formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

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 his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.

In Nepali translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and other people with the medium honorific pronoun timīlē (तिमीले) or timīlēharū (तिमीलेहरू). His disciples respond with a high honorific pronoun. (Source: Chitra Chhetri in The Bible Translator 2009, p. 73ff. )

In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.

See also formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese).

complete verse (John 7:7)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 7:7:

  • Uma: “because there are no people who hate you. As for me, evil people in this world hate me, because I continually tell them that their behavior is evil.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then Isa said to them, ‘The time has not yet come for me to show myself. As for you, even whatever time is right, for you are not hated by the people in this world. But I, I am hated by them for I am always telling them that their deeds are bad.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The people who are enemies of God, they do not get angry with you, but as for me, they get angry with me, by contrast, because through what I teach, it becomes known that their works are bad.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “It’s-OK, because those who are-opposing-me, it isn’t possible that they will hate you, but as for me, they hate (me), because I confirm/verify that what they are doing is bad.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “As for you, it’s not possible/acceptable that you be hated by the people. But as for me, they hate/are-angry-with me, because I expose their deeds which are evil.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The people do not hate you. But the people hate me because I testify that they live evilly.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

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”.

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

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

Translation commentary on John 7:7

Jesus’ words indicate how false was the presupposition of his brothers stated in verse 4. He cannot “commend” himself to the world, because the world of men stands in opposition to God and God’s purpose.

The world cannot hate you may be rendered “People in the world cannot hate you.” However, the possible implications in the rendering of cannot may lead to misunderstanding. It is not that people in the world are incapable of hating the brothers of Jesus, but that they have no basis for hating them. One may say, for example, “People in the world cannot find any reason for hating you” or “… have no reason for hating you.”

I keep telling it that its ways are bad may more literally be translated “I keep testifying concerning it that its deeds are bad.” In this sentence I is emphatic, while the verb tense denotes continuous or progressive action. The verb “to testify” or “to witness” has already been discussed (see 1.7). Jerusalem Bible translates this clause “because I give evidence that its ways are evil,” while New English Bible has “for exposing the wickedness of its ways.”

Though it is often possible to speak of the world in a collective sense, in many languages it is necessary to speak about “people in the world.” Therefore one must say “because I keep telling them that their ways are bad” or “… they behave badly” or “… what they do is evil.”

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 7:7

7:7a

The world cannot hate you: The phrase The world refers in a general way to the people in the world. This is the first time in John that Jesus speaks of the world as his enemy. Before this he talked about loving and saving the world.

Here is another way to translate this clause:

the people of the world cannot hate you

cannot hate you: This verb clause indicates that people in general had no reason to hate Jesus’ brothers. They did not think that Jesus’ brothers were their enemies; so they did not hate and reject them. This was true because the brothers’ attitude agreed with their own, not because the people were good and loving.

7:7b

but: The conjunction but here indicates a contrast. Jesus contrasted the world’s attitude to his brothers and its attitude to him.

it hates Me: The pronoun it refers to the people of the world. If you used a plural noun like “people” in 7:7a, you will need to use a plural pronoun here. For example:

but they hate me

7:7c

because: This conjunction introduces the reason why the people of the world hated Jesus.

I testify that its works are evil: The clause I testify means “I tell publicly,” or “I tell what I witnessed.” See the notes on 1:7a and 1:15a, where the same verb is used.

Here are other ways to translate this clause:

I give evidence that its ways are evil (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
I keep telling it that its ways are bad (Good News Translation)
-or-
I accuse it of doing evil (New Living Translation (2004))

its works are evil: Jesus declares that what people do is evil. The pronoun its refers to the people of the world that do not believe in Jesus. If you translated “The world” in 7:7a with a plural noun (such as “people”), you will need to use a plural pronoun here. For example:

they do evil things (Contemporary English Version)

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