I lay it down of my own accord

The Greek in John 10:18 that is translated as “I lay it down of my own accord” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as ich verschenke es freiwillig or “I give it (like a gift) on my own accord.”

I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up again

The Greek in John 10:18 that is translated as ” I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as Ich habe die Freiheit es zu verschenken, und die Freiheit, es mir wieder zu nehmen or “I have the freedom to give it (like a gift) and the freedom to take it up again.”

eagerness / wish / own accord / gladly / willingly

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “eagerness,” “wish,” “own accord,” “gladly,” “willingly” or similar in English is translated in the Catholic Mandarin Chinese Sigao version with a historical Chinese idiom: gānxīn qíngyuàn (甘心情願 / 甘心情愿), lit. “wholeheartedly and willingly.” (Source: Toshikazu S. Foley in Hong Kong Journal of Catholic Studies, 2011, p. 45ff.)

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 10:18)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 10:18:

  • Uma: “No-one can kill me if it is not my will. I choose to / would rather die of my own free will [lit., with my holy-holy heart]. I have authority/power to give my life to be killed, and I also have authority/power to live again. That is the command that I receive from my Father.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “No man/human has the authority to kill me, because I have the power whether I die or not. I surrender my life from my own will. I have the authority to surrender my life and I have authority to make my body/myself alive again. This is what my Father God commanded me.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I was not forced by any person, because I will allow myself to be killed of my own will. I have a right to allow myself to be killed, and it is also my right to be raised again because my Father God commanded this to me.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Definitely no one will kill me if I am not the originator of the thought, because I have authority to give my life and I also have authority to take-it-back. Because this is what God commanded me.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “There’s no person who could sever my life/breath, but on the contrary this is my will to give it. I am the one who owns life/breath and I have supernatural-power to give my life/breath and to reclaim it again. This also is the task given me which comes from my Father.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “No one can kill me if that is what I want. But I myself want to give up my life. I have power to give up my life and I have power to again live. This is the word my Father told me.'” (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”.