32The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.
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 Nepali translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and other people with the medium honorific pronoun timīlē (तिमीले) or timīlēharū (तिमीलेहरू). His disciples respond with a high honorific pronoun. (Source: Chitra Chhetri in The Bible Translator 2009, p. 73ff. )
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 in John 16:32 that is translated in English as “you will be scattered” in translated in Yatzachi Zapotec as “each of you will take your own road.” (Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
Following are a number of back-translations of John 16:32:
Uma: “Remember! The time is coming–and this is the time–you will be separated each returning to your homes, and you will leave me alone/by myself. But I am not really alone, because my Father is with me.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “The time will come and it is not much longer, when you will separate/go different ways, each one to his house and you will leave me alone. But the truth is, I am not alone for my Father remains here with me.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The day is coming soon, it has already arrived, on which you will be all scattered. Everyone of you will return to his own place, and I will be left alone. But in spite of that, I still have a companion because my companion is my Father God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “‘but think-about this. Your separating-from-each-other is emphatically near-in-time. Each of you will go to his house and I will be left-by-myself. But I won’t truly be alone, because my Father is with/in me continually.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But well, the hour will come, it’s right now, that you will all be scattered. You will all now go-home-individually to where you are staying. You will desert/leave me. However I am in fact not alone because my Father is indeed with me.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Soon the time will come that you will forsake me, going in all directions. You will leave me alone. But I won’t be alone because my Father is my companion.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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. )
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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.
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).
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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) 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, tomo ni o-rare-ru (ともにおられる) or “together with” is used.
This verse begins in Greek with a particle (idou) used to signify emphasis. It is related to the particle used in verse 29.
The time is coming, and is already here refers to the events of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, which are almost upon Jesus and his disciples. As noted in several other instances, it is impossible in some languages to speak of “time coming.” An equivalent of this introductory temporal expression may be found in “It will soon happen—very, very soon” or “in just a little while—in fact, in a very short while.” Such temporal expressions may be combined with the following clause: “soon, in fact very soon, all of you will be scattered.”
When (so most translations) translates a particle in Greek which often indicates either purpose or result, but most translators see it as having a temporal significance here. If taken as a particle of purpose, it indicates that these things happened in order to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah 13.7, referred to in this verse. As a parallel to this verse see Matthew 26.31,56 and Mark 14.26,49.
It is difficult in some languages to render satisfactorily will be scattered, because if this passive expression is changed into an active one, an agent must be specified. But to do so would involve introducing an explanation of just how the soldiers and others who went out to arrest Jesus caused the disciples to be scattered. It may, therefore, be better in this instance to translate “all of you will run away.”
To his own home is also used in 19.27, where it is translated in Good News Translation as to live in his home. Most other translations have the same meaning, though Jerusalem Bible (“each going his own way”) and New American Bible (“each will go his way”) render in a more generic fashion. The use of this same phrase in 19.27 indicates that the meaning to his own home is preferable. But the question remains whether John has in mind the homes of the disciples in Galilee or the places where they were staying in Jerusalem during the festival. The former seems more likely.
I will be left all alone may be changed from a passive to an active expression by rendering the clause “no one will remain with me” thus providing an excellent basis for the contrast in the following clause. However, for some languages it may be difficult to contrast a future state of not being alone with a presumed present state of never being alone. Therefore it may be necessary to render But I am not really alone “but I am never really alone,” which focuses upon the continuous presence of Jesus’ Father with him. To translate the first part of the last sentence of verse 31 in this way makes it necessary to render because the Father is with me “because my Father is always with me.”
But I am not really alone is more literally “and I am not alone” (Revised Standard Version “yet I am not alone”). Good News Translation includes the adverb really to indicate that even though Jesus is apparently alone, he is not really alone, because the Father is with him. Anchor expresses the contrast by translating “yet I am never alone.”
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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