in the revelation of his glory”). This has reference, of course, to the second coming. Glory is a very difficult word to translate, since it has so many possible meanings in the New Testament; here it seems best to take it as referring to Christ himself and to his coming with power and greatness; when his glory is revealed may then be restated as “when he comes (again) with power and greatness.” It is very interesting to note that most translations referred to in the writing of this Handbook translate glory literally at this point, probably because of the difficulties involved in restructuring it.
Since glory must be rendered in a number of languages in terms of the wonderful character of something or someone, it may be possible to translate when his glory is revealed as “when people see how wonderful he is” or even “… how great he is.”
Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The First Letter from Peter. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
But: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But introduces a contrast. Peter’s readers were to rejoice instead of being unpleasantly surprised. Here is another way to translate this word:
Rather (Good News Translation)
rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ is literally “rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ.”
rejoice: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as rejoice is a strong word that can be translated as “leap/dance for joy.” See 1:6a, where the same word occurs and is translated as:
greatly rejoice
share in the sufferings of Christ: Believers were to some extent suffering in the same way that Christ suffered. However, believers cannot completely suffer as Christ did. To the extent that believers do suffer as Christ did, they should be glad.
Some other ways this phrase has been translated include:
rejoice in so far as you share in Christ’s suffering (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Be glad for the chance to suffer as Christ suffered. (Contemporary English Version)
4:13b
so that you may be overjoyed: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as you may be overjoyed is literally “you may rejoice, being glad.” This double verb intensifies the idea that the believers were to have great joy. Some other ways overjoyed has been translated are:
full of joy (God’s Word)
-or-
wonderful joy (New Living Translation (2004))
at the revelation of His glory: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as at the revelation of His glory refers to the time when Christ will return to the earth and everyone will see his glory. The same word for “revelation” is used in 1:7e.
glory: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as glory refers to a shining brightness. This represented God’s holiness and majesty. Such glory often accompanied the appearance of God or his angels to people. Some other ways to translate glory are:
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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