word that is written in their law

The Greek 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 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.” (wsource: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)

See also teaching / law (of God) (Japanese honorifics).

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”.

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 .