world (Chinese)

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.

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.

complete verse (John 17:14)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 17:14:

  • Uma: “I have told them your (sing.) word, with the result that people who do not believe hate them, because they are not their companions, like I also am not the companion of those who do not believe.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “I have passed-on/given to them your word/message. So-then they are hated by the people who do not follow you, because they do not follow/go-along-with the thinking of those people. They are like I am, I also do not follow/go-along-with the thinking of the people who do not follow you.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I am not asking that you take out of the earth these people who belong to us. Rather the thing that I am asking you is that you watch over them so that they may not be harmed by Satan.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “I have made-known to them what you (sing.) have said, therefore those who don’t believe in me, they also hate them, because they are just like me, their character/behavior not being worldly like those who don’t believe.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “I’ve been able to speak your words to them, that’s why they are now hated by the mass of people who don’t believe-in/obey me, because they no longer harmonize with the crowd. An illustration of them is, they’re like me now who am not of this world here.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The word which you sent for me to teach was looked favorably upon by them. But the people who did not look favorably on your word hated them who did. For they do not continue doing the evil like the people do. They do like I do, since I do not do the evil done by the people.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

word / command (of God) (Japanese honorifics)

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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-kotoba (みことば) or “word (of God)” in the referenced verses.

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

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”.

Translation commentary on John 17:14

The pronoun I is emphatic. I gave them your message is similar to I gave them the message that you gave me of verse 8, except that in 17.8 the Greek word for “message” is “words” (rēmata), while here it is “word” (Greek logos). The two terms are used synonymously.

There is a connection between I gave them your message and the world hated them, for the statement the world hated them is essentially the result of what Jesus has done in giving God’s message to his disciples. To make the connection obvious, it may be necessary to translate “I told them what you told me, and as a result, the people of the world hated them.”

The theme of the world’s hatred is repeated from 15.18-16.4a. In that section also Jesus indicates that the disciples do not belong to the world (15.19). The final part of verse 14 tells why the world hates the followers of Jesus. It may be difficult to translate literally they do not belong to the world, for this might imply that they are not really human beings. The meaning of this statement may be expressed in some languages as “they are not one with the people of the world” or “they do not think as people of the world think.”

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 .