I am the door (gate)

The Greek in John 10:9 that is translated in English typically as “I am the door (or: gate)” is translated in Lak as “I am the entrance.”

Vitaly Voinov tells this story:

“Field testing showed that some readers might find it hard to understand how a person could say about themselves that they are a door or gate. What exactly this metaphor means in this context was not well understood and caused what linguists call ‘processing difficulty.’ Even when it was explicated by ‘I am the door/gate for the sheep,’ it still caused problems in understanding. In other languages that have experienced a similar problem with this metaphor, translators have sometimes resorted to turning it into a simile, ‘I am like a door/gate.’ But in the Lak case, this would still leave unanswered the basic question of what the exact point of similarity is between Jesus and a door/gate. After much discussion, the team decided to try a different synonym, ‘I am the entrance.’ Further field testing should show whether this has solved the problem or not.”

Likewise, in Chichewa, “‘door’ is ‘that which shuts in,’ so naturally no one is going to be able to ‘enter by’ it. The solution in this case is not too hard to find: Christ is the ‘doorway,’ or entrance, to the house, building, stockpen, or whatever. When ‘open,’ he allows free passage; when ‘closed,’ one’s entry is barred.” (Source: Wendland 1987, p. 121)

In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated as Ich bin das Gatter, using the term that is used for a gate in an animal pen.

save

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The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as a form of “save” in English is translated in Shipibo-Conibo with a phrase that means literally “make to live,” which combines the meaning of “to rescue” and “to deliver from danger,” but also the concept of “to heal” or “restore to health.”

Other translations include:

  • San Blas Kuna: “help the heart”
  • Laka: “take by the hand” in the meaning of “rescue” or “deliver”
  • Huautla Mazatec: “lift out on behalf of”
  • Anuak: “have life because of”
  • Central Mazahua: “be healed in the heart”
  • Baoulé: “save one’s head”
  • Guerrero Amuzgo: “come out well”
  • Northwestern Dinka: “be helped as to his breath” (or “life”) (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida),
  • Matumbi: “rescue (from danger)” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
  • Noongar: barrang-ngandabat or “hold life” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • South Bolivian Quechua: “make to escape”
  • Highland Puebla Nahuatl: “cause people to come out with the aid of the hand” (source for this and one above: Nida 1947, p. 222)
  • Bariai: “retrieve one back” (source: Bariai Back Translation)

See also salvation and save (Japanese honorifics).

complete verse (John 10:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 10:9:

  • Uma: “I am the door. Whoever enters through me, they receive goodness. They are like sheep who enter into the corral and go outside to get fertile [lit., fat] grass.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “I am figuratively the door,’ said Isa. ‘Whoever enters by me, is saved. He is free to go in and out and he is given good.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I am the door. If anyone enters in by means of me, I will free him from punishment. He is like my sheep who enters into the corral and goes out and looks for his food because I always watch over him.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “I am the entrance. Whoever enters who walks-through me, he will be saved. He is compared to a sheep who both enters and goes-out to go graze.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “I am like the gateway. As many as enter here by me, because I am the one being believed-in/obeyed and trusted-in/relied-on by him now, certainly will be freed/saved. I will take good care of him, like the care of a shepherd of sheep when going in, going out, so that nothing will happen to him, but on the contrary he will always find good pastures.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “I am like a door. He whom I cause to pass through, he it is who will be saved. And he will do like a sheep which goes in and goes out from the fence and finds what to eat.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

survive / escape / save

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “survive,” “escape,” “save,” or similar in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) in these verses with pulumuka, describing someone whose life was in danger but who has freed himself or herself. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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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 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”.

Translation commentary on John 10:9

It is obvious from this verse that Jesus is the gate by which one enters into the Kingdom. In the Greek sentence construction the phrase by me is emphatic, thus emphasizing that Jesus is the only one through whom one enters the Kingdom. The one who enters through Jesus is saved, and he has freedom, which is expressed by the phrase come in and go out. The expression find pasture describes the life-sustaining force that is given to the believer. Jesus is the bread of life and the water of life, and he provides his sheep with pasture that sustains them.

As in verse 7, it may be necessary to introduce a simile, for example, “I am just like a gate” or “I am just like the gate for the sheep.”

Will be saved may in this context be translated “will become safe.” Or it may be expressed negatively as “will be kept from danger.”

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 .