The Greek in 1 Thessalonians 4:4 that is translated as “control your own body in holiness and honor” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with was den Sex betrifft, mit dem Leib voll heiliger Ehrfurcht umgeht or “as far as sex is concerned, treat the body with sacred respect.”
sanctification, sanctify
The Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and Ge’ez that is translated in English as “sanctify” or “sanctification” is translated in Balanta-Kentohe “separated to God.” (Source: Rob Koops)
Other translations include:
- San Blas Kuna: “giving a man a good heart”
- Panao Huánuco Quechua: “God perfects us”
- Laka: “God calls us outside to Himself” (“This phrase is derived from the practice of a medicine man, who during the initiation rites of apprentices calls upon the young man who is to follow him eventually and to receive all of his secrets and power. From the day that this young man is called out during the height of the ecstatic ceremony, he is identified with his teacher as the heir to his position, authority, and knowledge.”) (Source for this and above: Nida 1952, p. 147)
- Mezquital Otomi: “live a pure life”
- Hopi: “unspotted”
- Yatzachi Zapotec: “clean-hearted”
- Huehuetla Tepehua: “be servants of God”
- Central Tarahumara: “only live doing good as God desires” (source for this and four above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
- Mairasi: “one’s life/behavior will be very straight” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
- Enlhet: “new / clean innermost” (“Innermost” or valhoc is a term that is frequently used in Enlhet to describe a large variety of emotions or states of mind [for other examples see here].) (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )
- Tibetan: dam par ‘gyur (དམ་པར་འགྱུར།), lit. “holy + become” (used for instance in 1 Cor. 1:2, 1 Cor. 6:11, 1 Cor. 7:14, or 1 Thess. 4:3) or gtsang bar byed (གཙང་བར་བྱེད།), lit. “make clean” (used for instance in Heb. 9:13) (source: gSungrab website )
The choices for translation of “sanctification” in the Indonesian Common Language Bible (Alkitab dalam Bahasa Indonesia Masa Kini, publ. 1985) differed according to context. (Click or tap here to see details)
“In Romans, hagiasmos [“sanctification”] occurs twice in chapter 6, in verses 19 and 22. It is used in relation to believers who are called to be saints (1:7), who are under grace (6:15), who have been set free from sin to become slaves of righteousness (6:18). Therefore here hagiasmos not only refers to God’s act of consecration, but also to the believer’s moral activity arising out of this state. It is this aspect that the translators have stressed in verse 19: ‘… so now yield your members to righteousness for sanctification’ has been translated untuk maksud-maksud Allah yang khusus: ‘for God’s specific purposes.’ So also in verse 22 ‘… the return you get is sanctification’ has been translated hidup khusus untuk Allah: ‘living for God alone.’
“!In 1 Corinthians 1:30: ‘… in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption,’ hagiasmos is put in a parallel position to wisdom, righteousness and redemption, and is rooted in Christ. In view of the parallel concepts, it is clear a result is indicated here. The believers are holy because they are ‘in Christ’ who is intrinsically holy. Hagiasmos here has been rendered as: umatnya yang khusus: ‘his own people.’
“In 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7, hagiasmos involves abstaining from unchastity (verse 3) and is contrasted with uncleanness (verse 7), while in verse 4 it is used as a parallel with ‘honor’ to modify the verb. Hagiasmos is here rooted in the will of God, and calls for moral conduct. The translators translate hagiasmos in verse 3 as hidup khusus untuk dia: ‘live for him alone,’ and in verses 4 and 5 menyenangkan hati Allah: ‘pleasing God’s heart.’
“The expression in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 ‘sanctification by the spirit’ (en hagiasmo pneumatos), is generally understood as sanctification or consecration effected by the Holy Spirit. This consecration was effected at the moment of conversion. The translation here is umat Allah yang suci: ‘God’s holy people.’
“The noun also appears in the Pastorals once (1 Timothy 2:15), where, in view of the context, it clearly denotes ethical behavior. The translators translate as hidup khusus untuk Allah: ‘living for God alone,’ but perhaps it would be better here to translate it with hidup tanpa vela: ‘lead a blameless life,’ which would suit the context better.
“In conclusion then, to translate hagiasmos in a way that is meaningful to the average modern reader, it may often be necessary to render it by a phrase which brings out the primary meaning of the term. If it refers to the act of consecration, this phrase should include the notion of belonging to God, and if it refers to the conduct of the believer, the phrase should stress the idea of pleasing God and refraining from evil.” (Source: Pericles Katoppo in The Bible Translator 1987, p. 429ff. )
complete verse (1 Thessalonians 4:4)
Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Thessalonians 4:4:
- Uma: “Every man must take good care of his wife, according to the way that is good in the sight of God and in the sight of man.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “You, men, your customs towards your wives (each one his wife – not plural wives – is the first meaning) should be right in the sight/eyes of God and in the sight/eyes of people.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “It’s necessary that each one of you men get married in a good way and which is not immoral,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “As-for (lit. also) you men, you must come-to-know the way you ought to look-for your spouse. Your way (of doing it) should be good/fine and clean.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “It’s necessary that the men among you, when they marry, follow the straight trail (i.e. do it the proper way), without any sin at all.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “Each man should have a wife, being married, but he must respect his wife, loving her.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Translation commentary on 1 Thessalonians 4:4
In a holy and honorable way is literally “in holiness” (the same word as in verse 3) “and honor” (so Revised Standard Version). The word translated “honor” means (a) “price” or “value,” as in 1 Corinthians 6.20 (“He bought you for a price”), and secondly “honor,” “respect,” or “esteem.” The meaning “honor” or “respect” is needed here, perhaps more specifically “the state of being held in honor” (“respectability” without the ironic overtones of this word in English). If the word “vessel” is translated wife, this phrase will be related to the verb “to get” (to live with). If Paul is referring to the body or a part of the body, the phrase will be related to the noun, as in Knox‘s translation “Each of you must learn to control his own body, as something holy and held in honour.” Holy indicates a relationship with God, and honorable, in this sense, usually a relationship with other human beings. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch brings this out by translating “as is pleasing to God and men,” and this is particularly natural if “vessel” is understood as “wife.”
In addition to the problems of interpretation of verse 4, there are certain difficulties inherent in the expression rendered in the Good News Translation should know how. A literal translation could imply that the people in Thessalonica should know how to be married to a woman in the proper manner, but apparently they did not know! In reality, however, it is not the knowledge which is so important, but the behavior. The focus of attention is not upon marrying a woman, but upon the way a man should behave toward his wife after marriage. Therefore, in some languages this verse is translated as “each of you men should behave toward your wife in a holy and honorable way.”
In some languages there is a problem in the use of the singular, when in reality a number of person are involved. Languages which have distributive plural present no difficulty at this point, but in some languages it may be necessary to say “all men should live with their wives in such a way….” With the use of the plural (“wives”), however, it is important to avoid the implication that each man may have more than one wife.
It may be particular difficult in some languages to speak of the relation of a man to a woman as being “holy.” The Greek term translated “holy” suggests the kind of behavior fitting for the person belonging to God or the kind of behavior which God prescribes. One may therefore translate “each man should behave toward his wife in a way which is right before God and before people,” or “… in the eyes of God and in the eyes of people.” This type of rendering can be employed since holy is seen to refer primarily to the divine relationship, and honorable to the manner in which people would view such behavior.
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 4:4
4:4a
to control his own body: The Greek word skeuos, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as body, literally means “vessel, implement of any kind.” In this verse it is used in a figurative way. However, commentators do not agree what the word means here. There are two possible meanings:
(1) It means “body.” If this is the case, Paul was telling people to be self-controlled, in particular, to control their sexual desires. If a person does so, he is being pure and honorable. Most commentators agree with this meaning.
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible)
(2) It means “wife.” If this is the case, then Paul meant that men should learn the right way to acquire a wife or behave toward a wife.
(Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, NET Bible, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version)
It is recommended that you follow the first option (1), as it makes best sense in the context, where Paul was talking about avoiding sexual immorality (4:3b) and lust (4:5a).
4:4b
holiness: For holiness, see the note on 2:10b.
honor: To behave with honor means to behave in a way that will cause someone to praise/respect you. In this verse, Paul did not state whose respect or praise was wanted. If you need to specify this, it is probably best to say “in a way that would cause people to honor/respect you.”
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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.
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