25“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but will tell you plainly of the Father.
The Greek that is translated as “figures of speech” or similar in English is translated in Ojitlán Chinantec as “telling words a little bit covered,” in Tenango Otomi as “comparisons,” in Navajo (Dinė): “stories that teach,” and in Mezquital Otomi as “like a story” (source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.).
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated as vieldeutige Worte or “ambiguous word (or: “words with many meanings”).”
Following are a number of back-translations of John 16:25:
Uma: “‘All this I say to you with figures-of-speech. But the time will come when I will no longer use-figures-of-speech. I will speak to you with clearness/plainness speaking-about my Father.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Isa said to them, ‘This teaching of mine to you is in parables/figures of speech but the day is coming when I will no longer speak in parables/figures of speech to you and I will speak to you about my Father straight.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I used parables to teach you, but the day is coming soon when I will no longer use parables because then you will understand clearly what I say to you about my Father God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “‘I have been telling you this by-illustration. In a future day however, I won’t relate any other illustrations, but rather I will speak-directly to tell you concerning my Father.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “As for these things, I have said them to you only in illustrations. But the time will come when my conversation with you will no longer be like this. I will say plainly what I will tell you concerning the Father.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “In these words I have spoken to you I have searched how to make comparisons. But the time is coming when what I tell you will not be with comparisons. Rather I speak to you straightly about how it is you will know the Father.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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 Translator2002, 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.
The Greek that is translated with the capitalized “Father” in English when referring to God is translated in Highland Totonac with the regular word for (biological) father to which a suffix is added to indicate respect. The same also is used for “Lord” when referring to Jesus. (Source: Hermann Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. )
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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. In the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017, God the Father is addressed with mi-chichi (御父). This form has the “divine” honorific prefix mi– preceding the archaic honorific form chichi for “father.”
If, however, Jesus addresses his Father, he is using chichi-o (父を) which is also highly respectful but does not have the “divine” honorific. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
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 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.
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).
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®).
These things is emphatic in the Greek sentence structure; and the word translated figures of speech is the same word translated parable in 10.6 (see there). The reference to Jesus’ use of figures of speech in teaching must not be limited to the analogy of the woman in childbirth. It may include as well the symbolism involved in washing the disciples’ feet (13.8-11) and the parable of the vine and the branches (15.1-17); and it may even be enlarged to include such discourses as that of the shepherd (10.1-18). In fact, the reference may be to everything that Jesus has thus far taught his disciples, including this last discourse, but not limited to it.
In many languages, figures of speech is rendered “likeness words” or “words which show likenesses.” In some, one may even use such a phrase as “picture words.” In others, such a descriptive phrase may be employed as “calling something by another name” or “using other words to speak of the same thing.” In general, however, the equivalent of “parables” is “stories” or “stories which teach.” A variety of expressions may be used in interpreting figurative language. Fortunately, figurative language is a universal phenomenon of speech, and its existence in any and all languages is readily recognized, though it may be described or spoken of in different ways.
The Greek word translated plainly (so also New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible) is used in 7.4 in the phrase to be well known (see there). This word (Greek parrēsia) may mean “openly,” “in boldness,” or “plainly.” New American Bible translates “in plain speech,” while the whole phrase is translated “let you know plainly” by Moffatt; “tell you plainly” by Goodspeed and Phillips, and “tell you … absolutely clearly” by Barclay. In some languages a qualifier, such as plainly, must refer to the manner in which people comprehend, not the way a person speaks. Hence, one may render the last part of verse 25 “I will speak to you about the Father in such a way that you will clearly understand.”
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 .
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