the Father is greater than I

The Greek that is translated as “the Father is greater than I” or similar in English is translated in Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl as “My Father is really great; I am not great,” since there is no comparative in the language. (Source: Nida 1947, p. 261)

complete verse (John 14:28)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 14:28:

  • Uma: “You heard my words earlier that said: I go, but I will return here to you. If you really love me, you will be glad that I go to my Father, because my Father’s greatness surpasses me.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “I have told you already that I am leaving, but I will come back again to you. If you really love me, you will certainly be glad that I am going to my Father, for he is greater than I.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “You heard me say that I am going to leave you and that I will return to you. I wish that I were big in your breath because this would cause you joy. Because now I am able to return to my Father, and he is greater than I.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “You have heard what I said that I will leave you but then I will return. If you loved me, you would be happy, because I am going to my Father who is greater than I.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “I have told you already that I am leaving but I will indeed return. If you really hold me dear, you would be happy about this home-going of mine to the Father, because the Father is much more important, much more so than I.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Now you heard me tell you that I am going where the Father is, and that I will come again so that we will be together. If you truly love me, you would have been glad that I am going. Because he is greater than I.” (Source: Tenango Otomi 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”.

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.

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. )

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. 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.

Translation commentary on John 14:28

I am leaving (Greek hupagō) is a term frequently used in John’s Gospel of Jesus’ departure to the Father (note 13.33 and 14.4). It should not be so translated as to suggest that Jesus was abandoning his disciples. A frequent equivalent of I am leaving is simply “I am going away.”

I will come back to you is the same expression used in verse 18.

If you loved me may be translated “if you really love me” (New American Bible “If you truly loved me”) because it is an unfulfilled condition, that is, a condition contrary to fact. Jesus is saying that the disciples do not really love him at this point. This may be emphasized by translating “If you loved me (but evidently you do not), you would be glad (but obviously you are not), that….”

That I am going to the Father is related to glad as a type of cause and must be expressed in some languages by a causative formation, for example, “the fact that I am going to the Father would make you glad.” Gladness may be expressed idiomatically in some languages as “dancing of the heart,” “coolness of the liver,” or “sweetness of the abdomen.”

There have been many theological discussions concerning the statement because he is greater than I. In many passages in the Fourth Gospel, Jesus is spoken of as the one whom the Father has sent, or the one who has come from the Father, and it is in this light that the verse is to be understood. The Father is greater than Jesus in the sense that the one who send a messenger is greater than the messenger he sends. Note especially 13.16. Here the specific reference is probably to the coming of Jesus into the world, by which he accepts the limitations of humanity, including physical death. But after Jesus’ death God will raise him to the position that he had before he came into the world. Note 17.4-5, which indicates that after Jesus had finished the work on earth that the Father had given him to do, the Father restored him to the position that he had before the world was created. In some languages greater is understood in the sense of “importance” rather than “strength” or “power.” This meaning reflects well the distinction between the one who sends and the one who is sent.

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 .