The good shepherd

Hand colored stencil print on washi by Sadao Watanabe (1975).

Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe.

For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.

The following is a stained glass window from 1906 and made by R. T. Giles & Co. of Minneapolis for the First Presbyterian Church, Salt Lake City, Utah :

Photo by NateBergin, hosted by Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license

Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )

complete verse (John 10:17)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 10:17:

  • Aguaruna: “I will die on behalf of my sheep saying, ‘I will arise from the dead again.’ Therefore my Father loves me.”
  • Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac: “My Father loves me because I give my life and I take it again.”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “I give up myself for people to kill me, but afterwards I will come to life again. And my Father loves me more because I am pleased to do that.” (Source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
  • Uma: “‘My Father loves me, because I give my life in order to find my life again.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “‘I am really loved by my Father God because I submit to dying so that I will be made alive again.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The reason that my father’s breath is very big toward me is because I will allow myself to be killed in the stead of those people who belong to me and he will raise me up again from the dead.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘My Father, he loves me, because I will give my life so that I will then come-alive again.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “I am really held dear by my Father because of this, that I will give my life/breath so that I may reclaim it again.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “My Father loves me because I give up my life for my sheep. And then I can again be alive.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Father (address for God)

The Greek that is translated with the capitalized “Father” in English when referring to God is translated in Highland Totonac with the regular word for (biological) father to which a suffix is added to indicate respect. The same also is used for “Lord” when referring to Jesus. (Source: Hermann Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. )

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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. In the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017, God the Father is addressed with mi-chichi (御父). This form has the “divine” honorific prefix mi– preceding the archaic honorific form chichi for “father.”

If, however, Jesus addresses his Father, he is using chichi-o (父を) which is also highly respectful but does not have the “divine” honorific. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also Lord and my / our Father.

1st person pronoun referring to God (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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

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

See also pronoun for “God”.

Japanese benefactives (aishite)

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, aishite (愛して) or “love” 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 John 10:17

In Greek the first part of this verse reads literally “because of this the Father loves me because I give up my life.” Good News Translation combines the two “because” constructions and introduces the English sentence with the Father, the subject of the Greek sentence. New English Bible and Jerusalem Bible do exactly the same. Here again, as in verses 11 and 14, Good News Translation takes the Greek expression as indicating Christ’s willingness to die.

It is best to take the Greek conjunction (hina) with its full force, indicating purpose (Good News Translation in order that). According to the teaching of the Gospel of John, the death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus are looked upon as one event, not as single isolated actions. Jerusalem Bible makes clear the notion of purpose (“in order to take it up again”), while New American Bible translates “to take it up again,” and Revised Standard Version “that I may take it again.”

In some languages it is impossible to say give up my life. The only equivalent would be “voluntarily die” or “die, not being forced by someone else to do so.” Similarly it may be impossible to say “receive life back again.” One can normally receive material things, but not a state of being, such as life. Therefore it may be necessary to translate the purpose clause “in order that I may live again” or “… become alive again.”

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 .