true (John 5)

The Greek that is translated as “true” in English is translated in Elhomwe as “to be trusted.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (John 5:32)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 5:32:

  • Uma: “But there is another who gives witness to me, and I know that his witness is true.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But there is someone else testifying for me. I know that his testimony of me is true.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However there is another one who testifies about my works. My Father is my witness, and I know that his witness can be trusted.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But there is also my Father who confirms/verifies concerning me, and I know that what he says concerning me is true.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But there is another who testifies about me and I know that what he testifies is really true.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But there is another who testifies who I am. And I know that it is true all that he says concerning me.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

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”.

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("is/be present")

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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) 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, o-rare-ru (おられる) or “is/be present” is used.

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

3rd person pronoun with high register (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 third person singular and plural pronoun (“he,” “she,” “it” and their various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. While it’s not uncommon to avoid pronouns altogether in Japanese, there are is a range of third person pronouns that can be used. In these verses a number of them are used that pay particularly much respect to the referred person (or, in fact, God, as in Exodus 15:2), including kono kata (この方), sono kata (その方), and ano kata (あの方), meaning “this person,” “that person,” and “that person over there.”

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

See also third person pronoun with exalted register.

Translation commentary on John 5:32

The someone else referred to in this verse is the Father, and in translation it may be best to make this explicit, since the next person mentioned in the passage is John, at the beginning of the next verse.

In this context one may translate testifies as “says what he knows about me” or “indicates who I am.”

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 5:32

5:32a

another: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as another here probably refers to God. Try to imply this without making it explicit. If your readers will think that this refers to another human, perhaps John the Baptist, it may be necessary to say explicitly:

another, ⌊the Father⌋

This word is emphasized in the Greek text, so it is suggested that you emphasize it in your translation. For example:

However, there is another one who testifies about me.

who testifies about Me: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as who testifies about Me means “who publicly declares that I am right.” The word testifies is the same verb that is used in 5:31. Here is another way to translate this clause:

But there is someone else who speaks for me (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
there is another who tells about me (New Century Version)

5:32b

I know that His testimony about Me is valid: This clause refers to God the Father’s testimony about Jesus. God publicly declared Jesus to be the Messiah, the Chosen Savior, and Jesus knew that what he declared was true and acceptable. See John 1:32–34. God testified to Jesus when he sent the Spirit upon him at his baptism.

His testimony about Me: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as testimony refers to a public statement about something or someone that one knows. Here, it refers to God’s statement about Jesus. It is the same word as in 1:32.

Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

the things he says about me (New Century Version)
-or-
everything/what God says about me

valid: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as valid is the same word that was used in 5:31. Here, it says that God’s statement about Jesus was correct and acceptable. God the Father’s testimony was acceptable because he was testifying about someone else, not about himself. What God said was also true, so it may be easier to use the word ‘true’ here than in 5:31. See the note on 5:31 for more information on this word in this context. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

I know that his testimony about me is true (NIV2011)
-or-
I know that everything God says about me is true/acceptable

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