The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “joy” or “happiness” is translated in the HausaCommon Language Bible idiomatically as farin ciki or “white stomach.” In some cases, such as in Genesis 29:11, it is also added for emphatic purposes.
Other languages that use the same expression include Southern Birifor (pʋpɛl), Dera (popolok awo), Reshe (ɾipo ɾipuhã). (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Nida (1947, p. 230) says this about the translation of the concept of “truth”: “The words for ‘truth’ and ‘true’ are not always the most readily discovered in aboriginal languages. In some instances the only expression which corresponds to ‘true’ is something like ‘it happened.’ A falsehood is something that ‘did not happen.’ In a good many languages the meaning of ‘truth’ is expressed by the words signifying ‘straight’ and ‘direct.’ Untruth is accordingly ‘crookedness.’ An abstract noun such as English “truth” is quite difficult to find in some instances. Only an expression such as ‘true statement’ or ‘true word’ will be found to correspond to English ‘truth.’”
The Greek, Latin, Ge’ez, and Hebrew that is usually translated in English as “truth” is translated in Luchazi with vusunga: “the quality of being straight” (source: E. Pearson in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 160ff. ), in Obolo as atikọ or “good/correct talk” (source: Enene Enene), and in Ekari as maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (esp. in John 14:6 and 17; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).
Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) tells of the translation into Kui which usually is “true-thing.” In some instances however, such as in the second part of John 17:17 (“your word is truth” in English), the use of “true-thing” indicated that there might be other occasions when it’s not true, so here the translation was a a form of “pure, holy.”
The translation committee of the Malay “Good News Bible” (Alkitab Berita Baik, see here ) wrestled with the translation of “truth” in the Gospel of John:
“Our Malay Committee also concluded that ‘truth’ as used in the Gospel of John was used either of God himself, or of God’s revelation of himself, or in an extended sense as a reference to those who had responded to God’s self-disclosure. In John 8:32 the New Malay translation reads ‘You will know the truth about God, and the truth about God will make you free.’ In John 8:44 this meaning is brought out by translating, ‘He has never been on the side of God, because there is no truth in him.’ Accordingly Jesus ‘tells the truth about God’ in 8:45, 46 (see also 16:7 and 8:37a). Then, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’ (John 14:6) becomes ‘I am the one who leads men to God, the one who reveals who and what God is, and the one who gives men life.” At 3:21 the translation reads ” … whoever obeys the truth, that is God himself, comes to the light …’; 16:13a appears as ‘he will lead you into the full truth about God’; and in 18:37 Jesus affirms ‘I came into the world to reveal the truth about God, and whoever obeys God listens to me.’ On this basis also 1:14 was translated ‘we saw his glory, the glory which he had as the Father’s only Son. Through him God has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace)’; and 1:17 appears as ‘God gave the law through Moses; but through Jesus Christ he has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace).'” (Source: Barclay Newman in The Bible Translator 1974, p. 432ff. )
The German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) has followed a somewhat similar path to the Malay committee 50 years earlier in the gospel of John. In John 1 it translates “truth as “God’s nature,” in John 3 as “God’s will,” in John 8 as “God’s reality,” in John 14 as “encountering God,” and in John 16 as “God’s truth.”
Following are a number of back-translations of 3 John 1:3:
Uma: “My heart is very happy, for several of our one-faith relatives arrived here, bringing news from there [where you are]. They said: you remain/keep believing the true teaching, and your behavior always follows the true teaching.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “I was really glad when some of our (dual) brothers arrived and I was told by them that you persevere following the true teaching. Really since before you are remaining/steadfastly with the true teaching.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I rejoice very much when our (incl.) brothers arrived here from there, for they told me that your holding fast to the doctrine is very tight, and they say also that your activities agree with it also.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “There are siblings/cousins (brothers from here on) of ours who have been coming here, and they have repeatedly-said that you (sing.) are persevering in following the true teaching. Reportedly everything that you (sing.) are doing is in-harmony-with that teaching. So I am extremely made-happy,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “For I was really very happy when some of our siblings in believing arrived here coming from there, because they related to me that you are holding fast to the true teaching, and your life is always in harmony with this truth.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “I was very happy when I heard what our brothers said who have arrived here. These have come from where you are, they told me that you are laying hold on the true word.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Yatzachi Zapotec: “I rejoiced very much when some of our brethren arrived back here telling how you are making the truth yours and are walking with it (heeding it).”
Eastern Highland Otomi: “I was very happy in regard to you, because some of the brethren (siblings) who returned from you (where you are) told me, they told me that you follow the true Word, and that all you do is in accord with the Word.”
Isthmus Zapotec: “The brethren made me very happy when they brought news of you. They mentioned the way in which you follow that which is true in all you do and you haven’t separated from it.” (Source for this and two above: John Beekman in Notes on Translation 12, November 1964, p. 1ff.)
Verses 3 and 4, linked to what precedes by the connective For, give the reason why the writer is confident that all is well with Gaius’ soul. Accordingly the verses are to be taken as belonging to the opening part of the Letter.
For I greatly rejoiced see comments on 2 John 4.
When some of the brethren arrived: the verb form is in the present tense, showing that the reference is to repeated visits, as brought out by ‘every time when some of our brothers came here,’ ‘that again and again some brothers arrived.’ The brothers mentioned probably were preachers who had been sent out by the congregation of “the elder,” had visited the congregation of Gaius, and on their return had reported to the home church.
The brethren, or “the brothers,” is used also in verses 5 and 10. For the translation of “brother” see comments on 1 John 2.9.
Testified to the truth of your life: for the verb testified, compare comments on 1 John 1.2; it means that they spoke of what they had seen, heard, and experienced of Gaius. In this context it can often be simply rendered as ‘told about.’
The truth of your life is in the Greek literally “your truth” (paralleling “your love” in verse 6). The noun truth refers to a behavior that is in accordance with God’s will, and to a life that is lived in close relationship with God; compare comments on 1 John 1.6. Some other possible renderings are ‘that you are truly devoted to God,’ ‘your being a man who is straight-hearted,’ or “how faithful you are to the truth” (Good News Translation).
As indeed you do follow the truth: the Greek connective used may serve to introduce an indirect discourse. Then the clause is to be taken as giving the contents of what the returning brothers had said, “namely, that you follow the truth.”
Another meaning of the connective is that it indicates reason and serves to reinforce the preceding statement. To bring this out Revised Standard Version has added indeed. Then the clause parallels verse 2b and states that the testimony John received was in accordance with what he knew about Gaius.
You is emphatic. It serves to bring out a contrast between the behavior of Gaius and that of Diotrephes (verses 9-10). For “to follow the truth,” in the Greek literally “to walk in truth,” see comments on 2 John 4.
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 .
the brothers:(Multiple Senses) This is used here in the sense of “fellow Christians.”
3b
testified about:(Lexical Problem) John does not mention here who they told this to. However in verse 6 he mentions that these brothers spoke about Gaius to the whole church in the place where John was.
your devotion to the truth:(Meaning) This means Gaius was putting into practice in his daily life the truth about how God wants us to live.
3c
in which you continue to walk:(Alternative Interpretations) There are different views about whether the last clause of this verse is part of what the brothers reported or whether it is John’s comment on their report:
(1) It is probably John’s comment confirming that Gaius really does live according to God’s truth. (Good News Translation, New English Bible, King James Version, Revised Standard Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
(2) Some think that it is a second part to the brothers’ report, emphasizing that Gaius continually puts God’s truth into practice. (Berean Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), The Jerusalem Bible, Living Bible)
you continue to walk:(Metaphor) As in 2 John 4, this is a Greek metaphor meaning, “you continue to put into practice in your life the truth which God has revealed about how he wants you to live.”
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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.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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