The Greek in John 12:25 that is translated as “loves his life” and “hates his life” in English is translated into Maru (Lhao Vo) as “protecting one’s life for oneself” (for “loves his life”) and “not stingy with one’s life” (for “hates his own life”).
eternal life
The Greek that is translated in English as “eternal life” is translated in various ways:
- Berik: “good living forever” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 536)
- Asháninka: “keep on living”
- Aguaruna: “will always live”
- Yanesha’: “immortal state forever”
- North Alaskan Inupiatun: “endless life”
- Tsafiki: “live forever with God”
- Lalana Chinantec: “heart will be alive forever” (source for this and five above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125)
- Tagalog: buhay na walang hanggan: “life which has no boundary”
- Iloko: biagna nga agnanayon: “continuing life” (source for this and one above: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
- Huehuetla Tepehua: “life forever up in heaven” (source: Larson 1998, p. 279)
- Kele: loiko: “survival: enduring through crisis, catastrophe and death” (source: William Ford in The Bible Translator 1957, p. 203ff. ).
- Highland Totonac: “have life, the kind that is for always”
- Central Mazahua: “live continually” (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
- Samoan: ola e fa‘avavau or “life until the end of time” (source: John Bradshaw in The Bible Translator 1967, p. 75ff. )
- Mairasi: “life fruit” (source: Enggavoter 2004).
Lloyd Peckham explains the Mairasi translation: “In secret stories, not knowable to women nor children, there was a magical fruit of life. If referred to vaguely, without specifying the specific ‘fruit,’ it can be an expression for eternity.”
See also eternity / forever and salvation.
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Eternal Life in John .
he who, whoever
The Greek that is typically translated with a generic expressions such as “he who,” “whoever,” or “if anyone” in English is translated with the plural form (“they”) in Daga. “A literal translation of these conveys the idea that one specific unnamed individual is being discussed. Thus, for instance, in John 5:24 ‘he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life’ meant in Daga that there was one fortunate individual to whom it applied.”
See also love your neighbor as yourself.
complete verse (John 12:25)
Following are a number of back-translations of John 12:25:
- Uma: “The person who clings to his own desires will lose his life in the future. But the person who lets go of his desires in this world, he will receive good life forever.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “Likewise are also people/is a person. If he really values/loves his life here in this world he will not have eternal life. But if he does not value/love his life in this world, he will have life forever.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The person who sets his heart on his life here on earth, he will die just the same, but the person who because of me doesn’t set his heart on his life here on earth, he will get life forever.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “If a person values his life, he will die anyway. But if he considers that his life in this world is not valuable, in-the-future he will live forever.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “If what a person really values greatly are his own desires and lifestyle, it’s certain that this will be lost to him. But that one not overly valuing his life, for it’s not his own situation which is important to him, life which is without ending really will be his.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “He who tries to escape death is the one who will lose his life. But he who gives up his life here on earth will be given the new life forever.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Sung version of John 12
Translation commentary on John 12:25
His own life is literally “his soul,” but it is rendered “his life” by most modern translations. New English Bible renders “The man who loves himself is lost.” The reason for translating “life” rather than “soul” is that the rendering “soul” does not give a true reflection of the Jewish concept of the nature of man. For the Jews there was no body-soul dualism in the way that is familiar to us, and so this word refers to one’s natural life. The same word is used in 10.15, and there Good News Translation renders the Greek “I lay down my soul” I am willing to die.
The contrast between loves and hates also reflects Semitic thought. The meaning of “to hate” in such a context means that a person considers the object he “hates” as less desirable and important than the one he “loves” (See Deut 21.15; Gen 29.31,33; Matt 6.24; Luke 14.26).
Lose is the verb translated die in 3.16 and 10.28. It is used in 17.12 with the same meaning that it has here (see note at 3.16).
For the concept of eternal life see comments at 1.4 and 3.15. Will keep it for life eternal is rendered in Anchor Bible “preserves it to live eternally.”
The translation of verse 25 involves several serious problems. In the first place, a literal rendering may be quite misleading. For example, in one language the expression “loves his own life” means that the person is kind, while “hates his own life” means that he is mean and unjust. Furthermore, in many languages one cannot speak about “loving life” or “hating life,” for the term life must itself be rendered as a verb. In some instances loves his own life may be rendered “lives just for himself.” By way of contrast, hates his own life may then be rendered “but rather lives for others.” In some languages loves his own life may be expressed idiomatically as “keeps hanging onto his own life.” The contrast then may be set up as “lets go of his own life.”
Only rarely can the radical contrast between “loves” and “hates” be employed. It is always necessary to indicate that hates refers to “loving less” or “having no regard for.”
It may also be difficult in some languages to speak about “losing life.” Such an expression can be understood only in the sense of “die,” but evidently in this verse the focus is more upon the quality of life which is lost, and not upon death. Furthermore, it is important to avoid a verb meaning “lose” which would suggest an accidental loss. The loss of real life is the direct result of one’s wishing to hang onto his own way of life. It may be possible to translate the first part of verse 25 “Whoever loves only himself will lose out completely” or “Whoever loves to do only what he wants to do will end up with nothing” or “… will come to an end” or “… will finally have nothing.” To show the contrast between loves and hates, it may be better to employ a negation, for example, “Whoever doesn’t love his own life” or “Whoever doesn’t just love himself.” The difficulty with a term meaning “hate” is that it carries too many additional connotations and in some languages may even suggest suicide.
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 .
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