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 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.

See also formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese).

world (Chinese)

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “world” in English is translated in Mandarin Chinese with shìjiè (世界). While shìjiè is now the commonly used term for “world” in Chinese, it was popularized as such by Chinese Bible translations. (Source: Mak 2017, p. 241ff.)

See also world.

complete verse (John 14:30)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 14:30:

  • Uma: “‘I do not have much more opportunity to speak to you, because the King of Evil-ones is almost here. He is the one who has-authority-over this world, but he has no authority over me.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “I cannot talk to you much longer because soon the leader of demons will arrive who rules/leads in this world. He cannot rule over me.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “My words to you are very short because Satan, the boss of the people in the world who are my enemies, will soon arrive. He has no authority over me.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘I will not still talk-with you for a long time, because here comes Satanas who is the leader of people who don’t believe. He has no authority over me,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “I won’t make long my conversation with you, because Satanas who now rules here under the heavens is now arriving. But it’s true, he has no authority over me.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “It isn’t much longer that I will speak with you now because the devil is coming, he who commands the people who do not believe in me. He does not have the power to defeat me.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Anindilyakwa: “The one who is different boss is coming here, the one who is the boss/ruler here in this place everywhere (i.e. in this world). Then/(So) soon I will finish my words. But he won’t take/grab my road away from me [to follow in their footsteps, to take on the responsibilities and authority of that person].” (Source: Julie Waddy in The Bible Translator 2004, p. 452ff.)

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. )

Translation commentary on John 14:30

I cannot talk with you much longer is more literally “I will no longer talk much with you” (Revised Standard Version). Most translations likewise render this statement literally in the future tense. The temporal modifier much longer must be understood in the sense of a few hours at most, since it was later that same night that Jesus was betrayed and arrested.

The ruler of this world was first mentioned in 12.31 (see there).

He has no power over me is literally “and in me he has nothing.” This Good News Translation rendering is also that of Goodspeed, Revised Standard Version, and Jerusalem Bible. Most other translations have “He has no hold on me” or something similar. (See Moffatt, Phillips, New American Bible.) New English Bible renders “He has no rights over me,” which is not entirely clear. It is probably based on the equivalent Hebrew, which means “to have no claim upon someone.” The context supports the meaning given by Good News Translation and most other translations. He has no power over me may be rendered as “he is not able to control me” or “… to command me.”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on John 14:30

14:30a

I will not speak with you much longer: This clause indicates that Jesus knew that he would soon have to leave his disciples. He would not be able to talk to them because he would not be there. In your translation, avoid implying that Jesus would not talk with them because he was angry with them. Here is one way to avoid this wrong implication:

I shall not be able to talk much longer to you (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

14:30b

for: The connector the Berean Standard Bible translated as for means “because.” It introduces the reason why Jesus said what he did in the previous clause.

the prince of this world is coming: This clause indicates that Satan would soon attack Jesus. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

the prince of this world approaches (Revised English Bible)
-or-
the leader of demons who rules this world will come soon

the prince of this world: This phrase refers to Satan, the chief of the evil spirits. See how you translated this phrase in 12:31. In some languages it may be necessary to make it explicit that Jesus spoke about an evil power or Satan. For example:

the ⌊evil⌋ one who rules this world
-or-
Satan, who rules the people who do not believe

14:30c

he has no claim on Me: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as he has no claim on Me is an idiom that is more literally “in me he has nothing.” This probably means that Satan had no right to accuse or control Jesus (because Jesus never sinned). He could not defeat Jesus. For example:

He has no hold on me. (New International Version)
-or-
He has no rights over me. (Revised English Bible)
-or-
He does not control me.

General Comment on 14:30

In some languages it may be natural to rearrange 14:30a–c. For example:

30c The ruler of this world has no power over me. 30b But he’s coming, 30a so I won’t talk with you much longer. (God’s Word)

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