Following are a number of back-translations of John 5:23:
Uma: “He did that so that all people will honor me like their honoring of my Father. Whoever does not honor me, they also do not honor my Father who sent me.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “in order that all people will honor me as they honor God. Whoever does not honor the Son of God also does not honor my Father God, the one who sent me.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because he wishes that I should be honored by all mankind just like they honor him. And whoever does not respect me, his not respecting me is regarded to be just the same as his not respecting my father God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “in order that all people will worship/honor me like the way they worship/honor my Father. The one who doesn’t worship/honor me, neither does he worship/honor my Father who sent me.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “so that the Son will be respected/honored by all people, like their respecting/honoring of his Father. For it’s true, whoever has no respect/honor for the Son, he is also not honoring the Father who sent the Son to come here.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Because he wants his Son to be looked upon with respect just like the Father is looked upon with respect. He who does not look with respect on the Son of God does not truly look with respect on his Father who sent him.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
The Greek that is translated with the capitalized “Father” in English when referring to God is translated in Highland Totonac with the regular word for (biological) father to which a suffix is added to indicate respect. The same also is used for “Lord” when referring to Jesus. (Source: Hermann Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. )
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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. In the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017, God the Father is addressed with mi-chichi (御父). This form has the “divine” honorific prefix mi– preceding the archaic honorific form chichi for “father.”
If, however, Jesus addresses his Father, he is using chichi-o (父を) which is also highly respectful but does not have the “divine” honorific. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, tsukawas-are-ru (遣わされる) or “send” is used.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
So that all will honor the Son in the same way as they honor the Father is connected by most translations with the idea of judgement in verse 22. This connection is legitimate, if it is realized that the full right to judge includes both the power to give life and to condemn. That is, the honor due the Son results not only from his right to condemn men to death but also from his right to raise them to life, as stated in verse 21. Hence, Moffatt does not go too far in making explicit the idea of a judgement which determines life or death as the basis for the honor due to the Son.
The purpose of the clause introduced by so that may be considered rather far removed from the specific action of the Father toward his Son in giving him the right to judge, and it may be useful to introduce verse 23 by a reference to this action. It can be done by saying, “My Father has done this so that all people will honor me in the same way that they honor my Father.”
Does not honor certainly has the meaning of “refuses to honor” (see Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, New American Bible). This verse again states a truth that is at the heart of the gospel. That is, that one cannot really know the Father except by means of the revelation that he has given through the Son, and to reject the Son is to reject the Father.
Honor may be expressed in a number of ways. One may speak of an attitude, for example, “to show respect to” or “to have valuable thoughts about.” But honor may also be expressed in terms of verbal activities, for example, “to praise” or “to raise up the name of someone.” Honor may also be described in terms of body motion or position, for example, “to bow down low before” or “to touch the ground before” or “to kneel in front of.”
It is true that to translate the Son as “me” and the Father as “my Father” (for example, “If anyone does not honor me, he does not honor my Father who sent me”) may give the impression, especially in the English form, of being an egotistical or self-centered statement on the part of Jesus. To avoid such an impression, some translators insist on rendering literally “the Father” and “the Son.” The results, however, are misleading in those languages which require the indication of kinship relations, especially if there is the added complication of avoidance of third person reference to the first person. Such translations are not only misleading but also awkward and ungrammatical. Accordingly, despite some connotative overtones which may seem unfortunate, it is essential to make these changes of pronominal reference, if sense is to be made of this passage in languages in which kinship terms must be possessed or in which third person reference to third person relations is impossible.
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 .
so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as so that here means “in order that.” It introduces God the Father’s purpose in giving all judgment to the Son. The Father gave Jesus the responsibility of judging people in order that they would honor Jesus like they honor the Father. (Jesus again refers to himself as the Son.) For example:
so that all will honor the Son in the same way as they honor the Father (Good News Translation) -or-
⌊The Father did that⌋ because he wants all people to honor me, his Son, just like they honor him.
all: The pronoun all refers to all people. For example:
so that all people (NET Bible) -or-
everyone will honor the Son (God’s Word)
honor: The verb honor means “to respect and praise someone.” In this context it includes honoring someone in thought (knowing his great worth), word (praising him), and deed (kneeling before him and obeying him).
the Son: See the note in 5:19b and how you translated this term there.
just as: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as just as indicates a comparison. The honor people give to the Son will be the same or similar to the honor they give to the Father. The honor that people give to both may be the same in amount. Or it may be given in the same way. It is recommended that you just say that the two honors are the same or like one another. If possible, avoid saying how they are the same. For example:
so that their respecting/honoring the Son will be like their respecting/honoring of his Father -or-
Because he wants that all people should honor me just like they honor him -or-
it is his will that all should pay the same honour to the Son as to the Father (Revised English Bible)
General Comment on 5:23a
In some languages it may be natural to say how people honor the Father before saying that people will honor the Son in the same way. For example:
so that as everyone honors the Father, they may honor the Son like that -or-
Just as they honor/praise God my Father, so everyone will honor/praise the Son.
5:23b
Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him: Because God sent Jesus, anyone who refuses to honor Jesus also does not honor God. Here are other ways to translate this sentence:
When anyone refuses to honor the Son, that is the same as refusing to honor the Father who sent him. (Contemporary English Version) -or-
Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father, who sent him. (New Living Translation (2004))
Whoever does not honor the Son: This refers to people who refuse to accept or respect the Son. (Again, Jesus refers to himself in the third person as the Son.) In some languages it may be natural to translate it with a plural subject. For example:
people who do not honor the Son… -or-
by refusing to honor the Son, you (plur.)… -or-
Those who do not worship/honor me, neither do they…
the Son: See the note in 5:19b and see how you translated this term there.
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