3rd person pronoun with high register (Japanese)

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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 third person singular and plural pronoun (“he,” “she,” “it” and their various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. While it’s not uncommon to avoid pronouns altogether in Japanese, there are is a range of third person pronouns that can be used. In these verses a number of them are used that pay particularly much respect to the referred person (or, in fact, God, as in Exodus 15:2), including kono kata (この方), sono kata (その方), and ano kata (あの方), meaning “this person,” “that person,” and “that person over there.”

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

See also third person pronoun with exalted register.

Translation commentary on Acts 13:25

John was about to finish his mission (literally, “race to run” or “course to follow”) may be rendered as “John would soon finish his task” or “soon John would not have more to do.”

Rather than reading the first part of John’s words as a question, who do you think I am?, some translations connect it with the following words and render it as a statement (Jerusalem Bible, “I am not the one you imagine me to be”). As has been previously indicated, the Greek manuscripts were not punctuated and there is nothing in the sentence itself or even in the context to indicate which alternative ought to be followed. If John’s words are phrased as a question, as in the Good News Translation, then the answer which John literally gave was “I am not he.” The Good News Translation has taken this to mean I am not the one you are waiting for while others understand it in the sense “I am not the one you think I am.” (See The Punctuation Apparatus in the UBS Greek New Testament for the decisions of various editions and translations.)

He is coming after me must be understood in a temporal sense, “he comes later than me” or “he comes as I am finishing.”

To take his sandals off his feet must be understood as being a service to Jesus and not as robbing him of his sandals. (Taking off someone else’s sandals was regarded as the menial task of a slave.) This may be introduced in some languages by saying “help him by taking sandals off his feet.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .