Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Thessalonians 3:4:
Uma: “While we were still there [with you] then [lit., yesterday], we said ahead of time that there would be those who would persecute us (incl.). And it has really come to pass, as you yourselves know, relatives.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Because when we (excl.) were there with you, we (excl.) told you beforehand that difficulties would come to us (incl.). And you know that now they have come.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “When we were still with you, we told you that the time would come when affliction would come to you, and you know now that it has come.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “because when we (excl.) were staying-with you, we (excl.) warned that our suffering/hardship would arrive and you admittedly know that that’s exactly what happened.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “For isn’t it indeed so that, when we (excl.) were still there-with-you, we (excl.) repeatedly taught you that in the future time, it would happen to us that we would be caused hardship because of this believing/obeying of ours? Well now hasn’t it truly happened?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Because while we were there where you live, we told you that it must be that you will be persecuted, and now what we told you has happened.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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 exclusive form (excluding the addressee).
Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.
In Fijian, the paucal exclusive forms neitou and keitou (“of me and a few [two or slight more]”) are used instead. This choice is understandable in view of the introduction found in both letters to the Thessalonians, where the writer Paul indicates clearly that the letters were co-authored by two other colleagues, Silas and Timothy, hence the use of a pronoun referring to three people (“Paul, Silas and Timothy”).
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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).
This verse contains little that is new. It repeats and expands the content of verse 3, adding only “(you know) because we told you beforehand.” In the original, this new statement is emphasized by “and,” which Phillips idiomatically translates “actually we did warn you.”
Because verses 3 and 4 overlap so much, one of the stylistic problems in translation is to avoid excessive repetition of particular words. Even Good News Translation has not avoided “persecutions … persecutions … persecuted.”
Ahead of time in the original means simply “at a point of time earlier than another event”; in this context, earlier than the persecutions themselves. The same expression in English tends to mean “in advance of a fixed time,” but this is not the meaning of the Greek. Ahead of time may be rendered simply as “before it happened to you,” or “before you were caused to suffer.”
We were going to be persecuted is one way of translating a phrase which sometimes, and probably here, refers not merely to something which is going to happen in the future, but to something which has to happen (with the implication, as in verse 3, that it is part of God’s will). The same verb is used in Luke 9.31, where Good News Bible translates “… he would soon fulfill God’s purpose by dying in Jerusalem.” Good News Translation here reverses two phrases in the original, placing the semantically subordinate “as you know” before the new information “that is what happened” (exactly is implied).
The word we occurs three times in verse 4. In the first two instances Paul clearly refers to himself and his companions, but not to the Thessalonians. However, the Thessalonians are included in the third we, since they too are involved in the persecution. This distinction must be reflected in the translation in languages which distinguish between the inclusive and the exclusive first person plural.
That is exactly what happened may be rendered more specifically as “we did in fact suffer persecution.”
Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Indeed: This translates the Greek phrase kai gar, which literally means “and for.” Many English versions translate it “for.” Paul used this phrase to show that 3:4a was the reason for his statement in 3:3b. That is, the Thessalonians knew they were destined to be persecuted because Paul and his companions had told them so.
we kept warning you: The Greek verb prolegō, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as warning, means “to foretell, to tell something before it happens.” The Berean Standard Bible has left implicit the idea of “before it happens,” as this is clear from the context. In your translation, do not use a word that means divination or prophecy or a warning not to do something. Paul had told the Thessalonians that they would suffer because that is what happens to all Christians.
The form of the Greek verb suggests that Paul and his companions had told the Thessalonians this several times. This is why the Berean Standard Bible has translated it as kept warning.
3:4b
that we would suffer persecution: The Greek verb mellō followed by a second verb (in this case suffer persecution) means that the second action is inevitable, something that is certain to happen.
we: This refers to all believers, not just Paul and his companions.
3:4c
it has come to pass: The Thessalonian believers had already experienced persecution for their faith, so they knew that believers suffer because they obey God.
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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.
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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