9who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace, and this grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
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. Other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are Twents as well as 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. ).
The Greek Iēsous is “only” a proper name but one with great importance. The following quote by John Ellington (in The Bible Translator1993, p. 401ff. ) illustrates this:
“In Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus Christ, Joseph is told that when Mary gives birth to a son ‘you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins’ (1:21). This name is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name [Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) which is a short form of a name meaning] ‘the Lord [Yahweh] saves.’ The name is very significant and is in itself especially dear to Christians around the world. (…) Unquestionably great importance is attached to the name of Jesus by Christians of all persuasions and backgrounds.”
While Iēsous (pronounced: /i.ɛː.suːs/) is transliterated as “Jesus” (pronounced /ˈdʒiːzəs/) in English (but was translated as “Hælend” [the “healing one”] in Old English — see Swain 2019) it is transliterated and pronounced in a large variety of other ways as well, following the different rules of different languages’ orthographies, writing systems and rules of pronunciation. The following is a (partial) list of forms of Jesus in Latin characters: aYeso, Azezi, Boiyesuq, Cecoc, Chesús, Chi̍i̍sū, Chisɔsi, Ciisahs, Ciise, Ciisusu, Djesu, Ɛisa, Ƹisa, Eyesu, Gesù, Gesû, Gesü, Ġesù, Ghjesù, Giêsu, ꞌGiê‑ꞌsu, Giê-xu, Gyisɛse, Hesu, Hesús, Hisus, Hisuw, Ià-sŭ, Iesen, Ié:sos, Iesu, Iesui, Iesusɨn, Iesusiva, Ié:sos, Ihu, Īhu, Iisus, Iisussa, Ijeesu, iJisọsị, Iji̍sɔ̄ɔsi, Iosa, Íosa, Ìosa, İsa, I’sa, Isiso, Isõs, Ísu, Isus, Isusa, Iisussa, Isuthi, Itota, Îtu, Isuva, Izesu, Izesuq, Jasus, Jeeju, Jeesus, Jeesuse, Jeezas, Jehu, Jeisu, Jeju, Jejus, Jesesi, Jeshu, Jeso, Jesoe, Jesosa, Jesoshi, Jesosi, Jesosy, Jesu, Jesû, Jesua, Jesuh, Jesuhs, Jesuo, Jesús, Jésus, Jesúsu, Jethu, Jetsóó, Jezed, Jezi, Jézi, Ježiš, Jezu, Jezus, Jézus, Jėzus, Jēzus, Jezusi, Jėzus, Jezuz, Jiijajju, Jíísas, Jiisusi, Jiizas, Jíìzọ̀s, Jisas, Jisase, Jisasi, Jisasɨ, Jisaso, Jisesi, Jisɛ̀, Jisos, Jisọs, Jisɔs, Jisu, Jiszs, Jizọs, Jizɔs, Jizọsi, Jizọsu, Jòso, Jusu, Jweesus, Ketsutsi, Njises, ọYẹsọ, Sesi, Sisa, Sísa, Sisas, Sises, Sīsū, Sizi, Txesusu, uJesu, Ujísɔ̄si, ŵaYesu, Xesosi, ´Xesús, Xesús, Yasu, Ya:su, yasuɛ, Yasuuⓐ, Ɣaysa, Yecu, Yeeb Sub, Yeeh Suh, Yeesey, Yeeso, Yeesso, Yēēsu, Yehsu, Yëësu, Yeiqsul, Yeisu, Yeisuw, Yeshu, Yē shú, Yeso, Yéso, Yesò, Yëso, Yɛso, ye-su, Yésu, Yêsu, Yẹ́sụ̃, Yěsù, Yésʉs, Yeswa, Yet Sut, Yetut, Yexus, Yezo, Yezu, Yiesu, Yiisa, Yiisu, Yiitju, Yis, Yisɔs, Yisufa, Yitati, Yusu, ‑Yusu, :Yusu’, Zeezi, Zezi, Zezì, Zezuz, Zezwii, Ziizɛ, Zisas, Zîsɛ, Zjezus, Zozi, Zozii, and this (much more incomplete) list with other writings systems: ᔩᓱᓯ, ᒋᓴᔅ, Հիսուս, ᏥᏌ, ኢየሱስ, ያሱስ, ܝܫܘܥ, Ісус, Їисъ, 耶稣, იესო, ईसा, イエス, イイスス, イエスス, 예수, येशू, येशो, ਈਸਾ, ພຣະເຢຊູ, ජේසුස්, যীশু, ଯୀଶୁ, ཡེ་ཤུ་, ‘ঈছা, இயேசு, ಯೇಸು, ພຣະເຢຊູ, ယေရှု, ઇસુ, जेजू, येसु, เยซู, យេស៊ូ, ᱡᱤᱥᱩ, ယေသှု, యేసు, ᤕᤧᤛᤢ᤺ᤴ, އީސާގެފާނު, ਯਿਸੂ, ꕉꖷ ꔤꕢ ꕞ, ⵏ⵿ⵗⵢⵙⴰ, ଜୀସୁ, يَسُوعَ,ㄧㄝㄙㄨ, YE-SU, ꓬꓰ꓿ꓢꓴ, 𖽃𖽡𖾐𖼺𖽹𖾏𖼽𖽔𖾏, ꑳꌠ, ᠶᠡᠰᠦᠰ (note that some of these might not display correctly if your device does not have the correct fonts installed).
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In some languages the different confessions have selected different transliterations, such as in Belarusian with Isus (Ісус) by the Orthodox and Protestant churches and Yezus (Езус) by the Catholic church, Bulgarian with Iisus (Иисус) by the Orthodox and Isus (Исус) by the Protestant church, Japanese with Iesu (イエス) (Protestant and Catholic) and Iisusu (イイスス) (Orthodox), or Lingala with Yesu (Protestant) or Yezu (Catholic). These differences have come to the forefront especially during the work on interconfessional translations such as one in Lingala where “many hours were spent on a single letter difference” (source: Ellington, p. 401).
In Literary and Mandarin Chinese where transliterations of proper names between the Catholic and Protestant versions typically differ vastly, the Chinese name of Jesus (Yēsū 耶稣) remarkably was never brought into question between and by those two confessions, likely due to its ingenious choice. (Click or tap here to see more).
The proper name of God in the Old Testament, Yahweh (YHWH), is rendered in most Chinese Bible translations as Yēhéhuá 耶和華 — Jehovah. According to Chinese naming conventions, Yēhéhuá could be interpreted as Yē Héhuá, in which Yē would be the family name and Héhuá — “harmonic and radiant” — the given name. In the same manner, Yē 耶 would be the family name of Jesus and Sū 稣 would be his given name. Because in China the children inherit the family name from the father, the sonship of Jesus to God the Father, Jehovah, would be illustrated through this. Though this line of argumentation sounds theologically unsound, it is indeed used effectively in the Chinese church (see Wright 1953, p. 298).
Moreover, the “given name” of Sū 稣 carries the meaning ‘to revive, to rise again’ and seems to point to the resurrected Jesus. (Source: J. Zetzsche in Malek 2002, p. 141ff., see also tetragrammaton (YHWH))
There are different ways that Bible translators have chosen historically and today in how to translate the name of Jesus in predominantly Muslim areas: with a form of the Arabic Isa (عيسى) (which is used for “Jesus” in the Qur’an), the Greek Iēsous, or, like major 20th century Bible translations into Standard Arabic, the Aramaic Yēšūaʿ: Yasua (يَسُوعَ). (Click or tap here to see more.)
Following are languages and language groups that use a form of Isa include the following (note that this list is not complete):
In Indonesian, while most Bible translations had already used Yesus Kristus rather than Isa al Masih, three public holidays used to be described using the term Isa Al Masih. From 2024 on the government is using Yesus Kristus in those holiday names instead (see this article in Christianity Today ).
Some languages have additional “TAZI” editions (TAZI stands for “Tawrat, Anbiya, Zabur, and Injil” the “Torah, Prophets, Psalms and Gospel”) of the New Testament that are geared towards Muslim readers where there is also a translation in the same language for non-Muslims. In those editions, Isa is typically used as well (for example, the Khmer TAZI edition uses Isa (អ៊ីសា) rather than the commonly used Yesaou (យេស៊ូ), the Thai edition uses Isa (อีซา) rather than Yesu (เยซู), the Chinese edition uses Ěrsā (尔撒) vs. Yēsū (耶稣), and the English edition also has Isa rather than Jesus.)
In German the name Jesus (pronounced: /ˈjeːzʊs/) is distinguished by its grammatical forms. Into the 20th century the grammatical rules prescribed a unique Greek-Latin declination: Jesus (nominative), Jesu (genitive, dative, vocative), Jesum (accusative), from which today only the genitive case “Jesu” is still in active use. Likewise, in Seediq (Taroko), the morphological treatment of “Jesus” also occupies a special category by not falling under the normal rule of experiencing a vowel reduction when the object-specific suffix an is added “since it was felt that the readers might resent that the name has been changed that drastically.” (Compare Msian for “Moses” (Mosi) as an object, but Yisuan for “Jesus” (Yisu).) (Source: Covell 1998. p. 249)
In Lamba the name ŵaYesu consists of a transliteration Yesu and the prefix ŵa, a plural form for “proper names when addressing and referring to persons in any position of seniority or honor.” While this was avoided in early translations to avoid possible misunderstandings of more than one Jesus, once the church was established it was felt that it was both “safe” and respectful to use the honorific (pl.) prefix. (Source C. M. Doke in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 57ff. )
In virtually all sign languages, “Jesus” is signed with the middle finger of each hand pointing to the palm (or wrist) of the other in succession (signing the nails of the cross). In the context of Bible translation this has been pointed out as theologically problematic since the “semantic connections of the original name Jesus do point towards ‘salvation,’ they do not naturally lead to crucifixion.” (Source: Phil King in Journal of Translation 1 (2020), p. 33ff.)
Following is the oldest remaining Ethiopian Orthodox icon of Jesus from the 14th or possibly 13th century (found in the Church of the Saviour of the World in Gurji, Ethiopia). As in many Orthodox icons, Jesus’ right hand forms the Greek letters I-C-X-C for IHCOYCXPICTOC or “Jesus Christ.” Another interpretation of the right hand is that it shows three fingers pointing to the Trinity, while the two other fingers point to Jesus’ two natures.
Orthodox icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )
The following is the so-called “Wales Window for Alabama.” It is a stained-glass window by the artist John Petts from Carmarthenshire, Wales, created in response to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing which took place in 1963:
Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )
The style of the following drawing of Jesus by Annie Vallotton is described by the artist as this: “By using few lines the readers fill in the outlines with their imagination and freedom. That is when the drawings begin to communicate.” (see here ; see also We All are One in Christ)
Illustration by Annie Vallotton, copyright by Donald and Patricia Griggs of Griggs Educational Service.
As is clear from verse 8, who refers to God. For saved see 1 Tim 1.15. For the idea of God as Savior, see 1 Tim 1.1.
Called here has the concepts of “summon,” “designate,” “commission.” Very often “to call” is translated by using a word that means “to summon someone by means of speech.” In the present context, however, what is in focus is designating or commissioning someone to a particular position or task.
The expression holy calling occurs only here in the whole New Testament. The concept of holy is difficult to analyze and to translate. The term itself may include the following aspects: (1) When applied to God, holiness emphasizes God’s moral perfection, his perfect goodness, and consequently his dislike of anything evil. It is this character of God that becomes the basis for the “holiness” of Christians, who are separated from sin and evil, and are instead consecrated to God. (2) Holiness may also be understood in an ethical sense; to be holy then is to be conscious of being related to a holy God and acting out this relationship in terms of moral integrity and complete dedication to everything that is good and acceptable to God. In this sense one may translate “called us to be completely dedicated to him,” “called us to live in complete dedication to him.” (3) Holiness can mean separation from worldly relations and being consecrated to God. In this sense people are holy because they are chosen by God to belong to him. This is reflected in Good News Translation: “called us to be his own people.” This last interpretation is probably the more likely one and is recommended by this Handbook.
The saving act of God and his call for us to be his own special people are not dependent on anything that we have done (literally “our works,” for which see 1 Tim 2.10) but on two things: God’s purpose and God’s grace. The word for purpose comes from a verb that means “to plan in advance” in order to achieve a particular intention, and it is possible to express purpose in this way, namely, “but because he planned to do this in advance.”
For grace see 1 Tim 1.2. This grace is identified as given to us in Christ Jesus, and also is described as given ages ago. He gave us translates a singular aorist passive participle of the verb “to give” (literally “was given to us”). The word translated in can also be “by,” in which case the implicit agent is Christ Jesus, or more likely “through” or “by means of” (Good News Translation), in which case the implicit agent is God (as in Revised Standard Version). Ages ago is literally “before eternal times,” a Semitic idiom that refers to the period when there was as yet no time, hence before all eternity (so Good News Translation “before the beginning of time,” also Jerusalem Bible, New International Version; compare New English Bible “from all eternity”).
Another problem is the antecedent of which he gave us. A literal translation of the text would mean that what was given includes both purpose and grace. However, two things argue against this conclusion. First, as already noted, the aorist participle is singular, and secondly, it is not natural to speak of purpose as being given. Accordingly it must be concluded that the antecedent of which he gave is grace alone, and this is made explicit in some translations (Good News Translation, New International Version; compare Phillips “he planned to give us … the grace to achieve this purpose”).
Alternative translation models for this verse are
• He [God] freed us from sin and designated us to be his own people. He did this not because of the good deeds which we have done but because he planned to do this in advance. And before time began he planned through Christ Jesus to show his kindness to us.
Or:
• … And before time began God planned that Christ Jesus would show his kindness to us.
Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
In 1:9–11 Paul reviewed the chief points of the gospel. He talked about several distinct thoughts here. It will probably be necessary for you to put these thoughts in separate sentences. Good News Translation begins a new sentence at 1:9, with God as the subject of the verb.
1:9a
He has saved us: God has saved us from eternal death.
1:9b
and called us to a holy calling: A literal translation of this clause is: “and having called us with/to a holy calling.” Because the Greek preposition in this clause may be translated as either “with” or “to,” there are two ways to interpret this part of the verse:
(1) God called us “to a holy calling.” According to this interpretation, the term “holy calling” refers to what God called us to. For example, God’s Word says:
God saved us and called us to be holy….
See also Berean Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), Contemporary English Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, New Century Version.
(2) God called us “with/by-means-of a holy calling.” According to this interpretation, the term “holy calling” is a description of the way that God called us. For example the NET Bible says:
He is the one who saved us and called us with a holy calling….
See also Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, King James Version.
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). There are several translation possibilities for this interpretation. These are discussed below.
called: The word called is used in a special sense here. It means “summoned” or “chosen” (New Living Translation (2004 Revision), Contemporary English Version), or “invited.” Do not use a word that only refers to someone “calling loudly.”
a holy calling: Following interpretation (1) above, you can translate holy calling as:
God called us to live a holy life.
-or-
God called us to be his holy people.
-or-
God called us to be holy.
1:9c
not because of our works: This clause refers back to the two verbs in 1:9a–b. That is, “He (God) saved us and called/chose us(incl) .” He did all of this for us even though we had not done anything to deserve it.
our works: This refers to the acts or deeds that we have done, and the way we have behaved.
1:9d
but by His own purpose and by the grace: This phrase explains the reason for which God saved us and chose us to be his holy people. As in 1:9c, the phrase that follows by depends on the verbs that are in 1:9a–b. Therefore, in 1:9a–d Paul was saying that God saved us and called us because he planned to do these things.
purpose and by the grace: The words purpose and grace are abstract nouns. It may be necessary in your language to use verbs rather than nouns to express these concepts. In this context, purpose refers to what God planned to do and grace means that God favors people or is kind to people even though they do not deserve it.
General Comment on 1:9a–d
In some languages it may be more natural to break 1:9a–d into several sentences and/or to reverse the order of 1:9c and 1:9d as follows:
God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this because of his own purpose and grace. He did not do this because we have done anything to deserve it.
1:9e
the grace He granted us: The clause the grace He granted us means “God was kind to us even though we did not deserve it.”
in Christ Jesus: This phrase tells how God was kind to us. He planned to save us from eternal death by means of Jesus Christ dying for us on the cross.
before time began: God planned this long ago. He planned it even before he made the world or created any human being.
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.
Certains voient 1.9-14 comme une autre unité et y mettent une sous-section. La mention de Dieu à la fin du 2 Tim 1.8 amène Paul à formuler un chant de louange qui pourrait, dans certaines langues, être présenté en lignes poétiques. Dieu est en effet le sujet implicite des propositions qui suivent et dans beaucoup de langues, il sera nécessaire de rendre ceci explicite dans la traduction. Si désiré, on pourrait ajouter un sous-titre, par exemple, « Dieu nous sauve ».
Paul commence une sorte de chant où il loue Dieu le Père.
qui nous a sauvés : pour sauver, voir l’Intro et 1 Tim 1.15. nous est certainement inclusif, renvoyant à tout chrétien. Pour l’auteur des Pastorales, la source du salut est à la fois Dieu (1 Tim 2.4 ; Tite 3.5) et Jésus-Christ (1 Tim 1.15), mais ici c’est Dieu qui est mis en relief, étant le dernier référent mentionné. En 1 Tim 2.4-5 il s’agit d’échapper à la puissance des adversaires, mais ici il semble clair qu’il s’agit d’être sauvé du péché.
et appelés par un saint appel : dans beaucoup de langues, il faudrait rendre explicite « et nous a appelés ». Voir Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie. Pour appeler, voir 1 Tim 6.12. Ce verbe est utilisé dans le NT, au sens littéral et figuré. Ici il fait référence au fait que Dieu interpelle et attire à lui ceux qui croient en lui.
par un saint appel : cette expression ne se trouve nulle part ailleurs dans le NT. Par la répétition de la racine appelés… appel, elle fait penser aux constructions doubles en hébreu où le verbe et le complément proviennent de la même racine. appelés par un saint appel signifie probablement « appelés à être saints », c’est-à-dire, appelés à appartenir entièrement à Dieu et/ou à Jésus-Christ. La La Bible du Semeur dit qu’il « nous a appelés à mener une vie sainte ». Voir aussi 1 Cor 1.2. Dans certaines langues, on évitera la répétition, comme dans la Parole de Vie qui dit « appelés pour que nous soyons à lui ». La Nouvelle Français courant est similaire : : « appelés à lui appartenir ».
non en vertu de nos œuvres est littéralement « non pas selon les œuvres de nous ». Paul utilise encore une fois une structure emphatique « non X, mais Y ». Voir 2 Tim 1.7. Il insiste sur le fait que le salut dépend exclusivement de la décision et de l’action de Dieu. Cela ne dépend pas de ce que nous aurions fait ou accompli. L’expression non pas en vertu de utilise une préposition grecque κατά kata, « selon, à cause de », qui se répète dans la proposition suivante aussi. La Bible en français courant dit « non à cause de ».
Pour œuvres, voir 1 Tim 2.10. Il s’agit de nos actes (Parole de Vie) ou de nos bonnes actions (Bible en français courant).
mais en vertu de son propre dessein et de sa grâce : cette proposition commence par la conjonction de contraste fort ἀλλά alla et répète la proposition, κατά kata, « selon, à cause de », litt. « mais selon son propre projet ». Les traducteurs devraient essayer de respecter la structure parallèle de cette proposition.
son propre dessein renvoie au projet que Dieu avait formulé depuis fort longtemps. Dieu nous sauve parce qu’il veut le faire, et non pas à cause de nos œuvres ou de notre propre volonté.
Paul dit aussi que Dieu nous sauve à cause de sa grâce. Pour grâce, voir 1 Tim 1.2, 1 Tim 1.14 qui parle de l’amour immérité de Dieu. Certains voient dessein et grâce comme un hendiadys, dans le sens de « dessein gracieux » ou « gratuit », mais la majorité des versions y voient deux éléments. La Parole de Vie reformule considérablement en disant « Il n’a pas fait cela à cause de nos actes, mais parce qu’il l’a décidé. C’est un don gratuit… »
La proposition, Cette grâce, qui nous avait été donnée avant les temps éternels dans le Christ Jésus décrit la grâce dont il est question dans la proposition précédente. En grec le mot grâce n’est pas répété, mais exprimé par un pronom, litt. « celle ayant été donnée ». Mais plusieurs langues reprennent le mot grâce. Par exemple, la La Bible du Semeur dit « Cette grâce, il nous l’a donnée de toute éternité en Jésus-Christ ». Les traducteurs sont libres de proposer des traductions semblables.
qui nous avait été donnée avant les temps éternels dans le Christ Jésus est une proposition passive qui donnera à l’actif, comme dans la Parole de Vie « C’est un don gratuit qu’il [Dieu] nous a fait dans le Christ Jésus, avant que le monde existe ».
avant les temps éternels rend le texte grec assez littéralement. Plusieurs pensent que ceci veut dire « éternellement, avant le commencement du temps », donc, avant la création de l’univers. Ainsi la Bible en français courant propose « avant tous les temps » et la Parole de Vie, « avant que le monde existe ».
dans le Christ Jésus : ces mots paraissent en grec avant les mots les temps éternels. L’expression « en Christ Jésus » est courante chez Paul (1 Cor 1.2,4,30 ; 1 Thess 2.14 ; 5.18 ; 1 Tim 1.14 ; 3.13) mais figure surtout dans cette lettre (2 Tim 1.1, 2 Tim 1.9, 2 Tim 1.13 ; 2 Tim 2.1, 2 Tim 2.10 ; 2 Tim 3.13, 2 Tim 3.15). Certains pensent qu’ici le sens est que « la grâce a été donné par Jésus Christ », comme dans la Bible en français courant, et d’autres, sous-entendu « par Dieu en union avec Jésus Christ ». Beaucoup de versions mettent en relief la notion de dans ou « en union avec ».
Source: Zogbo, Lynell & Ellingworth, Paul La deuxième lettre à Timothée – Manuel de traduction – Commentaire linguistique et exégétique de la Bible. Alliance biblique universelle, 2021.
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