formal 2nd person plural pronoun (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 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. )

3rd person pronoun with high register (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 third person singular and plural pronoun (“he,” “she,” “it” and their various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. While it’s not uncommon to avoid pronouns altogether in Japanese, there are is a range of third person pronouns that can be used. In these verses a number of them are used that pay particularly much respect to the referred person (or, in fact, God, as in Exodus 15:2), including kono kata (この方), sono kata (その方), and ano kata (あの方), meaning “this person,” “that person,” and “that person over there.”

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also third person pronoun with exalted register.

Translation commentary on John 16:13

The Spirit … who reveals the truth about God is repeated from 14.17 and 15.26. This expression may have several different forms, for example, “the Spirit who shows what is true about God” or “the Spirit who speaks the true words about God” or “the Spirit who will reveal what God truly is.”

The verb translated lead appears frequently in the Greek translation of the (Psalms for example 5.8; 27.11; 106.9; 119.35). In Revelation 7.17 it is used of the Lamb, who will guide God’s people to the springs of life-giving water. Will lead you into all the truth may be expressed as a causative, for example, “will cause you to know all the truth.” In this context all the truth refers to what the Spirit will reveal, namely, what he hears from God. Therefore all the truth may be rendered “all the truth that comes from God.”

The second half of verse 13 further describes the Spirit’s role: he will speak of what he hears and will tell you of things to come. Like the Son (12.49; 14.10), the Spirit does not speak on his own authority but only what he hears. The present tense (he hears has the support of some Greek manuscripts. The UBS Committee prefers the future tense (“he will hear”), but Anchor considers that he hears should be preferred as the more difficult reading, since all the verbs in the immediate context are future. Apart from the textual question, the present tense may be preferred on translational grounds. Although this verse does not indicate the source of what the Spirit hears, it is clearly the Father, just as Jesus himself tells the world only what he has heard from the Father (8.26).

The verb translates he … will tell is repeated in the following two verses. It is also used by the Samaritan woman in 4.25, where, as in 16.13,14,15, the object is divine revelation: when he (the Messiah) comes, he will tell us everything.

Things to come does not refer to events of the immediate future, such as Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, since the Spirit will not be given until Jesus has been raised to glory (7.39). In the Old Testament to tell … of things to come is reserved to God alone (compare Isa 44.7).

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 16:13

16:13a

However: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as However includes a word here that is often translated as “but.” The idea seems to be that although Jesus would not tell the disciples these many things, the Holy Spirit would tell them when he came. Many English translations leave this word implicit, but many others make it explicit. For example:

But (New International Version)

Translate this word in a way that is natural in your language.

when the Spirit of truth comes: This clause refers to the time in the near future when the Holy Spirit would come to the disciples. After Jesus returned to heaven, the Holy Spirit would come from God to live with those who believed in Jesus.

the Spirit of truth: This phrase refers to the Holy Spirit. See 15:26. The Spirit of God is truthful (honest) and always tells the truth. He reveals the truth about God, which Jesus wanted to tell the disciples but could not yet tell them. In some languages it is more natural to make this explicit. For example:

When, however, the Spirit comes, who reveals the truth about God, (Good News Translation)

In some languages it may be necessary to translate truth as an adjective. For example:

The Spirit shows what is true (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
The Holy Spirit explains what is true about God. When he comes…

16:13b

He will guide you: This clause here means “he will teach you and make you able to understand.” The Holy Spirit will teach Jesus’ disciples so that they will be able to understand the things of God. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

he will lead you (Good News Translation)
-or-
he will teach you
-or-
he will guide ⌊your minds so that you will know⌋
-or-
he will help you ⌊so that you will really understand⌋

into all truth: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as into all truth is more literally “in all the truth.” However, there is little difference between into and “in.” This phrase probably means that the Holy Spirit would teach them all about Jesus and what he did and taught. That would include what had not yet happened, including his death and resurrection.

all truth: This phrase refers to all the truth about Jesus, who is the truth (see 14:6). Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

the full truth (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
all that is true

16:13c

For He will not speak on His own: This clause indicates that the Holy Spirit will not speak based on his own authority. He will not speak his own thoughts, ideas that he has thought up by himself. See also 12:49 and 14:10, where Jesus says something similar about himself and his Father. See how you translated those verses as well. In this context Jesus speaks about the Holy Spirit and himself. The Holy Spirit will tell the believers the things that Jesus did not tell them.

Here are other ways to translate this clause:

for he will not speak on his own authority (English Standard Version)
-or-
He will not speak his own words (New Century Version)
-or-
He will not teach thoughts that are just his

For: This word introduces the reason that we can know that the Spirit would teach truth. He would not speak without the authority and the words of Jesus and the Father. Translate this word in a way that is natural in your language. For example:

because

16:13d

but: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as but here connects a negative statement (16:13c) to a positive statement (16:13d). This kind of sentence emphasizes the positive statement. Languages have different ways to indicate this type of emphasis. Here are some ways to show the emphasis:

• Use the conjunction but as in the Berean Standard Bible. For example:

He will not speak his own words, but he will speak only what he hears (New Century Version)

• Use a conjunction other than but. This is a common way in English to show this type of emphasis. For example:

Because he will not speak based on his own authority; instead he will tell what he hears from God.

• Do not use a conjunction. For example:

He won’t speak on his own. He will speak what he hears (God’s Word)

• Change the order of the clauses. For example:

He will tell what he hears, and not his own thoughts.

You should translate this emphasis in the way that is most natural in your language.

He will speak what He hears: This phrase is the positive way of saying 16:13c. It indicates that the Spirit will tell the believers what Jesus tells him to say (see 16:14). In some languages you may want to make explicit that the Holy Spirit will hear from Jesus. For example:

He will tell you only what he has heard from me (Contemporary English Version)

16:13e

and He will declare to you what is to come: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as declare means “to report, announce, proclaim, teach.” The Holy Spirit would teach and guide Jesus’ disciples, explaining to them the things that were to come (would happen in the future). There are two main ways to interpret what this clause means:

(1) The phrase what is to come refers to events that would happen soon, the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. These events were still future when Jesus spoke, but would be in the past when the Holy Spirit came. So this could mean that the Holy Spirit would explain the meaning of Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension.

(2) The phrase what is to come refers to events that would happen much later, such as ones that Revelation records. One English translation implies this meaning:

He will tell you about the future. (New Living Translation (2004))

It is recommended that you leave the meaning ambiguous, referring to future things in general. For example:

He will tell you about the things that will happen.
-or-
He will proclaim/preach the events that will happen.

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