formal pronoun: common people addressing Jesus

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, the crowd (or individuals within the crowd) addresses Jesus with the formal pronoun, expressing respect.

complete verse (John 9:19)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 9:19:

  • Uma: “and they asked them: ‘Is it really true that this man is your child, whom you said had been blind since birth? What happened with the result that he can see?'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Those leaders said to them, ‘Is this person your child? Is it true that he was born blind? Why on earth can he see now?'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “and they asked them, they said, ‘Is this your child? Is it really true what is said that he is a blind person, that he was blind before he was born? Then how were his eyes cured?'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “and asked them, ‘Is this your child whom you say was-born-with his blindness? If so, how then is it that he is able-to-see now?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “On arrival, they questioned them saying, ‘What’s this, is this person your son and was he truly born blind? Well why today is he no longer blind?'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “They were asked, ‘Is this your son here, this one of whom it is said was blind from the time he was born? How is it that his eyes are opened now?'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Jesus Cures the Man Born Blind

Following is a 1973 painting of the JESUS MAFA project, a response to New Testament readings from the Lectionary by a Christian community in Cameroon, Africa. Each of the readings was selected and adapted to dramatic interpretation by the community members. Photographs of their interpretations were made, and these were then transcribed to paintings:

In this simply beautiful painting of one of Jesus’ healings, we see a caring Jesus bend over a blind man holding his walking stick. From the story in John’s gospel, we know that the religious leaders struggle with accepting Jesus’ activity and Jesus responds saying, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” The Pharisees do not look at the blind man as a person, but as a symbol and Jesus points out their error. We are reminded that we should see the humanity in all people, refusing to use them for our own ends. We must look past our own issues and see the individuals.

From Art in the Christian Tradition , a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. Image retrieved March 23, 2026. Original source: librairie-emmanuel.fr.

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (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 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 9:19

And asked them is literally “and they asked them saying.” Again the participle “saying” reflects Semitic structure. It is equivalent to quotation marks in modern English.

In Greek text Is this your son? You say that he was born blind is actually one sentence. New English Bible also translates by two sentences (“Is this your son? Do you say that he was born blind?”) while Revised Standard Version maintains the formal structure of the Greek: “Is this your son, who you say was born blind?” This shift into two questions is for stylistic reasons. Note New American Bible “ ‘Is this your son,’ they asked, ‘and if so, do you attest that he was blind at birth?’ ”

It may even be necessary in some languages to make this read as three questions, for example, “Is this your son? Do you say he was born blind? How is it that he now is able to see?” Since this series of questions presupposes a series of conditional answers, it may be necessary to link them on the basis of the conditions, for example, “Is this your son? And if he is, do you declare that he was born blind? And if that is so, how is it that he can now see?”

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 9:19

9:19a

and asked: The Jewish leaders questioned the parents of the man who had been healed. Identify these people in a way that is natural in your language. This was the second thing that had to happen before the Jewish leaders believed that earlier the man was blind. It is implied that the parents also had to reply before they believed. In some languages it may be natural to imply that calling the parents in 9:18b included asking them questions. Then you can start a new sentence here. For example:

They asked his parents (God’s Word)

Is this your son, the one you say was born blind?: The Jewish leaders asked the parents to identify the man in front of them. They wanted to know if he was who he said he was, the beggar who was born blind. Here are other ways to translate this question:

Is this the son that you said was born blind? (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Is this man really the son of yours who you say was born blind? (New Jerusalem Bible)

It may be natural to translate this as two questions. For example:

Is this your son? Was he born blind? (New Living Translation (2004))

The couple may have had several sons. We do not know. Possibly they did, but it is best to assume that he was the only one that was born blind. In some languages it may therefore be natural to say something like this:

Is he one of your sons? Is he the one/son that was born blind?

9:19b

So how is it that he can now see?: This is a real question. The religious leaders asked what caused the man to be able to see. They seemed to assume that he was their son and had been blind. The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So is often translated as “therefore.” The idea is that they say that their son was blind, so how can he see now? Here are other ways to translate this question:

If so, how can he now see? (New Living Translation (2004))

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