complete verse (Galatians 3:3)

Following are a number of back-translations of Galatians 3:3:

  • Uma: “So, why are you so stupid! When you first believed in Yesus, you received new life from the power of the Holy Spirit. Do you think/say thus, that you can now become holy with your own ability? Certainly not!” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “You are dull/slow/dense! When you first followed Isa Almasi, God’s Spirit was the one you trusted in to help you. But now that is what you trust in your strength to follow/obey the law written by Musa in order to be considered straight by God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “You must be stupid. When you first began to be Christ’s disciples, you trusted in the help of the Holy Spirit; but now you evidently think mistakenly that your discipling can be perfected by your own wisdom.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Oh confound you (expression of exasperation/rebuke)! It’s as if you have no minds! If you began your lives as Cristiano by-means-of the power of God’s Spirit, why do you think you will turn yourselves into people who have no lacks/faults by-means-of your own ability?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “If you weren’t acting so stupidly (you would realise that), if you were not able to begin except by being helped by the Espiritu Santo, how then could you bring-to-completion by doing-your-own-thing?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “How is it that you are being senseless? You know that the Holy Spirit gave you new life. And now you think that on your own you will seek to finish well by how you live.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Spirit (of God) (Japanese honorifics)

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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-tama (御霊) or “Spirit (of God)” in the referenced verses.

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

See also Holy Spirit

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

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

Translation commentary on Galatians 3:3

How can you be so foolish expresses unbelief on the part of Paul. He finds it difficult to believe that the Galatians can be that foolish (compare Phillips “Surely you can’t be so idiotic”; New English Bible “Can it be that you are so stupid?”). In place of an exclamatory question How can you be so foolish!, it may be necessary in some languages to use a strong negative expression, for example, “You surely cannot be so foolish!” or, idiomatically, “Certainly your minds must not have left you so completely!”

You began by God’s Spirit; do you now want to finish by your own power? is literally “Having begun with (in, by) the Spirit, with (in, by) the flesh are you now finishing?” Here Paul presents a twofold contrast: beginning/finishing, God’s Spirit/flesh. As in the previous verse, “Spirit” here again refers to the Spirit of God. “Flesh” could be interpreted in many ways. It could mean the “body,” that is, a reference to what is circumcised. Or it could refer to the natural powers of men apart from the divine Spirit, hence the Good News Translation rendering by your own power. Again, “flesh” could refer to outward observances such as the Jewish rite of circumcision and other requirements of the Law (Jerusalem Bible “Are you foolish enough to end in outward observances what you began in the Spirit?”; Phillips “reverting to outward observances”; but see New English Bible, where the antithesis is between the “material” and the “spiritual”: “You started with the spiritual; do you now look to the material…?”).

One of the serious complications involved in this contrast between God’s Spirit and a person’s own power is the fact that the verb began occurs without any verbal complement. In a number of languages one simply cannot use a verb such as began without indicating what began. In some languages one can say “You began your new life by means of God’s Spirit,” or “God’s Spirit caused you to begin to live in a new way.” It is also possible to speak of “your new relation to God.”

In place of the question do you now want to finish by your own power?, one may employ a statement for languages which would not use a rhetorical question. One may say, for example, “you certainly do not want to complete your life by just what you can do for yourself.” However, one may wish to restructure the relations rather extensively, for example, “how do you think that you are strong enough to complete the life that you have begun?”, or “how do you think that you can continue living to the end by your own strength?”

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Galatians 3:3

3:3

Before you translate 3:3a–c, there are three issues to consider:

Issue 1: The number of sentences

In Greek, 3:3a–c is one sentence. This whole sentence is a rhetorical question. In some languages, it may be possible to translate this Greek sentence as one sentence. For example:

a Are you foolish enough to think that b after you began by the Spirit, c you can finish by the flesh?

All English versions translate 3:3a as a separate rhetorical question. These versions then translate 3:3b–c as one or two additional sentences. (Examples are given in the Notes on 3:3a–c below.) In many languages, it will probably be natural to also translate 3:3a–c as two or three sentences.

Issue 2: The contrasting parallels

Notice that there are two parallels in this verse. These parallels contrast. The first contrasting parallels are “starting” and “finishing.” They are underlined below:

After starting in the Spirit, are you now finishing in the flesh?

The second contrasting parallels are “with the Spirit” and “with the flesh.” They are underlined below.

After starting in the Spirit, are you now finishing in the flesh ?

It is good to recognize these contrasting parallels even if you cannot translate them literally in your language.

Issue 3: The order of the clauses

In some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of these clauses. For example:

3b After starting with the Spirit, 3a it’s foolish 3c to attempt to finish by human effort.
-or-

3b You began your life in Christ by the Spirit. 3c Now are you trying to make it complete by your own power? 3a That is foolish. (New Century Version)

3:3a

Are you so foolish?: This is a rhetorical question. Paul used this rhetorical question to rebuke the Galatians for being foolish.

Some ways to translate this rebuke are:

• As a rhetorical question. For example:

Why are you so foolish?
-or-
Are you mad/crazy?

• As a tag question. For example:

You are not that foolish, are you?

• As an exclamation. For example:

You should not be so foolish!

• As a command. For example:

Do not be so foolish!

Use whichever form is most natural in your language to express a rebuke.

foolish: This is the same word that Paul used in 3:1a. You should translate it in the same way.

3:3b

Verse 3:3b is the beginning of a rhetorical question that ends in 3:3c.

After starting in the Spirit: The phrase in the Spirit is another way of saying “receive the Spirit” in 3:2b. Paul reminded the Galatians that their lives in Christ began when they received the Holy Spirit.

Some ways to translate this clause are:

• As the first part of the sentence that continues in 3:3c. For example:

After beginning with the Spirit (New International Version)
-or-
After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit (New Living Translation (2004))

• As a separate sentence. For example:

You began your life in Christ by the Spirit. (New Century Version)
-or-
You received the ?Holy? Spirit when you started ?to follow Jesus? .

• As a separate rhetorical question. In this part of the rhetorical question of 3:3b–c, Paul emphasized that the Galatians had begun their Christian lives with the Holy Spirit. For example:

You began ?your life as Christians? with the Spirit, did you not?

the Spirit: As in 3:2b, the word Spirit here means the “Holy Spirit.”

3:3c

are you now finishing in the flesh?: Before you translate 3:3c, there are two issues to consider:

Issue 1: The interpretation issue

There are two ways to interpret the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as finishing :

(1) It means the finish or end of their lives either by death or Christ’s return. The idea of finishing here contrasts with the idea of “starting” in 3:3b. According to this interpretation, Paul asked the Galatians, “Are you now going to ?change from the way you began your Christian life and? use your own efforts to continue until the end?” For example:

are you now trying to finish by human effort? (NET Bible)

(2) It means to perfect and refers to the Galatians adding something to their spiritual lives to become perfect. For example:

why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? (New Living Translation (2004))

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). The thought here is similar to Philippians 1:6, which says, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Berean Standard Bible)

Issue 2: The rhetorical question

Paul again used a rhetorical question to rebuke the Galatians. He wanted them to realize that it made no sense to begin by/with the Spirit and then change to their own strength. They were foolish to try to live their Christian life in the flesh.

Some ways to translate this rebuke are:

• As a rhetorical question. For example:

do you now want to finish by your own power? (Good News Translation)
-or-
Do you think that you can finish with your own strength?

• As a statement. For example:

Now you are foolishly trying to finish/end by your own effort.

• As a command. For example:

Do not be so foolish as to try to finish by your own strength.

Use whichever form is most natural in your language to express a rebuke.

in the flesh: The phrase in the flesh is another way of saying “by obeying the law.” It refers to people trying to save themselves by their own human effort. This phrase contrasts with “by the Spirit” (in 3:3b).

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

by your own actions
-or-
because of your own efforts
-or-
using your own strength/power

For more information, see flesh, Meaning 5 in the Glossary.

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