no dealings

The phrase that is translated in English translations as “for Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans” or similar is translated into Mono is translated as “It is taboo for you people to drink from our buckets.” (Source: Carl Gross)

In Telugu the more unspecific “have no dealings” rendering was used since even members of the same family do not use each other’s dishes. (Source: David Clark)

In Chitonga it is translated with the existing idiom “(Jews and Samaritans) do not step on each other’s toes” and in Chichewa (interconfessional translation) as “(do not) look one another in the eyes.” (Source: Wendland 1987, p. 130)

the Jews (Jewish people)

In the English Good News Bible (2nd edition of 1992), this occurrence of the Greek hoi Ioudaioi, traditionally “the Jews” in English, is translated with a term that refers to the Jewish people or is not translated at all if it implicitly refers to the Jewish people (for example “Passover” instead of “Passover of the Jews”). For an explanation of the differentiated translation in English as well as translation choices in a number of languages, see the Jews.

formal pronoun: Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well

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 Translator 2002, 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 the woman with an informal pronoun whereas she addresses him with a formal pronoun, showing respect.

In Gbaya, where God is always addressed with the second person plural pronoun ɛ́nɛ́, the common way to address superiors, the woman addresses him with the less courteous nɛ́ in verse 4:9 but then switches to the courteous plural form ɛ́nɛ́. (Source Philip Noss)

Likewise in Burmese where in the Common Language Version (publ. 2005) the Samaritan woman changes her language level from the Common to the Royal and Religious as she discovers the real nature of Jesus. Jesus appears here as a divine revealer. (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )

In most Dutch translations, both Jesus and the woman use the formal pronoun, whereas in Afrikaans and Western Frisian Jesus addresses the woman informally and she addresses him with the formal pronoun.

complete verse (John 4:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 4:9:

  • Uma: “That woman was surprised, because usually the Yahudi people felt-disgusted to mix with the Samaria people. That is why she said: ‘You (sing.) are a Yahudi person, I am a Samaria person. Why do you (sing.) dare to ask me for water?'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “The woman answered, she said, ‘Oy, you are a Yahudi. Why do you ask for water from me and-what’s-more I am from the Samariya tribe?’ The woman spoke like that for the Yahudi don’t like hep to use the things of the Samariya people.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the woman said, ‘You are a Jew, and I, I am a Samaritan. Why are you asking me for water?’ (The reason she said this is because the Jews, they do not enter into conversation with a Samaritan.)” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘Yes all-right, but you (sing.) are emphatically a Jew. Why perhaps do you (sing.) request water from me who am a woman from-Samaria?’ she said in reply. (Because the Jews, they don’t (empathy-particle) associate-with ones-from-Samaria.)” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “That Samaritano woman spoke, saying, ‘Why are you asking for water to drink, since you are a Judio, I a Samaritano?’ (For the Judio, they tabooed the eating and drinking utensils of the Samaritano people.)” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The Jews are not allowed to speak with the natives of Samaria. Therefore when Jesus asked for water, the woman said, ‘How come? You are a Jew, and you ask me for water to drink — and I am a native of Samaria.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

desire / ask for (Japanese honorifics)

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.

The concept of “desire” or “ask for” is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-motome (お求め), combining “seek” (motome) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

He deliberately took time to draw near to social outcasts (image)

“Jesus is dressed in a different style of clothing than the style of the woman who is shown as a Lanna Thai northerner. It is unusual for him to talk to a person from a different region, especially a woman. The clothes, the roof of the house in the background, and the dipper for water all indicate that this is in northern Thailand.”

Drawing by Sawai Chinnawong who employs northern and central Thailand’s popular distinctive artistic style originally used to depict Buddhist moral principles and other religious themes; explanation by Paul DeNeui. From That Man Who Came to Save Us by Sawai Chinnawong and Paul H. DeNeui, William Carey Library, 2010.

For more images by Sawai Chinnawong in TIPs see here.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Woman at the Well .

Translation commentary on John 4:9

The woman answered is literally “therefore the Samaritan woman says to him.” Here again John uses his favorite particle (oun see the comments on oun on page 68), represented in the literal rendering by “therefore.”

Revised Standard Version represents a fairly literal translation of the next part of this verse. “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” For the sake of emphasizing the contrast between Jews and Samaritans, Good News Translation introduces this information first in the woman’s statement, you are a Jew and I am a Samaritan, The reader thus knows immediately that there is some significant difference between Jews and Samaritans, and so the woman’s question is readily understood.

If translated literally, how can you ask me for a drink? may suggest the wrong meaning in some receptor languages; for the source of the woman’s surprise is not the ability of Jesus to ask her for a drink, but the high improbability that he would do so. In some languages this question may be translated “How is it possible that you would ask me for a drink?” or “I cannot imagine your asking me for a drink” or “Isn’t it very strange indeed that you ask me to give you water to drink?”

Will not use the same dishes (New English Bible “do not use vessels in common”) is taken by most translators in the sense of “do not associate with” or “have nothing to do with” (New American Bible). The more recent commentaries on the Gospel of John seem to prefer the meaning Good News Translation gives this verb. If this is the true meaning, the account reflects a Jewish religious regulation in force around A.D. 65. According to this regulation, Samaritan women were in a state of perpetual ritual impurity from the time of their birth, and anyone who had contact with them would share this ritual impurity. The regulation adds that for this reason “the Jews do not use dishes in common with the Samaritans.” The more recent commentaries favor this interpretation, while the majority of translations follow the other one. No dogmatic conclusion is possible. Whether the reference was to using dishes in common with Samaritans or merely associating with them, Jesus ignored the custom.

Since there are two distinct interpretations of the Greek text, translators should indicate this fact by putting one interpretation in the text and the other in a marginal note. The interpretation followed by Good News Translation may be rendered “Jews do not eat or drink from the same dishes or cups that the Samaritans do” or “When Jews eat and drink, they do not use the same dishes that Samaritans use.” If, however, an interpretation relating to complete avoidance is employed, it is always possible to say, “The Jews will have no dealings whatsoever with the Samaritans.” It may be expressed idiomatically in some languages as “The Jews never join with the Samaritans” or “The Jews and the Samaritans never use anything together” or “There is nothing which Samaritans use which Jews would also use.”

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 .