sanctification, sanctify

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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 (2 Timothy 2:21)

Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Timothy 2:21:

  • Uma: “So, if we release/stop our evil character, we become like the good things, that are used to honor guests. Its meaning, we become workers who are holy and useful to our Lord, and we are ready to do every kind of good work.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then we (incl.) the ones who trust Isa are figuratively those valuable things/equipments. If our (incl.) livers are clean/holy and we (incl.) abandon all our (incl.) evil deeds we (incl.) are precious/valuable to God because we (incl.) are entirely for God. So-then he has a use for us (incl.) and we (incl.) are ready/prepared to do everything which is good.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “As for the person who wants to be considered dear and set aside by God like those very precious implements, he must have done with all evil behavior and then he will be worthy to be used by God for every kind of good work.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “So also with a person, if he distances-himself from all evil, the Lord will use him for (something) important/valuable, because he will be suitable and ready to be used for all good that is-to-be-done.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well now, those people who go far from all evil, they are like these utensils which are far-from-ordinary. For that is who has made sure he belongs to his Lord, one who is useful and is always ready to do whatever good work.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Like this it is in the church, not all of the people have separated from evil. But the person who wants to separate from evil is the person who does the work of God. He works in what is special.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Natügu (verses 20-21): “In our way, when a big man comes to our house, we give him very nice food, in our honouring him. But when we stay alone, we don’t habitually eat food like that given to him. And this is the talk-picture that we must follow. And we also will be like that good food if we purify ourselves from those bad things. Because it is we who are chosen to help our Lord. So, we are already prepared to do very nice things.” (Source: Carl Gross)

Translation commentary on 2 Timothy 2:21

In this verse the meaning of the metaphor is explained, primarily as it relates to the situation in Ephesus.

Any one refers generally to all members of the church, and in some languages it will be helpful to begin this verse in the following way: “That’s how it is with Christians (or, believers)” (compare Contemporary English Version “… with people”). The generic sense here seems to be deliberate in order to include the heretical teachers and those affected adversely by their teachings and actions.

The word for purifies occurs only twice in the New Testament, here and in 1 Cor 5.7, “cleanse out.” It refers to the act of cleaning something thoroughly and completely, with the implication that everything unclean is removed.

From what is ignoble is literally “from these things,” but which may refer to all the negative things that Timothy has been advised to avoid (see especially verses 14 and 16). Some translations achieve this result by using a generic term here; for example, Revised English Bible “all this wickedness,” Phillips “the contaminations of evil,” New Revised Standard Version “the things I have mentioned.”

In the next part of the verse, Paul goes back to the language of the metaphor in the previous verse.

For vessel, see previous verse. This word is also used in a figurative sense to refer to people (see 1 Thes 4.4, where Revised Standard Version renders it “a wife,” and 1 Peter 3.7, where Revised Standard Version translates “the weaker vessel” as “the weaker sex”). The focus in this context is the function of people as equipment or implements in the hands of God.

For for noble use see previous verse. Other ways of expressing the first part of this verse are “That’s how it is with Christians! If a believer stops doing evil and makes himself pure, he will be used in a special way” or “That’s how it is with believers! God will use those Christians in a special way who stop doing evil and make themselves pure.”

For consecrated see 1 Tim 4.5. The focus here is on being dedicated to God through some religious ceremony, so that these utensils now belong to God and are set aside for special use.

Useful translates a word that is used to describe something that is regarded as valuable and beneficial. This is in stark contrast to “disputing about words” in verse 14, words that are of no value at all. This final sentence may also be expressed as “Because he (or, they) will be holy (or, dedicated to God) and useful to God who is the Master of the house. They will be ready for him to use for every good deed.”

For master see 1 Tim 6.2, where the same word is used for the owner of slaves. The master of the house is a figure for God.

Ready translates the perfect passive participle of the verb that means “to make ready,” “to prepare.” The dedication of the utensil accomplishes the task of making it ready for the master’s use.

This last phrase ready for any good work reverts back to the application of the metaphor, for while ready is in the neuter gender and therefore is connected with vessels, good work definitely refers to people and not to the utensils (but see Revised English Bible “fit for any honorable purpose”). What we have here then is a mixture of metaphor and application, with the first part of the verse being application, the middle part metaphor, and the last part application again. Because of this mixing of metaphor and application, it may be appropriate to change the metaphorical parts into similes (for example, “he will be like a vessel”), or else to drop the metaphor altogether, as Good News Translation has done.

Alternative translation models for this verse are:
• That’s how it is with believers. If anyone stops doing evil and makes himself pure, God will use him for special purposes. This is because he is dedicated and useful to his Master, and ready to do all kinds of good deeds.

Or:
• That’s how it is with Christians. God will use in a special way those who stop doing evil and make themselves pure. This is because they have been dedicated to their Master and are useful to him. They are then ready to do all kinds of good deeds.

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 .

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Timothy 2:21

2:21a

So: At the beginning of 2:21a, Paul used a Greek conjunction oun, which means “therefore” or “so.” This conjunction connects 2:20 and 2:21 and indicates that Paul was going to interpret the image in 2:20. Many English versions omit this word, but it is recommended that you translate this conjunction so that readers understand the purpose of 2:21. You can follow the example of the Berean Standard Bible (So) or the New American Standard Bible (“Therefore”). If you need a more explicit way to show that Paul was explaining his image, you can say something like “The lesson is that…” or “In the same way….”

if anyone cleanses himself: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as cleanses means “to thoroughly clean.” It is a rare word that occurs only here and in 1 Corinthians 5:7. Paul used the word cleanses in a spiritual sense. It means that someone has cleansed (or removed) sin from his life or that he has repented from sin. In this context, the sin was accepting the false teachers and their doctrines.

of what is unfit: In the Greek text, this phrase is literally “from these.” There are two views about the meaning of the word “these.”

(1) It refers specifically to the common purposes that Paul mentioned at the end of 2:20. In this view, the phrase means that believers should stay away from the false teachers and their doctrines. For example, the Revised Standard Version says,

If any one purifies himself from what is ignoble…

See also New International Version (2011 Revision), NET Bible.

(2) It refers to evil or wickedness in general that Paul mentioned in 2:16–19d. For example, the Revised English Bible says,

Anyone who cleanses himself from all this wickedness…

See also Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English.

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

2:21b

he will be a vessel for honor: Paul continued to use the same figure of speech. The word he refers to Christians who reject false teachers and their doctrines. Paul compared these Christians to containers/vessels that are for honor.

vessel: This is the same word as in 2:20a and refers to the containers that are made of gold and silver.

honor: This is the same term in Greek as in 2:20d–e. It refers to containers that people used for special food.

2:21c

sanctified: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sanctified means “set apart,” or “reserved” “made holy” for God’s use.

This verb is passive. The text does not say who sanctified the person, so if possible, you should use a passive verb. If, however, you need to supply a subject, you can say something like “The Master has made him holy….” If you need to make it active instead of passive you can say, “His life will be pure.”

useful: The Master can “use” a person who is holy.

the Master: Here Paul continued the figure of speech about a house. The Master represents God. Paul compared God, who is the Christians’ master, to the master/owner of the house.

2:21d

and prepared for every good work: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as prepared is literally “having been prepared.” It is a passive verb. As with the term “sanctified” in 2:21c, the text does not say who “prepared” the person. If necessary, you can say:

The Master has prepared him for any good deed.

However, a better way to translate prepared is to use a verb that means “to be ready.” For example, the New Living Translation (2004 Revision) says:

you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.

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