complete verse (John 1:17)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 1:17:

  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “Moses taught the ancestors of us Israelites the law of God, but Jesus Christ came to teach that God loves mankind, and he teaches us all the true words of God.”
  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “The law about the things of God, the one who gave it was Moses. But the love which was to us and the truth came into being because of Jesus Christ.”
  • Umiray Dumaget Agta: “Even though Moses was caused to speak the rules of God, Jesus Christ was the one appointed to show mercy and to declare the truth.”
  • Guerrero Amuzgo: “. . . but Jesus Christ is the source of all favor and of the words that are true.”
  • Chol: “… . Jesus Christ came and gave us the goodness of his heart and truth.”
  • Tenango Otomi: “By means of Moses the law of God is known. But by means of Jesus Christ the love of God and the true word are known.” (Source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
  • Uma: “From the prophet Musa we received the Law of the Lord God. But [it is] from Yesus Kristus that we really know God, and his grace to us.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “The law of God was given/sent to mankind by Musa but God’s love and the truth are given to mankind by Isa Almasi, he is the one called the Word of God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And by means of Moses, God brought down to earth the laws. But by means of Jesus, God brought down to earth his love/grace for us and the true doctrine.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because God made-known his law through Moses, but his mercy/kindness and the truth concerning him, he made-known to us through Jesu Cristo.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Because God gave his laws to Moises which he was commanding us, but that grace/mercy of his and truth concerning himself, he caused us to comprehend through Jesu-Cristo.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The Law was-given by God to us (incl.) through Moises, but mercy and truth arrived to us (incl.) through Jesus-Christ.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Mairasi: “We have already received the prohibitions Belonging to Above-One, we received them from Musa himself. But His good insides and tuber were revealed in Yesus Kristus.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Bariai: “For the law came about by Moses’ hand, and then the action of kindness and true talk came about by Iesus Kristus’ hand.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Kupsabiny: “Moses gave us the laws and the Savior Jesus brought for us love and the words of truth.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)

truth

Nida (1947, p. 230) says this about the translation of the concept of “truth”: “The words for ‘truth’ and ‘true’ are not always the most readily discovered in aboriginal languages. In some instances the only expression which corresponds to ‘true’ is something like ‘it happened.’ A falsehood is something that ‘did not happen.’ In a good many languages the meaning of ‘truth’ is expressed by the words signifying ‘straight’ and ‘direct.’ Untruth is accordingly ‘crookedness.’ An abstract noun such as English “truth” is quite difficult to find in some instances. Only an expression such as ‘true statement’ or ‘true word’ will be found to correspond to English ‘truth.’”

The Greek, Latin, Ge’ez, and Hebrew that is usually translated in English as “truth” is translated in Luchazi with vusunga: “the quality of being straight” (source: E. Pearson in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 160ff. ), in Obolo as atikọ or “good/correct talk” (source: Enene Enene), and in Ekari as maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (esp. in John 14:6 and 17; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).

Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) tells of the translation into Kui which usually is “true-thing.” In some instances however, such as in the second part of John 17:17 (“your word is truth” in English), the use of “true-thing” indicated that there might be other occasions when it’s not true, so here the translation was a a form of “pure, holy.”

The translation committee of the Malay “Good News Bible” (Alkitab Berita Baik, see here ) wrestled with the translation of “truth” in the Gospel of John:

“Our Malay Committee also concluded that ‘truth’ as used in the Gospel of John was used either of God himself, or of God’s revelation of himself, or in an extended sense as a reference to those who had responded to God’s self-disclosure. In John 8:32 the New Malay translation reads ‘You will know the truth about God, and the truth about God will make you free.’ In John 8:44 this meaning is brought out by translating, ‘He has never been on the side of God, because there is no truth in him.’ Accordingly Jesus ‘tells the truth about God’ in 8:45, 46 (see also 16:7 and 8:37a). Then, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’ (John 14:6) becomes ‘I am the one who leads men to God, the one who reveals who and what God is, and the one who gives men life.” At 3:21 the translation reads ” … whoever obeys the truth, that is God himself, comes to the light …’; 16:13a appears as ‘he will lead you into the full truth about God’; and in 18:37 Jesus affirms ‘I came into the world to reveal the truth about God, and whoever obeys God listens to me.’ On this basis also 1:14 was translated ‘we saw his glory, the glory which he had as the Father’s only Son. Through him God has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace)’; and 1:17 appears as ‘God gave the law through Moses; but through Jesus Christ he has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace).'” (Source: Barclay Newman in The Bible Translator 1974, p. 432ff. )

The German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) has followed a somewhat similar path to the Malay committee 50 years earlier in the gospel of John. In John 1 it translates “truth as “God’s nature,” in John 3 as “God’s will,” in John 8 as “God’s reality,” in John 14 as “encountering God,” and in John 16 as “God’s truth.”

law

The Greek, Hebrew, and Ge’ez that is translated in English as “Law” or “law” is translated in Mairasi as oro nasinggiei or “prohibited things” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Noongar with a capitalized form of the term for “words” (Warrinya) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

In Yucateco the phrase that is used for “law” is “ordered-word” (for “commandment,” it is “spoken-word”) (source: Nida 1947, p. 198) and in Central Tarahumara it is “writing-command.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)

In a 1922 translation into Chagatai, a precursor language of both Uzbek and Uighur, it is translated with the Arabic loan word shari’at (شريعت), originally meaning “(Islamic) law (Shari’a).” (Source: F. Erbay and F.N. Küçükballı in Acta Theologica 2025 45/2, p. 133ff. )

See also teaching / law (of God) (Japanese honorifics).

Translation commentary on John 1:17

The Greek passive (“the Law was given”) is rendered by an active in Good News Translation, with God as the explicit subject: God gave the Law. In some languages God gave the Law through Moses must be rendered as a causative with secondary agency, for example, “God caused Moses to give the Law.”

Since this verse contains a specific reference to the Jewish Law, Good News Translation and most modern translations spell Law with a capital “L.” In same languages, however, it is not possible to speak of the numerous laws of the Pentateuch as “the Law.” Rather than a singular collective expression, it is necessary to use a plural, for example, “God caused Moses to give the laws to the people.”

Grace and truth must be understood in the light of the observations made in verse 14. John is reminding his readers that God’s ultimate expression of love and his absolute faithfulness to his covenant are both seen in Jesus Christ.

Though in English it is appropriate to say grace and truth came through Jesus Christ, this is impossible in many languages, since one cannot speak of grace and truth “coming.” One may avoid the direct reference to God as the initiating agent by saying “It is by means of Jesus Christ that we experience grace and truth.” It is also possible to make this second clause of verse 17 parallel with the first, for example, “God showed grace and truth through Jesus Christ” or “God showed his love and revealed the truth about himself through Jesus Christ.” This type of rendering makes the phrase grace and truth parallel with what has been said in verse 14. This focus upon truth as the revelation of God fits well with the following verse.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on John 1:17

1:17a

For the law was given through Moses: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the law refers to the Torah. The Torah was the collected laws, rules, commands, and instructions in the OT. Many hundreds of years before Jesus was born, God communicated his law to the people of Israel. He used the prophet Moses as his messenger to do that. These laws are recorded in the first five books of the Old Testament. They include the Ten Commandments and also many other laws and instructions. See Key Biblical Terms Law 2.

For: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For here is the same word that appeared at the beginning of verse 16. It is often translated as “because” or “for.” Scholars say that it introduces further grounds for verse 14, or grounds for verse 16, or an explanation of verse 16. Some English translations, such as the Good News Translation, do not translate this word explicitly. However, many translations (Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, NET Bible, New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Living Translation (2004)) translate it as “for.”

Introduce the next clause in a way that is natural in your language.

was given: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as was given is passive. Here are some ways to translate it:

• as a passive verb. For example:

the Teachings were given through Moses (God’s Word)

• as an active verb. God is the implied actor. For example:

⌊God⌋ gave his law through Moses.
-or-

⌊God⌋ caused Moses to give the laws ⌊to the people⌋ .

Use the verb form that is most natural in your language.

1:17b

In the Greek text, there is no conjunction to connect 1:17a and 1:17b. Many English translations include the word “but” (Contemporary English Version, King James Version, Revised English Bible, NET Bible, God’s Word, Good News Translation, New Living Translation (2004), New Century Version). This is done to indicate the contrast between the law coming through Moses (1:17a) and grace and truth coming through Jesus Christ (1:17b). You may want to indicate this contrast if that is natural in your language. However, your translation should not imply that there was no grace or truth in the law that came through Moses.

grace and truth came through Jesus Christ: The Greek clause grace and truth came through Jesus Christ indicates that Jesus Christ brought grace and truth to the human race. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

Jesus Christ brought us undeserved kindness and truth. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
It is through Jesus Christ that we (incl.) learned about God’s love and faithfulness that do not fail.
-or-
Jesus Christ showed us (incl.) how kind and faithful God is.

grace: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as grace refers to God’s favor and kindness to people that do not deserve them. In some languages it may be natural to translate it as an adjective:

[Jesus Christ showed us that God is] kind/gracious to those who do not deserve it.

truth: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as truth here refers to God’s faithfulness. He is faithful to himself, to his own righteous character, and also to his people. In some languages it may be natural to translate it as an adjective:

true/faithful

Christ: The word Christ is a title. It is not just one of Jesus’ names. This title refers to the person whom God had appointed and promised to send as king and savior. The title Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah,” which means “the anointed one.” In Old Testament times, kings and priests were anointed with oil (oil was put on their head). That was done to show that God had chosen and appointed them as leaders.

Here are some ways to translate Christ :

• Transliterate the word Christ (or “Messiah”) if the word is known in your area and means “savior.” Indicate in some way that it is a title. For example:

the Krais
-or-
the Kirisita
-or-
the Massie

• Translate the meaning of Christ with a descriptive phrase. For example:

the One God Appointed
-or-
The savior God promised
-or-
God’s chosen one
-or-
the King who rescues his people

• It is better to use both a transliteration of Christ or “Messiah” and include a phrase that explains the meaning. In this way, people will learn the meaning of Christ. (You may choose to include the descriptive phrase only for the first uses of the term. Then later you may use only Christ or Messiah.) For example:

the Krais, the appointed one
-or-
Cristo, the savior God promised
-or-
the Messias, the King-who-rescues

If you do not indicate the meaning of Christ in the text, you may want to include a footnote to explain it. Or you may want to explain the meaning in a glossary. For example:

“Christ” and “Messiah” both mean the same thing. “Christ” is based on a Greek word, and “Messiah” is based on the same word/title in Hebrew. They both refer to the king and savior whom God had promised to send to his people. The word means “anointed,” which means to pour oil on someone to show that God chose him for a special purpose.

It may also help to explain the meaning more completely than that in a glossary.

See also Key Biblical Terms Christ, Messiah, sense 1(a).

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