complete verse (John 16:26)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 16:26:

  • Uma: “At that time, you will ask my Father with my name. It is not necessary for me to ask my Father for you,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When that day has come, when you ask/request, you will be the ones asking from my Father because you trust in me. It will not be I who is asking for you” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “On that day, because of your faith in me, you will be the ones to tell what you request from my Father. And it will no longer be necessary that I am still the one to say what you request from my Father” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When that day arrives, he is the one from-whom-you -will-request on-account-of your unity-with me. I don’t say that it must be I who will request him for/on-behalf-of you,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “On that day, you will make requests to him on the strength of your being tied-together/united with me. It’s not as if it’s still necessary that I will pray for you to the Father. Your prayer will now be direct to him.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “On that day you can ask the Father what you want because you believe in me. It won’t be necessary that first I ask the favor of my Father on your behalf.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

1st person pronoun referring to God (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 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. )

Father (address for God)

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. )

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. )

See also Lord and my / our Father.

Translation commentary on John 16:26

When that day comes (literally “in that day”) refers to the time mentioned in verse 25.

Him (a reference to the Father) is not explicit in the Greek text, though Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch make it so.

For a discussion of in my name see comments at 14.13. Most translators apparently prefer to render the phrase literally, but Goodspeed has “you will ask as my followers” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “then you will ask by appealing to me.”

Two different verbs for ask are used in this verse: aiteō (you will ask him) and erōtaō (I will ask him). See the discussion of them in verse 23. In the context the petition specifically relates to deeper understanding. The implication is that prayer will be granted and this fact is stated explicitly in 14.13: I will do whatever you ask for in my name.

And I do not say that I will ask him on your behalf (Phillips “for I need make no promise to plead to the Father for you”) indicates that Jesus will not have to call the Father’s attention to the needs of the disciples, for they can pray to the Father directly through the help of the Spirit.

In some languages there are complications in the placement of the negative not in the sentence I do not say that I will ask him on your behalf. This might mean in some languages “I say that I will not ask him on your behalf.” Compare, for example, the English sentence “I don’t think he will go,” which is really equivalent to “I think he will not go.” It may therefore be necessary to translate this part of verse 26 “I will not need to ask him on your behalf” or “… ask him to help you.”

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 16:26

16:26a

In that day: This phrase means “When that time comes.” See how you translated this phrase in 16:23. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

When that day comes (Good News Translation)
-or-
Then (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
At that time (NET Bible)

you will ask in My name: This clause means “you will pray to God making requests as someone united to me.” The disciples would approach God on the basis of their faith in Jesus and as his disciples. See the notes on similar clauses in 16:23–24 and 14:13–14. Also see how you translated those clauses. In some languages you may want to make it explicit who they would ask. For example:

you will ask the Father for things in my name (New Century Version)
-or-
because of your faith in me, you will be the ones to tell what you request from my Father (Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)

16:26b

I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf: This sentence means “I will not need to be a go-between between you and God,” or “I do not need to promise that I will speak to God for you.” The idea is that they can ask God themselves. They do not need Jesus to ask on their behalf (“for them” or “as their representative”). The Greek text emphasizes the word I in the phrase I will ask. That emphasizes that Jesus will not need to pray for them if they pray in his name. Here are other ways to translate this sentence:

When you need something you will not have to ask me to ask God for it.
-or-
I will not need to ask the Father for you (New Century Version)

In some languages it may be more natural and clear to start with a positive statement. For example:

I’m telling you that I won’t have to ask the Father for you. (God’s Word)

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.