complete verse (John 16:16)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 16:16:

  • Uma: “Yesus also said: ‘In just a while you will no longer see me. In just a little while more, you will see me again.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Isa said, ‘Not much longer and you will not see me any more. But after that not much longer you will see me again.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “In just a little time you will no longer see me, and in a short time after that you will see me again.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Jesus continued to say to his disciples, ‘It won’t be long and you won’t see-me. But it won’t again be long and you will again see-me.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “‘In just a little time,’ Jesus went on to say, ‘you will no longer see me. A little time will pass again and you will see me once more.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “It won’t be long until you will not see me. But also afterwards it won’t be long until you see me. Because I am going to heaven where my Father is.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

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 most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.

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 16:16

For the phrase In a little while, see 13.33 and 14.19. Note also 7.33 and 12.35.

Two different Greek verbs for see are used in this verse, one from the stem theoreō, and the other from the stem horaō. Some commentators believe that the latter refers to a deeper spiritual insight, but the present consensus of New Testament scholarship is that the two verbs are synonymous.

Then a little while later is more literally “and again a little while,” which the New American Bible translates “but soon after that (you shall see me) again.” As indicated in the introduction to this section, Jesus was most probably referring to his return to the disciples after death, not distinguishing in this instance between the post-resurrection appearances and his final appearance. In some languages it is impossible to be as ambiguous as the phrase a little while is in Greek. It is probably best, in this context, to assume that in a little while refers primarily to Jesus’ immediate reappearance after his resurrection. Therefore one may translate in a little while as essentially equivalent to “in a few days.”

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 .