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 6:61

Without being told, Jesus knew is more literally, “but Jesus knew in himself.” “To know in one’s self” reflects Semitic Greek, and its purpose is to indicate the supernatural knowledge Jesus had (see further at 1.47-48 and 2.25). New English Bible and Jerusalem Bible translate this expression “was aware,” New American Bible “was fully aware,” and Moffatt “inwardly conscious.” This introductory statement in verse 61 may be translated “No one told Jesus what the disciples were saying, but he knew anyway” or “… he knew that….”

Grumbling is the same verb used in verse 41.

Does this make you want to give up? may be translated more literally “Does this offend you?” This verb is used only here and in 16.1 in John’s Gospel. In 16.1 the form is passive, but Good News Translation focuses attention on the subject and so renders the verb give up your faith. In the present passage Jerusalem Bible translates “Does this upset you?” (see also Moffatt “So this upsets you?”), New English Bible “Does this shock you?” and New American Bible “Does it shake your faith?” In some languages the question may be translated “Does this make you want to turn away?” In other languages, “Does this cause you to lose your faith?” or “… to no longer want to believe?” or “Does this cause you to think differently?” may be appropriate translations.

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 6:61

6:61a–b

This verse is one long sentence in Greek and in the Berean Standard Bible. It contains two clauses. The first clause gives the reason for why Jesus asked the question in the second clause. In some languages it may be more natural to put the clauses in separate sentences. Or you may want to make it clearer that Jesus asked the question in 6:61b because of what he knew in 6:61a.

Here are some other ways to translate this verse:

Jesus was aware that his disciples were criticizing his message. So Jesus asked them, “Did what I say make you lose faith? (God’s Word)
-or-
Jesus knew that his disciples were grumbling. So he asked, “Does this bother you? (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Without being told, Jesus knew that they were grumbling about this, so he said to them, “Does this make you want to give up? (Good News Translation)

6:61a

Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this teaching: This clause gives the reason that Jesus asks the question in 6:61b. Even though he did not hear what the disciples said in 6:60b–c, he knew what they said.

Aware: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Aware is more literally “knowing in himself.” It indicates that Jesus knew without anyone telling him. For example:

Without being told, Jesus knew (Good News Translation)
-or-
No one told Jesus, but he knew

grumbling: The Greek verb that Berean Standard Bible translates as grumbling is the same one that was used in 6:41a. Use the same verb in both verses.

6:61b

Does this offend you?: This is a rhetorical question that Jesus used as a rebuke. He also used this question to introduce another rhetorical question in the next verse. The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as offend means to cause someone to be angry, or to lose faith. Here Jesus was asking his disciples if his teaching made them so angry that they would stop following him. (And many of his disciples did stop following him. See verse 66.)

There are at least two ways to translate this rhetorical question:

• Use a rhetorical question. For example:

Did what I say make you lose faith? (God’s Word)
-or-
Does this make you want to give up? (Good News Translation)
-or-
Are you angry about this teaching?

• Use a statement. For example:

You should not be offended.
-or-
Do not be angry.

Translate this rhetorical question in a way that is natural in your language.

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