complete verse (John 13:15)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 13:15:

  • Uma: “I have shown you this example, so that you learn/follow my behavior: like I help you, you also must help others.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “I showed you that doing of mine so that you have an example that your livers should be humble/lowly. You shall imitate my doing to you.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The reason I did this for you is so that you might imitate it. It is necessary that each one of you subjects himself to his companion.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because this that I tell you is true that a slave is not greater than his master, and likewise also one who is sent who is not greater than the one who sent him. I did this to you so that you will have an example-to-follow so that that also is what you will do to your companions.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Because you have now been given by me an example, so that like this indeed is what you will do, this which I have done.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “I have shown you what you must do in order for you to do among yourselves what I have done to you.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

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”.

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (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 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).

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

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

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 Translator 2002, 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 most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.

Translation commentary on John 13:15

I have set an example for you (New English Bible “I have set you an example”) is more literally “I have given you an example”; in English, however, it is more natural to speak of “setting” an example. The word translated example also occurs in Hebrews 4.11; 8.5; 9.23; James 5.10; 2 Peter 2.6. In some languages there is no technical term for example, but the meaning can always be expressed, for example, “I have shown you what to do by doing it myself” or “I have shown you how you should imitate me.”

So that you will do just what I have done for you represents a slight alteration of the Greek, which reads “in order that just as I did to you also you should do.” Both New English Bible (“you are to do as I have done for you”) and Jerusalem Bible (“so that you may copy what I have done to you”) invert the sentence structure in essentially the same way as Good News Translation. It may be necessary in some languages to indicate the goal of the action in the first part of this second half of verse 15, for example, “so that you will do for one another just what I have done for you” or “so that you will act toward one another just as I have acted toward you.” In some languages a word meaning “help” or “benefit” may be required to express the meaning of what was done.

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 .