17Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying to us, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me,’ and ‘because I am going to the Father’?”
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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.
God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).
Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.
In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.
While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”
In that system, one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and others for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.
Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”
In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)
Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”
In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )
In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)
The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.
Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are Twents as well as Indonesian and Malay. In the latter two languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
What does this mean? He tells us is literally “What is this that he is saying to us?” New American Bible translates “What can he mean…?” New English Bible “What does he mean by this…?”; and Jerusalem Bible “What does he mean…?” It may also be rendered as “What is he trying to say to us?” or “… to tell us?” This expression may be combined with what follows by saying “What is he trying to say to us when he tells us that…?”
And he also says, “It is because I am going to the Father” is literally “and because I am going to the Father.” New English Bible renders “and by this: ‘Because I am going to my Father’?” “My Father” is legitimate on translational grounds, because Jesus is obviously referring to God as his Father.
In some languages it is essential to make a clear distinction between two different possibilities of relating It is because I am going to the Father to the preceding question What does this mean? In some languages it may be best to render the final part of verse 17 “What does this mean when he says, It is because I am going to the Father?” It is also possible to interpret “It is” as referring directly to the temporal expression “in a little while” as the related idea that the disciples will no longer see Jesus. One may therefore translate “And he also says we will not see him because he is going to the Father.”
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 .
Then some of His disciples asked one another, “Why is He telling us, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”: The disciples still did not understand that Jesus would be killed the next day and then rise from the dead. They talked among themselves and wondered what he meant. This verse contains a direct quotation (what Jesus just said) inside a direct quotation (what the disciples said). In some languages it is more natural to use an indirect quotation or quotations. See the General Comment at the end of 16:17a–e.
16:17a
Then some of His disciples asked one another: Jesus’ disciples discussed what Jesus had just said. They asked one another what they thought Jesus meant. Because they used questions that asked for an answer, in some languages it is natural to use the word “ask.” For example:
Some of his disciples asked among themselves (Good News Translation) -or-
Some of the disciples asked each other (New Living Translation (2004))
16:17b
Why is He telling us: The disciples wondered about the meaning of Jesus’ words in 16:16a–b and 16:10a. Introduce the quotation of these words in a way that is natural in your language. For example:
What does he mean when he says (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
What does he mean by this (Revised English Bible) -or-
What is the meaning of what he is saying (NET Bible)
16:17c
In a little while you will not see Me: Translate this as you did 16:16a.
16:17d
and then after a little while you will see Me: Translate this as you did 16:16b.
16:17e
Because I am going to the Father: The disciples also did not understand what Christ said to them in 16:10, that he would go back to God. Translate this clause so that the reference to 16:10 is clear.
General Comment on 16:17a–e
In some languages it may be natural to translate at least one direct quotation of Jesus’ words as an indirect quotation. For example:
Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by telling us that in a little while we will no longer see him, and then in another little while we will see him? What does he mean by saying that he is going to the Father?” -or-
Some of his disciples said to each other, “What does he mean? He tells us that in a little while we won’t see him. Then he tells us that in a little while we will see him again and that he’s going to the Father.” (God’s Word) -or-
Some of his disciples asked among themselves, “What does this mean? He tells us that in a little while we will not see him, and then a little while later we will see him; and he also says, ‘It is because I am going to the Father.’ ” (Good News Translation)
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