John as a first-person evangelist (John 6:20)

In the Yatzachi Zapotec translation of the Gospel of John, any reference to the evangelist and presumed narrator is done in the first person.

The translator Inez Butler explains (in: Notes on Translation, September 1967, pp. 10ff.):

“In revising the Gospel of John in Yatzachi Zapotec we realized from the start that the third person references of Jesus to himself as Son of Man had to be converted into first person references, but only more recently have we decided that similar change is necessary in John’s references to himself as ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved.’ As I worked on those changes and questioned the informant about his understanding of other passages in the Gospel, I discovered that the reader misses the whole focus of the book as an eyewitness account unless every reference to the disciples indicates the writer’s membership in the group. In view of that we went back through the entire book looking for ways to cue in the reader to the fact that John was an eyewitness and a participant in a many of the events, as well as the historian.

“When the disciples were participants in events along with Jesus, it was necessary to make explicit the fact that they accompanied him, although in the source language that is left implicit, since otherwise our rendering would imply that they were not present.”

In this verse, the Yatzachi Zapotec says: “Then he said to us. . .”

complete verse (John 6:20)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 6:20:

  • Uma: “Yesus said: ‘Do not be afraid! It is I.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But Isa said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. This is me/I hep.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But Jesus said to them, ‘It is I. Don’t be afraid.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But Jesus immediately said, ‘This is I! Don’t be afraid!'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But he said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. I’m indeed Jesus.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But Jesus said to them, ‘It is I. Don’t be afraid.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("say")

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 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, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.

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

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”.

Translation commentary on John 6:20

This verse may be more literally translated “But he said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid’ ” (Revised Standard Version). The restructuring of Good News Translation is designed to bring the focus of the verse on the words of Jesus (Don’t be afraid … it is I!) rather than on the introductory statement Jesus told them. The tense of the verb rendered Don’t be afraid implies that the disciples were already frightened when Jesus spoke to them, and it may therefore be translated “Stop being afraid” or “… being frightened.”

It is I may be variously expressed in different languages, for example, “I am the one who is speaking” or “I’m the one here” or “you are looking at me” or “I am 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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on John 6:20

6:20

It is I; do not be afraid: Jesus reassured the disciples by telling them who he was. It may be natural to make that more explicit. For example:

I am Jesus! Don’t be afraid! (Contemporary English Version)

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