world (Chinese)

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “world” in English is translated in Mandarin Chinese with shìjiè (世界). While shìjiè is now the commonly used term for “world” in Chinese, it was popularized as such by Chinese Bible translations. (Source: Mak 2017, p. 241ff.)

See also world.

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 8:23)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 8:23:

  • Uma: “Yesus said to them: ‘You are from below, / the-low-place I am from above / the-high-place. You are from this world, I am not from this world.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Isa also said, ‘You are people of the world but I, my place is heaven. All your thoughts are just from the world, but my thoughts are not.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus said again, ‘You are citizens here on earth, but as for me, I am a citizen there in heaven. You originate here on the earth, but as for me, I originate there above.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Jesus then said, ‘As for you, you came-from this world and your minds/thoughts are worldly. I by-contrast, I came-from heaven, so my mind/thoughts are different/distinct.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Jesus said further, ‘As for you, you are of the earth. As for me, I am of the heavens. You belong to this world. I don’t. Therefore what is in our minds/inner-beings isn’t the same.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Again Jesus spoke, ‘You are natives here in this world. But I am not a native here in this world. (…)” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

    • Yatzachi Zapotec: “(…) You are heeding the devil, who rules this earth; and I am heeding God, who is in heaven. (…)” (Source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation 12, November 1964, p. 1ff.)

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. )

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. )

Translation commentary on John 8:23

Jesus answered is literally “and he said to them.” In both sentences of this verse the pronouns you and I are emphatic.

You belong to this world here below, but I come from above is literally “You are from below, I am from above” (Revised Standard Version). In the last part of this verse “from below” is explained as meaning from this world; it stands in contrast to the world above, where God is. Good News Translation makes “from below” explicit by rendering you belong to this world. The same contrast is found in 3.31, where the words from above are contrasted with from the earth.

In some languages it may not make sense to say “You are from here below,” for that would be saying that Jesus’ listeners had come from a place where they already were, or from a place even lower than that! Likewise, it is almost meaningless to say “you come from this world.” What is evidently intended by Jesus is to say that, in contradistinction to himself, the people to whom he was speaking were associated with this world, while he himself had his true connection with heaven. The contrast may be expressed in some languages as “You belong to this world below, while I belong to the world above” or “… to heaven above.” The contrast may also be expressed in some languages as “you belong to this world below, while I come from above” or “… I come from heaven.” The final statement in verse 23 may then be rendered “You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world.”

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 .