8for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me.
The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is usually translated in English as “truth” is translated in Luchazi with vusunga: “the quality of being straight” (source: E. Pearson in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 160ff. ), in Obolo as atikọ or “good/correct talk” (source: Enene Enene), and in Ekari as maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (esp. in John 14:6 and 17; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).
The translation committee of the Malay “Good News Bible” (Alkitab Berita Baik, see here ) wrestled with the translation of “truth” in the Gospel of John (for more information click or tap here):
“Our Malay Committee also concluded that ‘truth’ as used in the Gospel of John was used either of God himself, or of God’s revelation of himself, or in an extended sense as a reference to those who had responded to God’s self-disclosure. In John 8:32 the New Malay translation reads ‘You will know the truth about God, and the truth about God will make you free.’ In John 8:44 this meaning is brought out by translating, ‘He has never been on the side of God, because there is no truth in him.’ Accordingly Jesus ‘tells the truth about God’ in 8:45, 46 (see also 16:7 and 8:37a). Then, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’ becomes ‘I am the one who leads men to God, the one who reveals who and what God is, and the one who gives men life.” At 3:21 the translation reads ” … whoever obeys the truth, that is God himself, comes to the light …’; 16:13a appears as ‘he will lead you into the full truth about God’; and in 18:37 Jesus affirms ‘I came into the world to reveal the truth about God, and whoever obeys God listens to me.’ On this basis also 1:14 was translated ‘we saw his glory, the glory which he had as the Father’s only Son. Through him God has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace)’; and 1:17 appears as ‘God gave the law through Moses; but through Jesus Christ he has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace).'” (Source: Barclay Newman in The Bible Translator 1974, p. 432ff. )
Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) tells of the translation into Kui which usually is “true-thing.” In some instances however, such as in the second part of John 17:17 (“your word is truth” in English), the use of “true-thing” indicated that there might be other occasions when it’s not true, so here the translation was a a form of “pure, holy.”
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.
Following are a number of back-translations of John 17:8:
Uma: “I have told them all the words that you (sing.) told me. They have received it, and they know that I am really from Father, and they believe that you (sing.) are the one who sent me.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “I have passed-on/given to them the word/message you gave to me and they have received/accepted it. They are sure that I come from you and they really believe that you are the one who sent me.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “for the thing you had me teach, I have taught them, and they know that it is really true that I come from you. They believe that you sent me.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Because they have received what I taught them that you (sing.) told me, and they absolutely know that you (sing.) are the one I came-from and you (sing.) are the one who sent me.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Because I have taught them the teaching which you put in my charge, and they really believe/obey it. They really are now certain that as for me, I came from you, and they believe that you are the one who sent me.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “I gave them your word which you told me to tell them. And they have believed and realize that it is true that I came from you and they believe that you have sent me here.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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.
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 show 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.
In Greek this verse is introduced with a particle (hoti) that indicates a causal relation with the preceding verse. This particle appears as “for” or “because” in most translations; in Good News Translation the causal connection is left implicit.
The message (emphatic in the Greek sentence structure) is literally “the words” (Greek rēmata). In verses 6 and 14 the singular of another Greek term for “word” (logos) is used, but there is no real difference in meaning (see the comments at 14.23). Both words refer to the revelation that comes through Jesus Christ.
Though in English the verb gave fits well with such a noun as the message, this combination cannot be used in some languages. The first part of verse 8 may be rendered “I told them what you told me” or “I told them what you told me to tell them.”
In the phrase and they received it the pronoun it of Good News Translation also translates “the words” (Good News Translationthe message), which in Greek serves as the object of both I gave and they received.
In some languages one cannot speak of “receiving a message”; instead an idiomatic expression may be employed, for example, “they listened to it with open ears” or “they let the words go into their hearts.” In other languages the only appropriate equivalent is “they believed it.”
They know that it is true that I came from you is more literally “and they know truly that I came from you.” Good News Translation transforms the adverb “truly” into a noun clause, that it is true. Barclay does something similar (“and they accepted it as true that you sent me”), but most English translations retain the adverb. In some languages one may translate “they know that I really came from you.”
That Jesus comes from the Father who sent him is a constant theme of this prayer (see 17.18,21,23,25), and of the Gospel (8.42; 16.28).
The verbs know and believe are parallel. The knowledge that Jesus came from the Father is no different from the belief that the Father sent Jesus. The point of reference in the verbs came and sent is the earthly ministry of Jesus.
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 .