peace (inner peace)

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The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is usually translated into English as “peace,” when referring to one’s inner peace, is (back-) translated with a variety of idioms and phrases:

In American Sign Language it is signed with a compound sign consisting of “become” and “silent.” (Source: Yates 2011, p. 52)


“Peace” in American Sign Language (source )

See also peace (absence of strife) and this devotion on YouVersion and this one on Bible Gateway .

complete verse (3 John 1:15)

Following are a number of back-translations of 3 John 1:15:

  • Uma: “Goodness to you. Many greetings from all your friends here. Deliver for me my greetings to all my friends who are there, every one of them. Finish here.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “May your liver be peaceful. All your friends send word that they love/remember you. Tell for me our (incl.) friends one by one that I remember/love them. Wassalam” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “May your (sing.) life be peaceful. All your (sing.) friends here send-greetings. Please greet our friends there one-by-one. This is all I am able to say.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “May God give you peace of heart. Your friends here greet you. Please greet our friends there where you are.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “May you have peace in your heart. Your friends who are here greet you. Greet our (ex) friends there each one.”
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “May God rest your hearts. Your friends who are (live) here send you greetings. Greet our friends, each one who is (lives) there. This is what I tell you now.”
  • Isthmus Zapotec: “May your heart be quiet. Your friends send you greetings. Give greetings to each one of our friends.” (Source for this and two above: John Beekman in Notes on Translation 12, November 1964, p. 1ff.)

Japanese benefactives (tsutaete)

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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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, tsutaete (伝えて) or “convey” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on 3 John 1:15

For peace be to you (in the Greek literally “peace to you”) compare comments on “peace will be with us” in 2 John 3. The Greek construction of two nouns not connected by a verb may serve to express a fact or a wish. Here the latter is the case, as brought out by such renderings as ‘I wish you peace,’ ‘I wish/hope that you may have peace.’

The friends greet you: the reference is to disciples and close associates of “the elder” in the congregation from which he is writing. If a possessive pronoun is obligatory, one may say ‘my friends,’ or (since Gaius is one of the writer’s friends also), ‘our (inclusive) friends.’ In some cases it is preferable to add a locative qualification, ‘the/my/our friends here (or at my place).’

Friends indicates a relationship of mutual affection and obligations, here one that is based on the common faith. Renderings sometimes cover also the concept “companion” or “associate,” or are descriptive; for example, ‘people whom I love/like,’ ‘people who love/like me,’ ‘people who are devoted to me.’ For “to greet” in this and the next sentence, see comments on 2 John 13.

Greet the friends, or ‘the/my/our friends,’ namely, those persons in Gaius’s congregation who belonged to the group faithful to the elder, and who consequently were on the side of Gaius and Demetrius, not on that of Diotrephes. This is usually clear from the context. Where this is not so one may say ‘the/my/our friends with you (or at your place).’

Every one of them is in the Greek “name by name.” This expression was commonly used by letter writers in connection with individual greetings. It need not imply that “the friends” were only few. Other renderings used are “each one by name” (Translators’ Translation, similarly Bible de Jérusalem), “personally/individually” (Good News Translation, New English Bible), ‘one by one.’ The verb may have to be repeated; for example, ‘you should greet them (or yes, greet them) one by one.’

Quoted with permission from Haas, C., de Jonge, M. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on The Third Letter of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator's Notes on 3 John 1:15

15Most English versions except Berean Standard Bible and King James Version have the verse number 15 before the sentence beginning with “Peace.” In your translation you should follow the verse numbering system of the major version used in your area.

15a (14c in Berean Standard Bible)

Peace to you: (Discourse Feature) This represents John’s wish that Gaius should have God’s peace. It is in the form of a standard greeting at the end of a Greek letter, so it should be translated in a way that makes it sound like a farewell greeting.

15b–c (14d-e in Berean Standard Bible)

friends here…friends there: (Meaning) John is referring to Christian friends, the other members of the churches in the places where he was and where Gaius was.

15c (14e in Berean Standard Bible)

by name: (Meaning) This does not mean that John knew the names of all the Christians who were with Gaius. He means that Gaius should greet each fellow Christian there individually rather than as a group.

Section 1:1–2

Paul sent greetings to Timothy

The people who wrote letters during the time when Paul lived began the letters that they wrote in a certain way. The author of a letter wrote his name first, and then he wrote the name of the person to whom he was writing the letter. After that, he wrote a greeting to the person or group to whom he was writing.

Paragraph 1:1–2

1:1a

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus: Paul began this letter to Timothy by stating his own name first. Then he said something about himself. In some languages, it is not natural or possible for a person to talk about himself using the third person. You may not be able to say, “This letter is from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus.” If this is the case in your language, you can say something like:

This letter is from me, Paul. I am an apostle of Christ Jesus.
-or-
I, Paul, am writing this letter. I am an apostle of Christ Jesus.

an apostle of Christ Jesus: The word apostle means “a person whom someone has sent to do a specific job on behalf of that sender.” In 1:1, Paul said that Christ Jesus personally chose and sent him to be his ambassador or messenger of the gospel to other people. Paul was to represent Christ Jesus to others.

Christ Jesus: The word Christ is used two ways in the New Testament. In the Gospels, Christ is a title for Jesus. It means “the anointed one.” But later when Paul and the other apostles and disciples wrote the letters to individuals and churches, the word Christ was used as another name for Jesus rather than as a title.

Notice that in this verse Paul referred to Jesus as Christ Jesus instead of “Jesus Christ.” The names Christ Jesus and “Jesus Christ” mean the same thing. In most English translations and other national language translations, “Jesus Christ” and “Christ Jesus” are translated literally and in the same order as they occur in the Greek manuscripts. It is recommended that you do the same thing. However, if you think that the people who will be reading your translation might be confused when they see two different word orders of the names, you may decide to translate Christ Jesus as “Jesus Christ,” which is the more familiar word order.

by the will of God: The phrase by the will of God means that “God wanted Paul to be an apostle.” Paul himself did not decide to become an apostle. Another way of describing the will of God is to say that “God choose Paul to be an apostle.”

1:1b

according to: The Berean Standard Bible translates the Greek preposition kata as according to. This word introduces God’s purpose for calling Paul to be an apostle. Some ways to translate this idea are:

• Use a prepositional phrase as the Berean Standard Bible has done.

1aPaul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, 1baccording to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus

• Use a conjunction.

1aGod chose me to be an apostle 1bin order to make known the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus

• Use a verb, as Good News Translation has done.

1aGod chose me to be an apostle 1band sent me to proclaim the promise of life….

the promise of life: In the Greek text, the word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as life here refers to spiritual and eternal life, not physical life. God appointed Paul and sent him to many different places to preach the gospel. Paul told the people in these places that God had promised to give them eternal life if they would trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

1:1c

in Christ Jesus: The phrase “in Christ Jesus” or “in Christ” occurs many times in Paul’s letters. The Berean Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), and Revised Standard Version always translate it literally. Good News Translation usually translates it as “in union with Christ.” Because this phrase can mean different things in different contexts, you should always decide the best way to translate it in each context. In this verse, the context is life in Christ Jesus. Some ways of translating the entire phrase are:

God has promised life that has its source in Christ Jesus
-or-
God has promised life that is possible because of what Christ Jesus has done

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Sung version of 3 John

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