complete verse (1 Thessalonians 4:12)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Thessalonians 4:12:

  • Uma: “If your deeds are like that, you will not be begging from others. And people who do not believe the Lord Yesus respect you.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then if you follow this teaching you will be treated-according-to-custom/honored even by the people who do not trust in Isa Almasi and also you won’t be in need.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And if you do this, those who are not yet believers will respect you and then you will no longer need to beg your livelihood from anybody.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because if that is your behavior, those who don’t believe will respect you and you don’t have to ask for your needs.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Of course if like this is what can be observed in you, won’t the outcome be that you are well-spoken-of by those who don’t yet know/acknowledge the Lord? And also it won’t be to others that you look up for whatever you have need of.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Do this in order that you will not be in need of anything. Then the people who are not believers will respect you.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 1 Thessalonians 4:12

Good News Translation transforms a relation of means and purpose (“in order to win the respect”) into one of means and result (in this way you will win the respect), but the two are never clearly distinguished in Greek. The latter seems to be more natural in several western languages, especially when a new sentence is begun at this point (cf. La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée Bible en français courant Bijbel in Gewone Taal; Phillips “the result will be a reputation for honesty”; Barclay “then the people outside the church will admire your life and conduct”). The original “in order to” is clearly related, not to just as we told you before, but to the appeal to do even more, and to the detailed instruction in verse 11. Paul is not explaining directly the purpose of his teaching, but the purpose of the behavior he is recommending.

The transitional in this way may be effectively translated in some languages as a conditional, for example, “if you do this.” The relation to what follows, namely, you will win the respect of those who are not believers, will then express the result. Win the respect of is a rather complex concept which must often be expressed in quite a different way, for example, “you will cause those who are not believers to honor you,” or “you will make those who are not believers say, These believers are good people.”

Those who are not believers is literally “the (plural) outside.” It is very close in form to the English “the outsiders,” but does not have the unfavorable implications of this expression. The concept shows that Paul means “those outside the Christian brotherhood,” and Good News Translation is right to make this explicit. Both pagans and non-Christian Jews are intended.

You will not have to depend on anyone for what you need means literally “so that you may have need” either (a) “of nothing” or (b) “of no one.” Meaning (a) is followed by King James Version and New English Bible “may never be in want” (cf. Phillips New American Bible Zürcher Bibel Biblia Dios Habla Hoy), and (b) is followed by Revised Standard Version Knox Translator’s New Testament (cf. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale Bible de Jérusalem Bible en français courant Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Bijbel in Gewone Taal has “knock on no one’s door for support”; Jerusalem Bible (improbably) “though you do not have to depend on them.” The underlying question is really: “What is Paul’s main fear for the Thessalonian Christians? That they will go hungry? Or that they will live as parasites on other people, even non-Christians?” The second alternative seems to fit the situation more exactly, but the first is a more frequent meaning of the Greek term used here. Dependence upon other individuals may often be expressed idiomatically, for example, “don’t just eat other people’s food,” “don’t go from meal pot to meal pot,” or “don’t be a guest every day.”

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 .

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 Thessalonians 4:12

4:12a

you will behave: This refers to the way the Thessalonians lived every day.

properly toward outsiders: The word outsiders refers to those who did not believe in the Lord Jesus. Not everything that believers do will please non-believers. But Paul was saying that believers must behave and work in ways that everyone recognized as the correct way to behave. For example, no one would respect a lazy person, so the believers should make sure they were not lazy.

4:12b

without being dependent on anyone: This refers back to the phrase in 4:11c, “and to work with your hands.” Those who worked would not need to ask others for food and drink. Here Paul is describing a second result that will happen if the Thessalonians behave as he told them to behave in 4:10–11. (The first result is in 4:12a.)

on anyone: The commentators do not agree about what the Greek word mēdenos, “nobody, nothing,” means here. There are two possibilities:

(1) It means “no one.” The meaning of 4:12b therefore is “so that you will be dependent on no one”.

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004 Revision))

(2) It means “nothing.” The meaning of 4:12b therefore is “so that you may need nothing”.

(King James Version, Revised English Bible, New American Standard Bible)

It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation (1), as it fits the context better, especially 4:11c.

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