form of address between the persons of the Trinity

In Hindi a differentiation is made between the way that the different persons of the Trinity are addressed by a regular person or by another person of the Trinity. When Jesus addresses God the Father or when God the Father addresses Jesus, a familiar form of address is used, unlike the way that any of them would be addressed with a honorific (pl.) form by anyone else.

Source: C.S. Thoburn in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 180ff.

See also Father (address for God).

joy

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The Greek, Latin, Ge’ez, and Hebrew that is translated with “joy” or “gladness” in English is translated with various strategies:

  • Baoulé: “a song in the stomach” (see also peace (inner peace))
  • Bambara: “the spirit is made sweet”
  • Kpelle: “sweet heart”
  • Tzeltal: “the good taste of one’s heart”
  • Uduk: “good to the stomach”
  • Mískito: “the liver is wide open” (“happily letting the pleasures flooding in upon it”) (source for this and above: Nida 1952)
  • Mairasi: “good liver” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Noongar: koort-kwabba-djil or “heart very good” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “refreshed heart” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.).
  • Hausa Common Language Bible: farin ciki or “white stomach.” Other languages that use the same expression include Southern Birifor (pʋpɛl), Dera (popolok awo), Reshe (ɾipo ɾipuhã). (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

See also Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling,” happiness / joy, and exceeding joy.

complete verse (John 17:13)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 17:13:

  • Uma: “‘Now, I am about to come [to where you are], Father. All this I say while I am still with them in this world, so that their joy will really be complete with joy that is from me.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “I will soon return to you, therefore while I am still in this world I say this so that their joy is complete like my joy.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And now I am returning there to you, and I beseech this of you while I am still here on the earth so that they may be thoroughly caused to rejoice with my joy. That word of yours you had me teach, I taught to them, and the people here on the earth who are your enemies are against them also because they have no association with these just like I also have no association with your enemies.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘My returning to you (sing.) is near-in-time, but I am still on this earth. Therefore I pray this out loud (lit. strongly) in order that they will hear in order that they will be made-thoroughly -happy with my own happiness.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But today/now, I am about to come home now to you, and I am telling these things already while I am still here in this world so that the big-size of my happiness may be theirs with no lack.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Now I am going where you are. But while I still am here in the world, I speak this word so that our people will have all joy just like I rejoice.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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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.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

humble form of "come" (mairu)

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 to do this is through the usage of lexical honorific forms, i.e., completely different words, as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, mairu (参る), a humble form of kuru (来る) or “come” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also respectful form of “come” (omie ni naru), respectful form of “come” (oide ni naru), and come (Japanese honorifics).

Translation commentary on John 17:13

And now I am coming to you is repeated from verse 11.

The phrase these things is best limited to the contents of Jesus’ prayer so far, and not extended to include the entire discourse of Chapters 14–17.

In the world means “while I am still in the world,” a reference to the time left before Jesus’ departure to the Father.

They refers to Jesus’ disciples.

Might have joy in their hearts, in all its fullness (compare 15.11 and 16.24) is more literally “that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves” (Revised Standard Version). New American Bible translates “that they may share my joy completely” and New English Bible “so that they may have my joy within them in full measure.” Goodspeed renders “in order that they may have the happiness that I feel fully realized in their own hearts.” In the context my joy means “the joy which I experience.” In some languages one cannot speak of having another person’s joy in his own heart. To communicate this concept, it is necessary to indicate the possibility of similar experience, for example, “that they may be completely happy in their hearts in the same way that I am completely happy.”

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 17:13

Paragraph 17:13–19

Jesus asked his Father to bless his disciples with joy, protection, and sanctification.

17:13a

But: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But here implies a slight contrast. The contrast is between the time when Jesus was on earth and the time when Jesus would soon return to heaven. Jesus could guard the disciples when he was on earth, but now he asked God to protect them (see 17:15). Many English translations leave this conjunction implicit. Here is another way to translate this conjunction:

and (Good News Translation)

now I am coming to You: This clause indicates that Jesus would soon go to God his Father in heaven. Even though it had not happened yet, Jesus used a present tense verb. In some languages it may be more natural to use a future tense verb rather than present tense. And you could also indicate that it would happen soon. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

But now I will soon come/go to you.
-or-
I am on my way to you. (Contemporary English Version)

to You: The pronoun You is singular and refers to God the Father.

17:13b

I am saying these things: There are two ways to interpret this clause:

(1) The phrase saying these things refers to what Jesus had been teaching his disciples. This particularly refers to the whole of the discourse in the upper room, John 14–16. For example:

I told them many things (New Living Translation (2004))

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, King James Version, NET Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, Contemporary English Version)

(2) The verb saying here means pray. The phrase these things refers to what Jesus had been praying. For example:

But I pray these things (New Century Version)

(Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Century Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) and most English translations. It is good if you use an expression that can include both the prayer in John 17 and the teaching in John 14–16.

while I am in the world: This phrase means “while I live on the earth” or “before I leave the earth.”

17:13c

so that they may have My joy fulfilled within them: The Greek more literally says “so that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.” This is a purpose clause. Jesus’ purpose in speaking to his disciples was to give them joy. He wanted them to have all the joy that he had. See the notes and how you translated the same idea in 15:11. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

so that they might have my joy in their hearts in all its fullness (Good News Translation)
-or-
so they would be filled with my joy (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
to share my joy with them to the full (New Jerusalem Bible)

they…them: As in 17:6–12, Jesus was thinking mainly of the disciples who were there with him. But this clause would also be true for all his followers. It is good to use a term that can include both men and women. For example:

my followers (Contemporary English Version)

My joy: This phrase here means “the joy that I have.” Jesus wanted his disciples to have the joy of knowing God, as he did. See 15:11 and 16:24. In some languages it may be natural to translate joy as a verb or adjective rather than a noun. For example:

be as joyful as I am
-or-
so they would be made extremely happy with my happiness
-or-
so that they would be caused to rejoice with my own joy

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