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 15:8

The Greek text begins with a phrase, “in this,” which relates to what follows, rather than to what precedes in verse 7. Good News Translation indicates this relation by restructuring: My Father’s glory is shown by …. (Note also New English Bible “My Father has been glorified in your bearing much fruit and becoming my disciples.”) Goodspeed translates “When you are very fruitful and show yourselves to be disciples of mine, my Father is honored.” Jerusalem Bible renders “It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit, and then you will be my disciples;” while Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch reads “When you bear much fruit, you will prove yourselves to be my disciples, and so the glory of my Father will be shown.”

In some languages the relation between the clauses in verse 8 must be made clearer than is indicated by the order employed in Good News Translation. In general, the order must be arranged to make by your bearing much fruit the first part, followed by and in this way you become my disciples. These two expressions state essentially the means by which the Father’s glory is shown. In some languages it is necessary to restructure the relations between the various components of the first clause. If so, verse 8 may have to be restructured to read, for example, “When you are accomplishing much and in this way show that you are my disciples, you are showing people how wonderful my Father is.”

My Father’s glory is shown is more literally “My Father was glorified,” rendered by Revised Standard Version “My Father is glorified.” It is perhaps best to take the aorist “was glorified” to indicate something timeless, that is, “is always glorified.” This force of the verb is indicated in the translations quoted above, though they do not translate literally either “is glorified” or “was glorified.” “To glorify” means to reveal the Father’s true glory.

There is a textual problem in the last part of this verse, and it relates to the verb translated become. If it is taken as a subjunctive (as in the UBS Greek text), become my disciples is grammatically coordinate with bearing much fruit. New American Bible has “My Father has been glorified in your bearing much fruit and becoming my disciples.” This also seems to be the meaning of Moffatt “As you bear rich fruit and prove yourselves my disciples, my Father is glorified.” So also New English Bible “This is my Father’s glory, that you may bear fruit in plenty and so be my disciples.” However, Good News Translation, Jerusalem Bible (“It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit, and then you will be my disciples”), and New English Bible footnote (“… that you may bear fruit in plenty. Thus you will be my disciples”) follow the reading in the apparatus of the UBS Greek text, which has the verb in the future. The choice is difficult, and the UBS Committee rates its decision a “D” choice, indicating a very high degree of doubt as to the original text. To be a disciple means that one “remains in Jesus” and simultaneously “bears much fruit.”

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 15:8

15:8a–c

This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, proving yourselves to be My disciples: There are three ways that English translations understand the relationship between these two verb phrases:

(1) Bearing (producing) much fruit will show or prove that they are Jesus’ disciples. For example:

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. (Revised Standard Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, New American Standard Bible, NET Bible, English Standard Version, New Century Version, New International Version, Revised Standard Version, God’s Word)

(2) Becoming Jesus’ disciples is the result of bearing much fruit. For example:

My Father’s glory is shown by your bearing much fruit; and in this way you become my disciples. (Good News Translation)

(Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, King James Version, New Living Translation (2004))

(3) Both bearing much fruit (being fruitful) and becoming Jesus’ disciples glorify God. For example:

It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit and be my disciples. (New Jerusalem Bible)

(New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) and most English translations.

15:8a

This is to My Father’s glory: This clause here means that God is shown to be great and wonderful. See Key Biblical Terms Glory, Glorious, Glorify, C 3. God’s greatness would be revealed, and people would see that he deserves honor. In Greek this clause is passive, and there are at least two ways to translate it:

• Use a passive verb. For example:

This is how my Father is glorified (Revised English Bible)
-or-
My Father is honored by this (NET Bible)

• Use an active verb. For example:

This brings great glory to my Father. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
You give glory to my Father when (God’s Word)

This: The pronoun This refers ahead to the next clause: God is glorified when his people bear much fruit. In some languages it is more natural to put 15:8b before 15:8a. For an example of that, see the General Comment following the note on 15:8b.

15:8b

that you bear much fruit: This clause continues the metaphor begun in 15:1. It means “that/when you produce fruit (fruit of the Spirit, new believers) by abiding (remaining) in me.” God is glorified because he is the source of the fruit. See the note at 15:2a and how you translated this idea in 15:2, 4, 5. For example:

when you produce a lot of fruit (God’s Word)

General Comment on 15:8a–b

In some languages it is more natural to put 15:8b before 15:8a. For example:

8b If you bear much fruit, 8a it will glorify my Father.
-or-

8b When you produce a lot of good fruit, 8a my Father is glorified.

15:8c

proving yourselves to be My disciples: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as proving yourselves to be My disciples here refers to showing that one is a disciple by behaving as true disciples. By bearing good fruit in their lives, Jesus’ disciples show that they follow him. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

and so prove to be my disciples (English Standard Version)
-or-
showing yourselves to be my disciples (New International Version)
-or-
show that you are my followers (New Century Version)

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