complete verse (Colossians 4:4)

Following are a number of back-translations of Colossians 4:4:

  • Uma: “So, please pray for me, that I may make-clear the News of Kristus like is appropriate.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Therefore ask God that he help me so that I can make really clear my teaching/preaching (usihat) about Almasi so that the ones who listen will really understand.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Pray also that I may be helped by God so that I might be able to preach this word in a proper way.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Pray-for-me then that I will be-able to properly make-it-clear, because that is the right-thing I should do.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But even though it’s like that, pray that I will be able to teach clearly, according to what I ought to do.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Pray to God for me that he will teach me how to apply the word I speak. Because it is necessary that I clearly explain this word.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Japanese benefactives (inotte)

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 choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

Here, inotte (祈って) or “pray” 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 Colossians 4:4

Here Paul asks his readers to pray that he may fulfill his duty of making clear the meaning of the secret of Christ, the Christian message. The verb used here is the same as for “revealed” in 1.26. Paul must not only proclaim the message, but also “expound its deeper implications” (Beare).

The necessity implied in as I should (Good News Translation) or “as I ought” (Revised Standard Version) comes from God, who laid upon Paul the responsibility of proclaiming the gospel. A literal rendering of that I may speak, as I should, might suggest merely that Paul is asking the Colossian Christians to pray for him to be able to speak clearly or to enunciate well the message. What Paul is praying for is the ability to proclaim the message in such a way as to make it clear, and it is this proclamation of the message which is his obligation. Therefore, it may be more appropriate to render verse 4 as “therefore pray that I may announce this message in such a way as to make it clear, for that is what I must do.”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 4:4

4:4

Pray that I may declare it clearly: The Greek word phaneroō, that the Berean Standard Bible translates declare it clearly, means “reveal, make known, make plain, tell clearly.” Paul used this same Greek verb in 1:26 and in 3:4. In 1:26, he used it to refer to God’s secret plan that he (God) had hidden and not revealed (made known) to people in the past. In 3:4 he used it to refer to the relationship between Christ and Christians, which is hidden now, but will be revealed (made known) when Christ returns. In both cases it means, “to tell clearly and publicly.” However, there are two ways to interpret it here:

(1) The emphasis is on “proclaiming publicly.” This part of the verse therefore means “Pray that I may proclaim the message publicly,” or “Pray that I will make the message known to people.” (See NET Bible, SSA.)

(2) The emphasis is on “proclaiming clearly.” This part of the verse therefore means “Pray that I may proclaim the message clearly.”

Both of these are acceptable. Most translations use the word clearly here as the Berean Standard Bible has done, and so follow the second interpretation. However, since Paul, in 4:3–4, was again writing about revealing God’s secret plan, it is likely that the emphasis is on “publicly.” So the first interpretation is recommended (1).

as I should: Paul was asking people to pray that he would proclaim the message to many people because this was his duty (Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, God’s Word, New Century Version, Revised English Bible, SSA). This means that Paul wanted to make sure he fulfilled his obligation to tell people about Christ.

© 2001 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
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.

Sung version of Colossians 4

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®).

For more information, see here .