The Greek that is translated as “firstborn” in English is translated in a number of ways:
“he/she that opens the gown” in Batak Toba (because formerly a woman stopped wearing a gown and started using a bodice after the birth of her first child)
“he/she that damages the stalk (i.e. the body)” in Uab Meto (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
“oldest child” in Isthmus Zapotec (source for this and one above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
“firstborn child, who was a boy” in Elhomwe (to make clear, without ambiguity, that Mary did not have daughters before) (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
In Bawm Chin, the term can imply the existence of younger siblings, so a translation is needed that brings out the fact that Jesus is superior to all else, not just the first of a series. (Source: David Clark)
The Greek that is often translated as “church” in English is translated into Avaric as imanl’urazul ahlu: “the community of believers” or “the believing people.”
Magomed-Kamil Gimbatov and Yakov Testelets (in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 434ff. ) talk about the genesis of this term (click or tap here to read more):
“The word ‘Church’ presents particular difficulties, as we might expect when we think that even many Christians do not understand it correctly. When people today say ‘church,’ they often mean a particular building, or an organization consisting chiefly of clergy (priests and monks). It is even harder to find a word or combination of words which adequately translates the meaning for people unfamiliar with Christianity. Surprisingly, the Greek word ekklesia, indicating in the classical language ‘an assembly of the people,’ ‘a gathering of citizens,’ has come into Avar and other Dagestani languages in the form kilisa. This, like the word qanch (‘cross’), is an ancient borrowing, presumably from the time before the arrival of Islam, when Dagestan came under the influence of neighboring Christian states. In modern usage, however, this word indicates a place of Christian worship. Thus it is completely inappropriate as a translation of its New Testament ancestor ekklesia.
“We were obliged to look at various words which are closer to the meaning of the Greek. Some of these words are dandel’i (‘meeting’), danderussin (‘assembly’), the Arabic-derived mazhlis (‘meeting, conference’), zhama’at (‘society, community’), ahlu (‘race, people, family, group of people united by a common goal or interest’, as in the Arabic phrase ahlu-l-kitab ‘people of the Book’ or ‘people of the Scriptures’), which describes both Jews and Christians, and ummat (‘people, tribe’). In Islamic theology the phrase ‘Mohammed’s ummat’ means the universal community of Muslims, the Muslim world, in the same way as the Christian world is known as ‘Isa’s ummat.’ None of these descriptions on their own, without explanation, can be used to translate the word ‘Church’ in the New Testament. Thus, after long consideration, we adopted the phrase imanl’urazul ahlu, meaning ‘the community of believers,’ ‘the believing people,’ This translation corresponds closely to New Testament teaching about the Church.
“It is interesting that the same word ahlu with the meaning ‘tribe, community’ has been used by translators for different reasons in the introduction to the Gospel of Luke in order to translate the expression in the original Greek pepleroforemenon en hemin pragmaton (πεπληροφορημένων ἐν ἡμῖν πραγμάτων), which the Russian Synodal translation renders ‘about the events well-known amongst us’ (Luke 1:1). The expression ‘amongst us’ cannot be translated literally into Avar, but has to be rendered ‘among our people’; and here the same term was used as for the word ‘church’, literally ‘among our tribe, community (ahlu).'”
In Kamo “church” is fang-balla (“owners of writing-people”) when referring to the church community and “house of writing-people” when referring to a church building. David Frank explains: “In Kamo culture, Christianity was associated with writing, so Christianity is called balla, which they say means ‘people who write.’ Christianity is balla, and Christians are called fang-balla, which means ‘owners of Christianity.’ That is the term that is used for the church, in the sense of people, rather than a building. In Philemon 1:1b-2a, Paul says he is writing ‘To our friend and fellow worker Philemon, and to the church (fang-balla ‘owners of Christianity) that meet in your house.’ The word fang “owner’ is very productive in the Kamo language. A disciple is an ‘owner of learning,’ an apostle is an ‘owner of sending,’ a believer is an ‘owner of truth,’ a hypocrite is an ‘owner of seeing eyes.’ The expression ‘house of writing-people’ is used in Matthew 16:18, which reads in Kamo, ‘And so I tell you Peter, you are a rock, and on top of this rock foundation I will build my house of writing-people, and never even death will not be able to overcome it.” (See also Peter – rock)
In Bacama there also is a differentiation between the building (vɨnə hiutə: “house of prayer”) and the community (ji-kottə: “followers”) (source: David Frank in this blog post ).
In 16th-century Classical Nahuatl, a transliteration from Spanish (Santa Yglesia or Santa Iglesia) is typically used rather than a translation, making the concept take on a personified meaning. Ottman (p. 169) explains: “The church building, or more precisely the church complex with its associated patio, has a Nahuatl name in common usage — generally teopan, something like ‘god-place,’ in contradistinction to teocalli, ‘god-house,’ applied to a prehispanic temple — but the abstract sense is always Santa Iglesia, a Spanish proper name like ‘Dios’ or ‘Santa María’, and like ‘Santa María’ often called ‘our mother.’ As a personified ‘mother,’ in the European tradition as well as in Nahuatl, She instructs Her children or chastises them; as Bride of Christ, She both longs for Her heavenly rest and bears witness to it, in the ‘always-already’ of eschatological time; as successor to the Synagogue, the blindfolded, broken-sceptred elder sister who accompanies Her in painting and sculpture, She represents the triumphant rule of truth. ‘The Church’ can mean the clerical hierarchy; it can also, or simultaneously, mean the assembly of the faithful. It dispenses grace to its members, living and dead, yet it is also enriched by them, living and dead, existing not only on earth but in purgatory and in heaven.”
In Lisu the building (“church”) is called “house of prayer” (source: Arrington 2020, p. 196) whereas in Highland Totonac the community is referred as “those who gather together” (source: Hermann Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. ), in Huehuetla Tepehua as “those who gather together who have confidence in Christ” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), in Uma as “Christian people” (source: Uma Back Translation), in Kankanaey as “the congregation of God’s people” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation), and in Tagbanwa as “you whom God separated-out as his people because of your being-united/tied-together with Jesus Christ” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).
In American Sign Language, “church” (as in the community of believers) is made up of the combination of the signs for “Jesus-into-heart” (signifying a believer), followed by the sign for “group.” (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Church” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
While British Sign Language also uses a sign that focuses on a group of people believing in Jesus (see here ), another sign that it uses combines the signs for “ringing the (church) bells” and a “group of people.” (Source: Anna Smith)
“Church” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Following are a number of back-translations of Colossians 1:18:
Uma: “We who believe in Kristus can be compared to his body, and Kristus is our head. Like the head controls the body, so also he controls all the people who believe in him. And he is the one who gives us new life, for he is the Firstborn, its meaning, the one who first came to life again after death. The result is that he is the one who is the main-thing of all that is.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “He also is the one who rules all who trust him. All of them are figuratively his body and he is their head. He is the source of the new life. He was the first to be made alive from his death so-that he is the ultimate highest and greatest (langkew and bangsahan).” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “and because He’s the one in charge of His body, which is to say, all of His believers, and also because he is the one who gives life to all the believers, because He is highest in rank of all those who will be raised from the dead; and that’s why He is greater than everything.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “He also is the one who is responsible for all of us who believe, so he is the one who is compared to our head and we are like his body. He also is the source of our new life, because he was the first who lived again who won’t again die, in order that he would be the highest of all.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “He is the like-the-head of all who are believing/obeying him whose (pl.) likeness is one body-entity. In his coming-alive again he really opened the way for this (matter of) coming-alive again, and he is the source of this life which has no end. Therefore it’s clear that in/among absolutely-all, he only has incomparable highness/importance.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “And it is Christ which directs the body of the person. It is Christ who gives new life to all who believe in him. And it is he who preceded those who will resurrect from where they are buried. Therefore Christ is supreme over all that there is.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, na-rare-ru (なられる) or “become” is used.
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 one 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 in the following way: “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. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In both 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. ).
From Christ’s relation to creation, the thought now turns to his relation to the Church, with the opening statement He is the head of his body, the church. The idea of “head” is that of power, rule, authority (see Eph 1.22-23). The metaphor “head of the body” represents the supremacy of Christ and the unity of all Christians as a living organism which belongs to Christ.
A literal rendering of the statement He is the head of his body may seem not only strange but even rather ludicrous. As a result, one may wish to change the order of the expressions which are in apposition, namely his body and the church. The translation may then read “he is the head of the church which is his body.” In some languages, however, it is not possible to use a term such as “head” to identify supremacy over or the governing of some object. One may have to say “he is the one who is supreme over the church, which is his body” or “he is the one who governs the church, which is his body.”
He is the source of the body’s life represents in Greek “he is the beginning” (or source). Two questions arise: (1) does this refer to creation or the Church? Most prefer the latter; simply to say “he is the beginning” (Revised Standard VersionPhillipsNew International Version) is inadequate. (2) What relation with the Church does it designate? Translator’s New Testament “its founder”; Barclay “its beginning”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “he is the source of the new life”; Bible en français courant “it is in him that the new life begins”; Twentieth Century New Testament “the Source of its Life.” In favor of the idea “source of its life” is the belief, current at that time, that from the head came the life and nourishment that kept the body alive. But the variety of translations shows that no dogmatic certainty is possible.
There are certain serious problems involved in any literal translation of he is the source of the body’s life, for this might very well suggest that Christ is the food which nourishes the body. The relationship may be expressed as causative, for example, “he is the one who causes the body to live.”
The first-born Son who was raised from death: for “first-born Son” see verse 15. The resurrection is perhaps referred to here as the reason why Christ is the source of the body’s life: “because he was the first-born Son to rise from death.” It is possible that born here refers specifically to the resurrection: so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “the first who was returned from death”; Barclay “for he was the first to return from the dead.” But the use of prōtotokos (and not simply prōtos) makes it difficult to take the word as indicating only priority in time. Bible en français courant combines the two: “he is the first-born Son, the first to have been brought back from death to life.” Or, in line with Rom 1.4, it could be taken to mean “he is the first-born Son, as shown by his resurrection.” (See the similar ho prōtotokos tōn nekrōn in Rev 1.5.)
If one translates first-born Son as “first Son,” it is important to employ a qualifying statement such as “who was raised from death” which will be clearly non-restrictive. That is to say, one should not give the impression that Christ is simply “the first son who was raised from death,” implying that other sons were also “raised from the dead.” In order to avoid such a misunderstanding, one may often translate this phrase as “he is God’s first son; God raised him from death.” In a number of languages, however, one cannot speak of the resurrection as being simply “raised from death.” The meaning must be formally restructured in some such manner as “God caused him to live again,” or “God gave him back his life,” or even “God caused his life to return to him.”
Have the first place translates a verbal phrase “that he might become supreme,” and it may be expressed as “be above all else,” or “to have the preferred place,” or “to have a place of commanding.”
In all things: this could be “in every way” (so Jerusalem Bible) or “among all people.” But the context argues for the neuter “in all things.” In all things may be better expressed in some languages as “over all things.” A literal rendering of in all things might suggest merely “among all things.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
the head of the body: This is a figure of speech. Paul was saying that Christ controls and directs his people the same way that a person’s head controls and directs his body.
In many cultures, people do not consider that a person’s head controls his body. However, since the NT often uses this figure of speech, you should try to keep it in your translation. If this is impossible, you could use one of the following ways to translate this part of the verse:
the one who controls his people -or-
the chief over his people -or-
the one who rules over Christians
the body: In this verse Paul was emphasizing that Christ is the head (chief, ruler) of the church. He was not emphasizing the other part of the figure of speech, that is, that the church is like Christ’s body.
the church: The Greek word ekklēsia is translated church in almost all English versions. However, the Greek word means “congregation, assembly, community.” It never means a church building. Make sure you translate this term in a way that clearly refers to a gathering of Christian people, not to a building. For further information see “church” in the glossary and in Key Biblical Terms.
1:18b
He is the beginning: There are several ways to understand this. The two main ways are:
(1) Paul was still writing about Christ’s relation to his body, the church. English versions show this connection in different ways. For example:
He is its origin (Revised English Bible) -or-
he is the source of the body’s life (Good News Translation)
The NET Bible Bible translates 1:18a–b as:
He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning. (NET Bible)
(Revised English Bible, Good News Translation, NET Bible)
1:18b could even be the basis for Paul’s statement in 1:18a, that is, Christ is the head of the church since he is its source. See the SSA for a fuller discussion of this possibility.
(2) Paul had begun a new idea here and was referring to the beginning or source of everything, not simply the church.
(New Century Version, New Jerusalem Bible)
Many English versions leave this ambiguous, although most scholars agree that Paul was still writing about Christ’s relation to the church, so it is recommended that you follow the first option (1).
the beginning: The Greek word archē that the Berean Standard Bible translates as beginning has several meanings: “beginning, source, origin, foundation.” There are many different opinions about which meaning Paul intended here. The three main opinions are:
(1) It means that Christ is the source of the church’s life. For example:
he is the source of the body’s life (Good News Translation)
See also SSA.
(2) It means that Christ is the founder, the one who began the church. For example:
he is its [the church’s] origin (Revised English Bible)
(3) The phrase is connected to 1:18c, so beginning refers to the same thing as “firstborn from among the dead.” Several English versions imply this by the way they use punctuation to divide the verse.
(Contemporary English Version, God’s Word)
Since it seems that Paul was still writing about the church here (see previous note), this third option is less likely. Either of the other two is possible. The Display follows the first one (1).
1:18c
and firstborn from among the dead: The Berean Standard Bible connects 1:18c to 1:18b using the word and, although there is no conjunction in the Greek text. Scholars suggest two ways to connect the phrase firstborn from among the dead in 1:18c to 1:18b:
(1) The phrase firstborn from among the dead explains the reason why Christ is the source (beginning) of the church’s life. No English version explicitly follows this, but some reliable commentaries support this view. The UBS Handbook Handbook suggests this, as well as the SSA.
(2) The phrase firstborn from among the dead is another title for Christ in the same way that “the beginning” is in 1:18b, and is related in some way. Many English versions seem to understood the phrase this way and they translate it as does the Berean Standard Bible, using and or a comma to separate 1:18b and 1:18c.
Either of these two options is possible and both have strong support in the commentaries. The Display follows the first option.
firstborn from among the dead: Christ was not the first person ever to die and be resurrected. The Bible tells us about several people in the OT and the NT who died and later were brought back to life again (see, for example, the story about Lazarus in John chapter 11). However, all these people died again. Christ was the first person who rose from death with the sort of body Christians will have in heaven—a body that will never die again.
firstborn: This is the same word that Paul used in 1:15b. However, here the meaning is different. Here Paul was not referring to Christ’s authority, but simply to the fact that Christ was the first to rise from the dead to live forever.
1:18d
so that in all things He may have preeminence: This sentence explains the purpose for 1:18b–c. God raised Christ from death and caused him to be the source of the church’s life, so that Christ would be the supreme ruler over everything.
in all things: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates in all things can mean:
(1) “all things.” This is how most English versions have translated it.
(2) “every way.” Only the New Jerusalem Bible has this in the text, though the SSA also supports this translation.
Both of these are acceptable. Your choice of which term to use in your language may depend on how you translate “preeminence.” The important thing is that your translation should communicate that Christ is most important.
preeminence: This Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates preeminence is related to the word “first.” It means that Christ has the first place, he is first in rank, honor, and influence. Here is another way to translate this verse part:
in order that he alone might have the first place in all things (Good News Translation)
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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