The Greek that is typically translated with a generic expressions such as “he who,” “whoever,” or “if anyone” in English is translated with the plural form (“they”) in Daga. “A literal translation of these conveys the idea that one specific unnamed individual is being discussed. Thus, for instance, in John 5:24 ‘he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life’ meant in Daga that there was one fortunate individual to whom it applied.”
Following are a number of back-translations of Colossians 3:25:
Uma: “Whoever does evil, he will indeed receive the reward/return of his evil work, because the Lord does not look-at-appearance of people.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “And everyone who does evil, he is repaid for his bad deeds, because God, he makes no difference between human beings.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And as for those people whose behavior is evil, they will be punished according to the weight of their sin, because God plays no favorites with anybody.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “If there is also someone who does evil, God will pay-him-back properly, because there is no person whom he-will-favor at his judging them.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But whoever still continues to do evil, the reward that he’ll receive is punishment. Without distinction, God will punish them all.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “But the people who do evil, these will be paid with punishment. Because concerning all people, whatever all they have done will determine their pay.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
The injunction to the slaves closes with a statement which, though directed specifically to them, may have a broader application, with both slaves and masters in view. Wrongdoer translates a participle “one who does evil,” “one who wrongs (another).”
Will be repaid (for other places where this verb occurs see Matt 25.27, 2 Cor 5.10): the future refers to the Day of Judgement.
A literal translation of will be repaid might suggest that a wrongdoer will actually be compensated for his wrongs. It may, therefore, be necessary to translate will be repaid as “will have to suffer” or “will be punished,” but in order to suggest that the punishment is somehow related to the degree of wrong, one may translate the first clause of verse 25 as “everyone who does wrong will be punished in proportion to the wrong things he has done.”
God judges everyone by the same standard translates the Greek “there is no partiality” (Revised Standard Version). For the noun see Rom 2.11, Eph 6.9, James 2.1; see also Acts 10.34, 1 Peter 1.17; for a similar statement in the OT see Deut 10.17, Psa 62.12. At the Day of Judgement God will not show favoritism or partiality to anyone, but will apply the same standard to all.
Serious misunderstandings have arisen as the result of literally translating this last clause in accordance with more traditional renderings. For example, a literal translation of the King James Version “there is no respect of persons” has resulted in renderings which suggest that God pays no attention to people. Some translators have rendered “there is not partiality” (Revised Standard Version) as “God has no special friends.” In a strictly idiomatic context, this might be satisfactory, but it has been interpreted to mean that God is not really friendly with anyone. Even a literal translation of God judges everyone by the same standard could suggest that everyone receives precisely the same sentence. In some instances, one may use some such expression as “God uses the same measuring stick when he decided whether people have been good or bad.” In a number of languages, however, lack of favoritism or partiality is expressed idiomatically, for example, “God doesn’t look on people’s faces when he is judging their hearts,” or “God pays no attention to people’s reputation when he judges what they have really done,” or “whether a man is big in people’s eyes makes no difference to God when he judges.”
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 .
Whoever does wrong will be repaid for his wrong: In this verse Paul was warning slaves who might be lazy or try to steal from their masters or do other wrong things. Since Paul was still speaking directly to the slaves, in some languages it may be more natural to use the second person (“you”) here. For example:
But if any of you do wrong deeds, you will be repaid for your wrong.
be repaid: This is a passive, but Paul meant that God would repay them. This means that God would punish these people because of the wrong things they had done.
3:25b
and there is no favoritism: Paul said almost the same thing in Romans 2:11. (The same Greek word for favoritism is also used in Luke 20:21 and James 2:9.) Paul meant that God does not favor one person more than another. This means that he does not distinguish unjustly between people by treating some people better than others. He will judge every person fairly/impartially.
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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