oneself (go-jishin) (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 or a person or persons to be honored, the honorific prefix go- (御 or ご) can be used, as in go-jishin (ご自身), a combination of “onseself” (jishin) and the honorific prefix go-. This can also be used for other reflexive pronouns (myself, himself, yourself etc.)

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

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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 Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

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

Translation commentary on 1 Peter 5:10

This verse starts with the Greek connective de (“but” or “and”), marking the contrast between the promise in this verse and the present state of the believers in verse 9; as such it is better translated But. In the rendering of the adversative conjunction But, it is important to avoid the implication that the believers to whom this letter is directed are to be treated in a manner different from their fellow believers in all the world. It may therefore be necessary to drop the adversative conjunction in some languages and begin verse 10 with the clause after you have suffered for a little while.

After you have suffered for a little while is actually in the middle of the verse, but most translations move it to the beginning for a more natural rendering and in order to mark the relationship between this verse and the previous one. Once again, the Christians are assured that their suffering is only temporary and their vindication is near at hand (compare 1.6).

A literal rendering of for a little while may accentuate too much the brevity of the suffering of the Christians, for it might suggest that the suffering was merely incidental to other aspects of life. A more satisfactory rendering of the first clause of verse 10 may therefore be “after you have suffered, and it will not be for long.” In this way one may suggest not only the temporary nature of the suffering but the fact that deliverance is near at hand.

Grace here may be the same as in 4.10, in which case the God of all grace means “the God whose gifts are sufficient for every need and for every situation.” It is possible, however, to take grace here theologically in terms of God’s undeserved love, in which case the God of all grace would mean “the God who loves us completely.” It is significant to note that most translations keep the literal rendering without any attempt at restructuring. The God of all grace may be rendered as “the God who in all things is good” or “… kind” or “the God who loves us so much” or “the God who shows his love for us without holding back.”

For to share his eternal glory (literally “to his eternal glory”), see notes on 4.13 and 5.1, where “glory” belongs to Christ and not to God but virtually means the same thing. Eternal marks the contrast between their suffering, which is only temporary, and their vindication, which will last for all time. Who calls you to share his eternal glory may be rendered as “who has called you in order that you could share his eternal glory” or “… his greatness which will last forever” or “… his greatness which will never cease.”

In union with Christ (literally “in Christ”) may be taken with calls (compare Barclay “who through Christ called you”), in which case the meaning is “who called you to belong to Jesus Christ,” or with glory, in which case it defines more precisely what is involved in the Christian’s sharing of God’s glory. Taken in this latter sense, the Good News Translation rendering fits very well; it is significant to note that “in Christ” is a favorite expression of the apostle Paul, with the same mystical connotation.

The phrase in union with Christ may be difficult to combine with his eternal glory. Actually in union with Christ indicates the means by which God’s eternal glory is shared. It may therefore be necessary to translate the phrase in union with Christ as a separate clause, “this is possible because of our being united with Christ” or “this happens because we are one with Christ.”

What follows are four actions of God on behalf of the believers on the day of their vindication. The verbs are related in meaning and mark in a very significant way God’s care for his people. Perfect is literally “restore,” denoting the idea of putting something in order, making something complete (compare Jerusalem Bible “will see that all is well again”; Phillips “will make you whole”); it is a very fitting promise for Christians whose bodies are broken down because of persecution and whose wills are ever put to the test. A literal rendering of will himself perfect you may be misunderstood as a reference to complete sanctification in the sense of “make you perfect.” The focus here is upon restoration, not upon sanctification. An equivalent in some instances may be “will do for you all that is necessary” or “will fix everything up for you again.”

Give you firmness is literally “establish,” and it denotes the action of God in keeping them firm and steady in their faith (compare Knox “give you steadiness”). Give you firmness may be expressed negatively in some languages as “will cause you not to change in your faith” or “will cause you not to trust less.”

Give you strength (Greek sthenoun) occurs only here in the whole New Testament; it denotes the idea of God giving them strength to bear all their sufferings without wavering in their faith. A literal rendering of give you … strength might mean merely “to cause you to be physically strong.” The emphasis here, however, is on psychological strength, and therefore it may be more appropriate in some languages to render give you … strength as “cause your heart to be strong” or “to cause your thoughts to be strong.”

Give you a sure foundation is literally “establish you firmly,” indicating God’s act of making sure that they will be firmly rooted in a strong foundation of trust and confidence in him. Some manuscripts omit this fourth verb, but the evidence is clearly on the side of including it; at any rate, its exclusion does not affect the overall intent and meaning of the verse as a whole.

The area of meaning of the expression give you … a sure foundation is essentially similar to the phrase give you firmness, although give you … a sure foundation may be rendered in terms of “cause you to always endure” or “cause you not to be moved in your trust in Christ.” It is rare that one can actually retain the figurative expression foundation.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on 1 Peter 5:10

5:10

This is a complicated verse that is one long sentence in the Berean Standard Bible, as it is in the Greek. In some languages it may be natural to break it up into shorter sentences, as in the Contemporary English Version. For example:

But God shows undeserved kindness to everyone. That’s why he had Christ Jesus choose you to share in his eternal glory. You will suffer for a while, but God will make you complete, steady, strong, and firm.

It may then be necessary to supply an introductory phrase such as:

⌊Remember that⌋

5:10a

And: There are two ways of interpreting the Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And :

(1) It introduces a contrast to the previous thought. For example:

But (Good News Translation)

(Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, King James Version)

(2) It introduces a continuation of the previous thought. For example:

And (NET Bible)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, English Standard Version, NET Bible, Revised Standard Version, New Century Version)

The New American Standard Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible and New Living Translation (2004) do not explicitly translate this conjunction. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). You may translate the conjunction explicitly, or you may leave it implicit if that is more natural in your language.

after you have suffered for a little while: Peter referred to the way in which his readers were suffering at the time he was writing.

a little while: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a little while also occurs in 1:6b. It is vague as to the length of time, but in relation to eternity it is “short.” The restoration promised may be in this life or later when Jesus Christ is revealed. Another way to translate this expression is:

a short time

5:10b

the God of all grace: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the God of all grace means “the God who gives all grace” or “the very gracious/kind God.” A similar phrase is used in 2 Corinthians 1:3, “the God of all comfort.”

In some languages the phrase the God of all grace may suggest that there are other gods who are not very gracious. If that is the case in your language, you may need to omit the definite article “the.” For example:

God, who gives all grace (New Century Version)

In some languages it may be necessary to make explicit to whom God gives grace. If that is the case in your language, supply a general object such as “us,” “you.” or “all people.” For example:

God, who shows you his kindness (God’s Word)
-or-
God shows undeserved kindness to everyone (New Century Version)

grace: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as grace here means “undeserved kindness/goodness.” See how you translated this word in 1:2e and 1:10a and 5:5d.

5:10c

who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ: Peter was saying that God had chosen the believers to share in his glory. He implied that his readers would actually reach that glory to which God had called them. In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit:

who will bring you to his eternal glory
-or-
who will cause you to share in his eternal glory

His eternal glory: The phrase eternal glory refers to honor that lasts for ever. See how you translated glory in 5:1b and 5:4b. Some other ways to translate eternal are:

unending
-or-
that lasts for ever

in Christ: The phrase in Christ indicates the means in which we are called to share God’s glory. Some other ways this phrase may be translated are:

in union with Christ (Good News Translation)
-or-
by means of Christ Jesus (New Living Translation (2004))

In some languages it may be more natural to express in Christ as a separate clause. For example:

this is possible because of our being united with Christ
-or-
this happens because we are one with Christ

5:10d–e

will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish you: In the Greek these words are all verbs. They describe four things that God will do to strengthen the Christians when their time of suffering is over. The verbs have similar meanings, and Peter uses four of them together for emphasis.

5:10d

will Himself restore you: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as restore means to repair, put into good condition, make whole again. Another way to translate this expression is:

will make you (plur.) whole

5:10e

secure you, strengthen you, and establish you: There is a textual problem here. Some Greek manuscripts have two verbs in this phrase and some have three:

(1) There are three things that God will do: For example:

support, strengthen, and establish you (New Revised Standard Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, NET Bible, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version)

(2) There are two things that God will do. For example:

establish and strengthen you (Revised Standard Version)

(Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible)

It is recommended that you follow option (1), with the majority of English versions.

secure you, strengthen you: The two Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as secure and strengthen are a doublet. This means that these two words mean almost the same thing. Because this is a doublet, it is possible to translate these two words as one:

strengthen you

secure: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as secure refers to God making us more capable. Some other ways to translate this word are:

confirm (English Standard Version)

strengthen: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as strengthen refers to God making us strong with regard to our faith. Some other ways to translate this word are:

support…you (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
make you strong in your spirits (Easy English Bible)

establish you: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as establish you is a metaphor referring to providing a good foundation for a building. In some languages it may be natural to keep this figure of speech. In other languages it may be more natural to express the meaning. Some other ways to translate this word are:

place you on a firm foundation (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
establish you (plur.) in your faith

General Comment on 5:10

In some languages it may be natural to reorder this verse and put the reference to suffering at the beginning. For example:

You will have to suffer only for a little while: the God of all grace who called you to eternal glory in Christ will restore you, he will confirm, strengthen and support you. (New Jerusalem Bible)

© 2018 by SIL International®
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.

Sung version of 1 Peter 5

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®).

For more information, see here .