Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.
As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.
Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.
In Nepali translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and other people with the medium honorific pronoun timīlē (तिमीले) or timīlēharū (तिमीलेहरू). His disciples respond with a high honorific pronoun. (Source: Chitra Chhetri in The Bible Translator 2009, p. 73ff. )
In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.
Following are a number of back-translations of John 13:10:
Uma: “Yesus said: ‘A person who has just finished bathing is no longer dirty, his whole body is clean, it does not need to be washed again. It is just the feet that must be washed. You, you are washed, but not all of you.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Isa said to him, ‘A person who has bathed, has a clean body. Only his feet need to be washed again. All of you are clean/holy in their liver, only one does not have a clean/holy liver.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus said, ‘He who has already taken a bath, the only thing that he needs to wash is his feet because all of his body is clean. And as for you also, your minds are thoroughly made clean. However there is one of you who has not been made clean.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Then Jesus said, ‘The person who has bathed, he doesn’t need to bathe his body again because he/it has already become-clean/good. It is only his feet that ought to be washed. And you, you have-become-clean, but not all of you.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Jesus answered him, saying, ‘That one who is already cleansed no longer needs to have everything washed still, because he’s now clean. Only his feet are what need to be washed. As for you (pl.), you are now clean, but not all are clean.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “But Jesus said, ‘He who has already been washed has a clean body. Only his feet need to be washed. All of you have been washed of evil, there is just one who is not washed.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Following is a painting by Chen Yuandu 陳緣督 (1902–1967):
Image is housed in the Société des Auxiliaires des Missions Collection – Whitworth University and taken from Chinese Christian Posters . For more information on the “Ars Sacra Pekinensis” school of art, see this article , for other artworks of that school in TIPs, see here.
Following is a painting by Ketut Lasia (b. 1945):
Ketut Lasia is one of the last traditional Balinese painters in the Ubud style. As an adult, Lasia converted from Hinduism to Christianity, and he paints primarily biblical scenes. You can find artwork from Ketut Lasia in a variety of formats for sale at Fine Art America .
The Greek Iēsous is “only” a proper name but one with great importance. The following quote by John Ellington (in The Bible Translator1993, p. 401ff. ) illustrates this:
“In Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus Christ, Joseph is told that when Mary gives birth to a son ‘you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins’ (1:21). This name is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name [Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) which is a short form of a name meaning] ‘the Lord [Yahweh] saves.’ The name is very significant and is in itself especially dear to Christians around the world. (…) Unquestionably great importance is attached to the name of Jesus by Christians of all persuasions and backgrounds.”
While Iēsous (pronounced: /i.ɛː.suːs/) is transliterated as “Jesus” (pronounced /ˈdʒiːzəs/) in English (but was translated as “Hælend” [the “healing one”] in Old English — see Swain 2019) it is transliterated and pronounced in a large variety of other ways as well, following the different rules of different languages’ orthographies, writing systems and rules of pronunciation. The following is a (partial) list of forms of Jesus in Latin characters: aYeso, Azezi, Boiyesuq, Cecoc, Chesús, Chi̍i̍sū, Chisɔsi, Ciisahs, Ciise, Ciisusu, Djesu, Ɛisa, Ƹisa, Eyesu, Gesù, Gesû, Gesü, Ġesù, Ghjesù, Giêsu, ꞌGiê‑ꞌsu, Giê-xu, Gyisɛse, Hesu, Hesús, Hisus, Hisuw, Ià-sŭ, Iesen, Ié:sos, Iesu, Iesui, Iesusɨn, Iesusiva, Ié:sos, Ihu, Īhu, Iisus, Iisussa, Ijeesu, iJisọsị, Iji̍sɔ̄ɔsi, Iosa, Íosa, Ìosa, İsa, I’sa, Isiso, Isõs, Ísu, Isus, Isusa, Iisussa, Isuthi, Itota, Îtu, Isuva, Izesu, Izesuq, Jasus, Jeeju, Jeesus, Jeesuse, Jeezas, Jehu, Jeisu, Jeju, Jejus, Jesesi, Jeshu, Jeso, Jesoe, Jesosa, Jesoshi, Jesosi, Jesosy, Jesu, Jesû, Jesua, Jesuh, Jesuhs, Jesuo, Jesús, Jésus, Jesúsu, Jethu, Jetsóó, Jezed, Jezi, Jézi, Ježiš, Jezu, Jezus, Jézus, Jėzus, Jēzus, Jezusi, Jėzus, Jezuz, Jiijajju, Jíísas, Jiisusi, Jiizas, Jíìzọ̀s, Jisas, Jisase, Jisasi, Jisasɨ, Jisaso, Jisesi, Jisɛ̀, Jisos, Jisọs, Jisɔs, Jisu, Jiszs, Jizọs, Jizɔs, Jizọsi, Jizọsu, Jòso, Jusu, Jweesus, Ketsutsi, Njises, ọYẹsọ, Sesi, Sisa, Sísa, Sisas, Sises, Sīsū, Sizi, Txesusu, uJesu, Ujísɔ̄si, ŵaYesu, Xesosi, ´Xesús, Xesús, Yasu, Ya:su, yasuɛ, Yasuuⓐ, Ɣaysa, Yecu, Yeeb Sub, Yeeh Suh, Yeesey, Yeeso, Yeesso, Yēēsu, Yehsu, Yëësu, Yeiqsul, Yeisu, Yeisuw, Yeshu, Yē shú, Yeso, Yéso, Yesò, Yëso, Yɛso, ye-su, Yésu, Yêsu, Yẹ́sụ̃, Yěsù, Yésʉs, Yeswa, Yet Sut, Yetut, Yexus, Yezo, Yezu, Yiesu, Yiisa, Yiisu, Yiitju, Yis, Yisɔs, Yisufa, Yitati, Yusu, ‑Yusu, :Yusu’, Zeezi, Zezi, Zezì, Zezuz, Zezwii, Ziizɛ, Zisas, Zîsɛ, Zjezus, Zozi, Zozii, and this (much more incomplete) list with other writings systems: ᔩᓱᓯ, ᒋᓴᔅ, Հիսուս, ᏥᏌ, ኢየሱስ, ያሱስ, ܝܫܘܥ, Ісус, Їисъ, 耶稣, იესო, ईसा, イエス, イイスス, イエスス, 예수, येशू, येशो, ਈਸਾ, ພຣະເຢຊູ, ජේසුස්, যীশু, ଯୀଶୁ, ཡེ་ཤུ་, ‘ঈছা, இயேசு, ಯೇಸು, ພຣະເຢຊູ, ယေရှု, ઇસુ, जेजू, येसु, เยซู, យេស៊ូ, ᱡᱤᱥᱩ, ယေသှု, యేసు, ᤕᤧᤛᤢ᤺ᤴ, އީސާގެފާނު, ਯਿਸੂ, ꕉꖷ ꔤꕢ ꕞ, ⵏ⵿ⵗⵢⵙⴰ, ଜୀସୁ, يَسُوعَ,ㄧㄝㄙㄨ, YE-SU, ꓬꓰ꓿ꓢꓴ, 𖽃𖽡𖾐𖼺𖽹𖾏𖼽𖽔𖾏, ꑳꌠ, ᠶᠡᠰᠦᠰ (note that some of these might not display correctly if your device does not have the correct fonts installed).
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In some languages the different confessions have selected different transliterations, such as in Belarusian with Isus (Ісус) by the Orthodox and Protestant churches and Yezus (Езус) by the Catholic church, Bulgarian with Iisus (Иисус) by the Orthodox and Isus (Исус) by the Protestant church, Japanese with Iesu (イエス) (Protestant and Catholic) and Iisusu (イイスス) (Orthodox), or Lingala with Yesu (Protestant) or Yezu (Catholic). These differences have come to the forefront especially during the work on interconfessional translations such as one in Lingala where “many hours were spent on a single letter difference” (source: Ellington, p. 401).
In Literary and Mandarin Chinese where transliterations of proper names between the Catholic and Protestant versions typically differ vastly, the Chinese name of Jesus (Yēsū 耶稣) remarkably was never brought into question between and by those two confessions, likely due to its ingenious choice. (Click or tap here to see more).
The proper name of God in the Old Testament, Yahweh (YHWH), is rendered in most Chinese Bible translations as Yēhéhuá 耶和華 — Jehovah. According to Chinese naming conventions, Yēhéhuá could be interpreted as Yē Héhuá, in which Yē would be the family name and Héhuá — “harmonic and radiant” — the given name. In the same manner, Yē 耶 would be the family name of Jesus and Sū 稣 would be his given name. Because in China the children inherit the family name from the father, the sonship of Jesus to God the Father, Jehovah, would be illustrated through this. Though this line of argumentation sounds theologically unsound, it is indeed used effectively in the Chinese church (see Wright 1953, p. 298).
Moreover, the “given name” of Sū 稣 carries the meaning ‘to revive, to rise again’ and seems to point to the resurrected Jesus. (Source: J. Zetzsche in Malek 2002, p. 141ff., see also tetragrammaton (YHWH))
There are different ways that Bible translators have chosen historically and today in how to translate the name of Jesus in predominantly Muslim areas: with a form of the Arabic Isa (عيسى) (which is used for “Jesus” in the Qur’an), the Greek Iēsous, or, like major 20th century Bible translations into Standard Arabic, the Aramaic Yēšūaʿ: Yasua (يَسُوعَ). (Click or tap here to see more.)
Following are languages and language groups that use a form of Isa include the following (note that this list is not complete):
In Indonesian, while most Bible translations had already used Yesus Kristus rather than Isa al Masih, three public holidays used to be described using the term Isa Al Masih. From 2024 on the government is using Yesus Kristus in those holiday names instead (see this article in Christianity Today ).
Some languages have additional “TAZI” editions (TAZI stands for “Tawrat, Anbiya, Zabur, and Injil” the “Torah, Prophets, Psalms and Gospel”) of the New Testament that are geared towards Muslim readers where there is also a translation in the same language for non-Muslims. In those editions, Isa is typically used as well (for example, the Khmer TAZI edition uses Isa (អ៊ីសា) rather than the commonly used Yesaou (យេស៊ូ), the Thai edition uses Isa (อีซา) rather than Yesu (เยซู), the Chinese edition uses Ěrsā (尔撒) vs. Yēsū (耶稣), and the English edition also has Isa rather than Jesus.)
In German the name Jesus (pronounced: /ˈjeːzʊs/) is distinguished by its grammatical forms. Into the 20th century the grammatical rules prescribed a unique Greek-Latin declination: Jesus (nominative), Jesu (genitive, dative, vocative), Jesum (accusative), from which today only the genitive case “Jesu” is still in active use. Likewise, in Seediq (Taroko), the morphological treatment of “Jesus” also occupies a special category by not falling under the normal rule of experiencing a vowel reduction when the object-specific suffix an is added “since it was felt that the readers might resent that the name has been changed that drastically.” (Compare Msian for “Moses” (Mosi) as an object, but Yisuan for “Jesus” (Yisu).) (Source: Covell 1998. p. 249)
In Lamba the name ŵaYesu consists of a transliteration Yesu and the prefix ŵa, a plural form for “proper names when addressing and referring to persons in any position of seniority or honor.” While this was avoided in early translations to avoid possible misunderstandings of more than one Jesus, once the church was established it was felt that it was both “safe” and respectful to use the honorific (pl.) prefix. (Source C. M. Doke in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 57ff. )
In virtually all sign languages, “Jesus” is signed with the middle finger of each hand pointing to the palm (or wrist) of the other in succession (signing the nails of the cross). In the context of Bible translation this has been pointed out as theologically problematic since the “semantic connections of the original name Jesus do point towards ‘salvation,’ they do not naturally lead to crucifixion.” (Source: Phil King in Journal of Translation 1 (2020), p. 33ff.)
Following is the oldest remaining Ethiopian Orthodox icon of Jesus from the 14th or possibly 13th century (found in the Church of the Saviour of the World in Gurji, Ethiopia). As in many Orthodox icons, Jesus’ right hand forms the Greek letters I-C-X-C for IHCOYCXPICTOC or “Jesus Christ.” Another interpretation of the right hand is that it shows three fingers pointing to the Trinity, while the two other fingers point to Jesus’ two natures.
Orthodox icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )
The following is the so-called “Wales Window for Alabama.” It is a stained-glass window by the artist John Petts from Carmarthenshire, Wales, created in response to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing which took place in 1963:
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 )
The style of the following drawing of Jesus by Annie Vallotton is described by the artist as this: “By using few lines the readers fill in the outlines with their imagination and freedom. That is when the drawings begin to communicate.” (see here ; see also We All are One in Christ)
Illustration by Annie Vallotton, copyright by Donald and Patricia Griggs of Griggs Educational Service.
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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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.
Except for his feet is considered by New English Bible and Jerusalem Bible not to be part of the original Greek text. This phrase is placed in brackets in New American Bible, indicating its doubtful presence in the text. However, the manuscript evidence is in favor of its inclusion, and it is possible that the words were accidentally, or even deliberately, omitted from some manuscript because of the difficulty of reconciling them with the statement is completely clean. The UBS Committee on the Greek text includes the words and rates its decision a “B” choice.
Good News Translation restructures this verse slightly, introducing the phrase is completely clean after the word bath, whereas in the Greek text these words appear at the end of the sentence. Completely clean may be understood to mean either “in every respect” or “all over.” In other words, completely may be an intensive qualifier of “clean,” or it may mean that once a person has taken a bath, every part of his body is clean, and it is not necessary to bathe other parts of the body except the feet, which may get dirty in walking from one place to another. This fact becomes obvious when we consider that sandals were the common footwear of those times. There may seem to be a contradiction between is completely clean and does not have to wash himself. The latter expression must certainly not be understood in the sense of “having someone else wash him.” It may be necessary to translate does not have to wash himself as “does not have to wash himself again soon.” The final phrase, except for his feet, may be rendered “he only has to wash his feet.”
All of you are clean—all except one is literally “and you (plural) are clean—but not all (masculine plural).” New English Bible translates “and you are clean, though not every one of you.” New American Bible has “he is entirely cleansed, just as you are; though not all.” In English “you” may be singular or plural. But since Jesus is addressing Peter, it is more likely to be taken as singular by the English reader. Especially is this true because of the ambiguity of the phrase “not all,” which could mean “not all over” to a reader of English. For this reason Revised Standard Version has added the words “of you” (“and you are clean, but not all of you”).
All except one is often expressed as simply an adversative, for example, “but one of you is not clean.”
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 .
Jesus told him: Jesus was answering Peter’s request. His answer implied the response “no.” In some languages it may be natural to make Peter’s name explicit and also indicate that Jesus refused his request. For example:
⌊But⌋ Jesus answered Peter
13:10b
Whoever has already bathed needs only to wash his feet: This clause refers to someone who has literally bathed his whole body. It says that he does not need to wash any part of his body again except his feet. If someone bathed and then walked to another house, his feet would get dirty, but nothing else. This clause also has a figurative meaning. It refers to those whom God has made clean from sin. When they sin, they do not have to be saved or completely cleansed again. They just need to be cleansed or forgiven of that new sin.
It is recommended that you translate this verse literally, because it does refer to people who have literally bathed. But translate it in a way that could also be understood to refer to people being cleansed of their sin. And you may need to make the literal meaning clearer. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
After a person has had a bath, his whole body is clean. He needs only to wash his feet. (New Century Version) -or-
The person who has bathed, he does not need to bathe his body again because it is still clean. It is only his feet that should be washed.
Whoever has already bathed: This phrase refers to a person who has washed and cleaned his whole body in water. Use the phrase that is natural in your language and culture. For example:
Those who have taken a bath (GNT92)
needs only to wash: This phrase says that a person does not need to wash his whole body if he has already bathed. If just his feet are dirty, a person only needs to wash his feet. The spiritual, figurative meaning is that once Jesus has washed/forgiven someone, that person is forever forgiven. See the General Comment on 13:10b.
his feet: There is a textual issue in this verse. In some Greek manuscripts, this clause includes a Greek phrase that means his feet.
(1) Most Greek manuscripts include the phrase his feet, and most English translations translate this phrase. For example:
and do not have to wash themselves, except for their feet (Good News Translation)
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, English Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation (2004), King James Version, Revised Standard Version, God’s Word, New American Standard Bible, New Century Version, NET Bible)
(2) Other Greek manuscripts do not include this phrase. This is followed by only a few English translations. For example:
Anyone who has bathed needs no further washing; (Revised English Bible)
(Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible)
It is recommended that you follow option (1), along with most English translations. This is the reading of most Greek texts, including some of the oldest and most reliable manuscripts.
General Comment on 13:10b
You will want to avoid indicating that a person who has bathed literally never has to wash again. To do that, it may be necessary to change the way that you translate this clause. Instead of saying “does not need to wash, except for the feet,” you may want to say something like “just needs to wash his feet.” For example:
People who have bathed…need to wash just their feet (Contemporary English Version) -or-
After a person has had a bath…he needs only to wash his feet. (New Century Version)
13:10c
and: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as and here connects a negative statement (“does not need to wash”) to a positive statement (“is entirely clean”). This kind of sentence emphasizes the positive statement. Languages have different ways to indicate this type of emphasis. Here are some ways to show the emphasis:
• Use the conjunction “but” as in the New Revised Standard Version.
The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. (English Standard Version)
• Do not use a conjunction. For example:
Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. (New International Version)
• Change the order of the clauses. For example:
Those who have had a bath are completely clean and do not have to wash themselves, except for their feet. (Good News Translation)
You should translate this emphasis in the way that is most natural in your language.
he will be completely clean: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as completely clean mean “his whole body is clean.” Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
is entirely clean (New Revised Standard Version) -or-
such a person is clean all over (New Jerusalem Bible) -or-
their whole body is clean (New International Version) -or-
all of his body is ⌊already⌋ clean
13:10d
And you are clean: This clause here means “your sins are forgiven.” Jesus has moved away from speaking literally to speaking figuratively. He was not commenting on whether his disciples had bathed. Translate clean using a word that can be understood figuratively.
you are clean: The pronoun you is plural and refers to the disciples. For example:
you disciples are clean (NET Bible) -or-
you, my disciples, are clean (Contemporary English Version)
though not all of you: This phrase limits the previous clause. When Jesus said “you are clean,” he did not mean all of them. This phrase is a short way of saying “though not all of you are clean.” The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as though introduces the limit and emphasizes it. The implied emphasis is that Judas was not clean, but you should not make this explicit here. For example:
except for one of you (Contemporary English Version) -or-
but not every one of you (NET Bible) -or-
however not all of you ⌊have a clean heart⌋
General Comment on 13:10
Jesus was giving an illustration of a spiritual truth. He compared receiving forgiveness to taking a bath, becoming clean. This verse can be understood on two levels, literal and figurative:
(a) The literal meaning refers to a person who has bathed, probably earlier that day. He does not need to bathe again. Only his feet need washing.
(b) The figurative meaning refers to a person whose sins Christ has forgiven. He does not need to receive complete forgiveness again but just forgiveness for his daily sins.
You will need to translate the first meaning. But you may want to put the second meaning in a footnote because it explains what Jesus meant in 13:10d.
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