The Greek in John 15:25 that is translated as “word that is written in their law” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as der Satz aus ihrem Gesetz or “the sentence in their law.”
complete verse (John 15:25)
Following are a number of back-translations of John 15:25:
- Uma: “But it must be like that, so that the words will be fulfilled which are written in the Book of the Law that say: They hated me even though there was no reason.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “But certainly/surely they would hate me so that the writing in the holy-book is fulfilled. The holy-book says: ‘They hate me without reason.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “By means of this, the prophecy in the law which was given to them long ago was fulfilled. It says, ‘Even though they have no reason to be against me, they are against me just the same.’ ‘” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “But so it is (empathy particle, showing identification with another’s position), so-that what God caused-to-be-written will-come-true that says, ‘They hated me with no reason for it.’ ‘” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “But this came just so that what is contained there in their writing which is the word of God might be fulfilled, which says, ‘They hate me even though there is nothing I have done which ought to be hated.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “These things occur because it must come to pass what is written in the Holy Book of the law they follow which says, ‘There isn’t any reason that I am hated.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
law
The Greek, Hebrew, and Ge’ez that is translated in English as “Law” or “law” is translated in Mairasi as oro nasinggiei or “prohibited things” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Noongar with a capitalized form of the term for “words” (Warrinya) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
In Yucateco the phrase that is used for “law” is “ordered-word” (for “commandment,” it is “spoken-word”) (source: Nida 1947, p. 198) and in Central Tarahumara it is “writing-command.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
In a 1922 translation into Chagatai, a precursor language of both Uzbek and Uighur, it is translated with the Arabic loan word shari’at (شريعت), originally meaning “(Islamic) law (Shari’a).” (Source: F. Erbay and F.N. Küçükballı in Acta Theologica 2025 45/2, p. 133ff. )
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”.
Sung version of John 15
Translation commentary on John 15:25
The first part of this verse is more literally “But in order that the word written in their law might be fulfilled.” Here again “to be fulfilled” must be understood in the sense of “come true” (see 12.38). New English Bible renders “However, this text in their law had to come true.” That is, it renders “the word” of the Greek sentence by “the text,” but Good News Translation uses a more generic term what is written. New American Bible also translates “the word” as “the text,” while some translations render simply “the word.” It is obvious that the singular term “the word” will not do for most translations. In this context Law refers to the entire Jewish Bible, and not merely to that section of the Old Testament known as “the Law” (see also 10.34 and 12.34). The Greek is rather elliptical, and for this reason Good News Translation supplies This must be at the opening of the verse. It is possible to take the Greek structure as the equivalent of an imperative (see the alternative rendering of New English Bible “let this text in their law come true”), but no translation suggests this interpretation. The scripture reference in this verse is either to Psalm 35.19 or 69.5, since the expression those who hate me without reason occurs in each of these Psalms.
This … was bound to happen may be rendered “This had to happen” or “It had to happen that they would hate me” or “Their hating me happened so that.”
The purpose clause so that what is written in their Law may come true may be rendered in some languages “so that what is written in their Law might happen” or “… might take place” or “… might really occur.”
As noted in other contexts, in some languages Law may be expressed more satisfactorily as plural, namely, “laws.”
For no reason at all indicates a type of contrast, and therefore it may be combined with the preceding verb as “They hated me, but they didn’t have a reason for hating me” or “They hated me, but I had not done anything to cause them to hate 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 15:25
15:25a
But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: This clause means “in this way what the Jewish scriptures said would happen has happened.” In this context it indicates that the people would hate Jesus and that would fulfill the Scriptures that said they would. See how you translated similar expressions in 12:38 and 13:18. For example:
This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
In this way what is written in their Scriptures has come true. (God’s Word)
-or-
That is why the Scriptures are true when they say (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
And so the words that were written in their scriptures were fulfilled which said
this: This pronoun refers to the fact that the people hated and rejected both Jesus and his Father (15:24d). Their hate fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy.
what is written in their Law: This phrase refers to the quotation from the Psalms that is quoted in 15:25b. It may be confusing to translate this phrase literally because the quotation contains several words. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
the words written in their Law (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
what is written in their Law (New International Version)
in their Law: The pronoun their refers to the Jewish people. The phrase their Law here refers to their scriptures, the Old Testament in general. Jesus used the word their to emphasize that even their own law showed that they were wrong. It does not imply that the law does not have authority. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
in their Scriptures (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
what is written in the Holy Book of the law they follow (Otomi Back Translation)
-or-
even in their own scriptures it says
This quotation is taken from Psalm 35:19 and Psalm 69:4. Some translations will want to use a footnote to give this information. For example:
This quotation is from Psalm 35:19 and Psalm 69:4. Both verses contain these words.
15:25b
They hated Me without reason: This clause is the quotation from the Jewish scriptures referred to in 15:25a. In the Psalms, the pronoun They refers to David’s (the author’s) enemies. However, Jesus used it to refer to his own enemies, mainly the Jewish religious leaders. They had no good reason to hate Jesus. He had not acted out of hate for them but had helped them, healing their sick. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
They hated me for no reason at all. (Good News Translation)
-or-
They hated me without reason. (New Jerusalem Bible)
Me: In the Psalm, this pronoun referred to David, the author of the Psalm, but here Jesus applied it to himself.
without reason: This phrase means that Jesus did not do anything to deserve their hate. For example:
They hated me, but they had no reason to hate me
-or-
They hated me, even though I did nothing to cause them to hate me.
General Comment on 15:25a–b
In some languages it is more natural to combine 15:25a and 15:25b. For example:
25 Their law says, “They hated me without cause.” They are fulfilling that prophecy.
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