complete verse (John 8:43)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 8:43:

  • Uma: “Of course you do not know the meaning of my words, because you cannot stand to hear my teaching.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Why do you not understand what I am saying? The reason that you don’t understand is because you cannot endure to listen to what I am saying.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Therefore you cannot understand what I said because you do not want to do what I teach.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Why don’t you understand what I say? Is it that you have turned-a-deaf-ear-to (lit. deafed) what I mean to say, is that it?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Why can’t you understand what I am saying? Probably it’s because you don’t want to accept this which I am teaching.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Why can’t you understand what I say? You do not understand because you do not want to listen to what I teach you.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

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

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 8:43

In Greek there is a definite contrast between what I say (lalia) and my message (logos). The first focuses attention on the audible or spoken word, while the second emphasizes the meaning or the message involved in these words. Phillips translates the first “my words” and the second “what I am saying.” New English Bible attempts to make the same distinction, though at a rather high level of speech: “Why do you not understand my language? It is because my revelation is beyond your grasp.”

The verb rendered cannot bear in Good News Translation (so also Revised Standard Version, New American Bible) is literally “unable to hear” (Phillips “cannot hear”). The question is whether the verb “to hear” has the force of “to grasp” (New English Bible “beyond your grasp”; Jerusalem Bible “cannot take in”) or “to listen to” (Moffatt “unable to listen to”). Most translations, including Good News Translation, prefer the latter meaning. That is, the focus is on the unwillingness of these people to accept Jesus’ message, rather than on their inability to understand its meaning. Though the Greek text literally says “you are not able to hear my message,” there was obviously nothing wrong with the people’s hearing or even with their capacity to listen. It was their fundamental unwillingness to accept the message which prevented their understanding what Jesus was talking about. Therefore, in many languages you cannot bear to listen to my message may be rendered “you refuse to listen to my message.”

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 .