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”.

Translation commentary on John 21:19

Good News Translation, together with Moffatt, Revised Standard Version, and New American Bible, includes the first part of this verse in parentheses, indicating that it is a comment by the Gospel writer. Such explanatory comments are characteristic of Johannine style.

Neither Jesus nor Peter is mentioned by name in the Greek text. Most translations make only the mention of Peter explicit.

The way in which Peter would die and bring glory to God is more literally “by what kind of death he would glorify God.” Good News Translation avoids the archaism “glorify” by translating bring glory to (Goodspeed, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “honor”). One may also translate “Jesus was showing how Peter was going to die and in this way honor God” or “… show how glorious God is.”

Then Jesus said to him is literally “And having said this, he says to him.” Good News Translation renders the force of “having said this” by then and makes the reference to Jesus explicit.

In the context follow means not only “follow as a disciple” but also “follow in death.” However, this extended meaning should not be made explicit in translation. One may say “adhere to me as a follower.” Terms meaning “track down” or “come up behind” should be avoided, since they do not express the point of the metaphor.

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 21:19

21:19a

Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God: This clause is in parentheses to show that it is a comment by the writer John. It is not part of the story. John explained that Jesus spoke as he did to indicate how Peter would die. He would die by crucifixion. By dying that way, Peter would bring glory to God. Although the Greek and some translations use the pronoun “he” to refer to both Jesus and Peter, make it clear in your translation that the second pronoun “he” refers to Peter, not to Jesus. For example:

In saying this, Jesus was indicating the way in which Peter would die and bring glory to God. (Good News Translation)
-or-
Now Jesus said this to indicate clearly by what kind of death Peter was going to glorify God. (NET Bible)

this: This pronoun this refers to what Jesus just told Peter in 21:18. 21:18d–e implies that Peter would die by crucifixion.

to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to indicate here refers to implying or saying something about the future. The same verb is used in 12:33, 18:32, and Acts 11:28, where the Berean Standard Bible translates it as “foretold.” Here are other ways to translate this clause:

to show by what kind of death Peter would bring glory to God (God’s Word)
-or-
he indicated the kind of death by which Peter would give glory to God (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Jesus was indicating the way in which Peter would die and bring glory to God (Good News Translation)

the kind of death by which: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the kind of death by which is more literally “by what death.” It probably implies a reference to crucifixion. See also 12:33 and 18:32, where the phrase refers to Jesus’ own death. An old tradition says that when he was an old man Peter was crucified for believing in Jesus. This probably took place under Emperor Nero around AD 65–68.

Peter would glorify God: Peter would glorify (‘give glory to’ or ‘honor’) God by dying on a cross because he believed in Jesus. He would honor God by showing how great God was, and how much he deserved praise. See how you translated glorify in 8:54, 12:28, and 17:1. See also Key Biblical Terms Glory, glorious, glorify C.3. For example:

Peter was going to honour God (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
how Peter would die and bring honor to God (Contemporary English Version)

21:19b

And after He had said this: The pronoun this refers to what Jesus just told Peter. The Berean Standard Bible adds the words He had said in order to make this explicit. Here is another way to translate this phrase:

Then (New Living Translation (2004))

He told him: The pronoun He refers to Jesus and the pronoun him refers to Peter. It may be clearer to make one or both names explicit. For example:

Jesus told him (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Jesus said to Peter (New Century Version)
-or-
he said to Peter (Contemporary English Version)

Follow Me: This clause here means “believe and obey me.” The form of the Greek verb can refer to continuing an action that already began. So here it can mean “continue believing and obeying me.”

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