ἐξῆλθον παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ ἐλήλυθα εἰς τὸν κόσμον· πάλιν ἀφίημι τὸν κόσμον καὶ πορεύομαι πρὸς τὸν πατέρα.
28I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.”
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “world” in English is translated in Mandarin Chinese with shìjiè (世界). While shìjiè is now the commonly used term for “world” in Chinese, it was popularized as such by Chinese Bible translations. (Source: Mak 2017, p. 241ff.)
See also world.
Following are a number of back-translations of John 16:28:
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.
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”.
This verse is a summary of John’s teaching regarding the Son: he came from the Father into the world, and he leaves the world to return to the Father. I did come from the Father is omitted from some Greek manuscripts, but the UBS Committee considers this omission accidental. All translations include this clause, although New American Bible places it in brackets, indicating some doubt regarding its authenticity.
In Greek the verb did come is in the aorist tense, pointing back to the particular moment of the Son’s coming into the world, while came is in the perfect tense, emphasizing the lasting effect of his coming. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates the two verbs as one: “I have come from the Father into the world.” Most other translations maintain two distinct verbs.
And now (so also Jerusalem Bible; “now” of many translations) is literally “again” (so Revised Standard Version, Moffatt), a particle used to indicate what is next in sequence.
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 .
16:28a
I came from the Father and entered the world: This sentence indicates that Christ came from heaven, where he was with God his Father, to live on earth. See 1:9, 3:17, 31, 7:28–29. In some languages, it may be more natural to not repeat the verb. For example:
I came from the Father into the world. (New Century Version)
the Father: This phrase refers to God the Father. In some languages it might be more natural to indicate whose father it is. For example:
my Father
16:28b
In turn, I will leave the world and go to the Father: This expression indicates that Christ would soon leave the earth and return to God the Father. See 14:2–5, 12, 19, and 16:5, 7, and 10.
In turn: This word here introduces the next event in a series. Here it probably indicates that Jesus was going back to where he came from. It does not indicate that an event would be repeated. Here is another way to translate this word:
and now (Good News Translation)
go to the Father: The verb go in this context means “returning.”
the Father: This phrase refers to God the Father. In some languages it might be more natural to indicate whose father it is. For example:
my Father
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