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 Mark 14:30

Exegesis:

su ‘you’ is emphatic: ‘you yourself,’ ‘even you.’

sēmeron tautē tē nukti ‘today, in this very night’: the ‘today’ of the phrase would last until sunset the following day; ‘this very night’ defines even more precisely the period of ‘today’ in which the denial would occur – it would be before sunrise.

prin (14.72) ‘before.’

dis alektora phōnēsai ‘the cock to crow twice.’ At least three explanations are given of this phrase: (1) the words are to be taken literally, of the crowing of a cock, before dawn, with the suggestion that ‘twice’ refers to a second crowing of a cock in response to the first one; (2) the phrase refers to the bugle call, known as the gallicinium, which sounded the end of the third watch of the night (the ‘cock-crowing’ watch which ended at 3:00 A.M. – cf. 13.35), when the guard was changed; (3) the expression simply means ‘before dawn’ (for which there is support in classical usage – cf. Rawlinson). On the other hand, F. C. Grant suggests that the words are a proverbial expression indicating not time, but readiness to betray, ‘before the cock can crow twice.’ From vv. 68 and 72, however, it appears certain that the author intends that the words be taken literally (cf. Branscomb).

aparnēsē (cf. 8.34) ‘you will deny,’ ‘you will disown’: here with the sense of refusing to admit knowledge of, or relation to, Jesus.

Translation:

For truly in this type of construction see 3.28 and 8.12.

This very night should be related to what follows, not to what precedes. This may require an adjustment in order, e.g. ‘before the cock crows twice, you will this very night deny me three times.’

In some translations the Greek phrase has been rendered literally as ‘today, this night,’ resulting in obvious difficulties in languages in which the words for ‘day’ and ‘night’ are mutually exclusive in meaning. Note, however, that in the N.T. the word sēmeron refers to the twenty-four hour period, and hence there is no contradiction. In other languages the equivalent can be expressed by ‘this very night,’ ‘just on this night,’ or ‘during exactly this night.’

Since chickens are widely distributed throughout the world, there is very little difficulty in obtaining satisfactory terms for ‘cock’ and ‘crowing.’ However ‘when the fowl called cock makes an early noise’ can suffice where chickens are not known.

Deny is most commonly translated as ‘say that you do not know me.’ Tzeltal renders the expression as ‘cover in your heart that you know me.’ In instances in which direct discourse is required, one may translate ‘say, I do not know him.’

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator's Notes on Mark 14:30

14:30a

In this verse Jesus responded to what Peter said in 14:29. Connect these verses in a natural way in your language.

Truly I tell you: Jesus often used the words Truly I tell you to introduce a statement that he wanted to emphasize. (The clause Truly I tell you in also occurs in Mark 3:28, 8:12, 9:1, 9:41, 10:15, 11:23, 12:43, 13:30, 14:9, 14:18, 14:25, and 14:30.) It indicates that the statement was important and totally reliable, and that people should listen carefully to it.

See how you translated this phrase in 14:25a. In some languages you may need to translate the phrase differently in different contexts. In this context it introduces what Jesus said to Peter in 14:30b. He said that Peter would deny him three times.

you: Here the word you is singular in Greek. It refers to Peter.

Jesus replied: The Berean Standard Bible places the words Jesus replied after “I tell you the truth.” In Greek, these words occur at the beginning of 14:30a. Place the words Jesus replied where it is natural in your language.

14:30b

this very night, before the rooster crows twice: It was early evening when Jesus said this. This was the beginning of a new Jewish day. The words this very night define even more precisely when Peter would deny him. He would deny him before sunrise. Peter would deny Jesus three times before a rooster crowed twice.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

today—yes, tonight (New International Version)
-or-
tonight (Good News Bible)
-or-
during exactly this night

the rooster crows: The phrase the rooster crows indicates that a male chicken was going to make the noise that it normally makes sometime before dawn. Use the natural way in your language to describe this noise. For example:

a rooster calls/cries

the rooster: The phrase the rooster does not indicate that Jesus was thinking of a particular rooster. Some ways to translate this are:

a rooster will crow two times
-or-
some rooster will crow twice

twice: The word twice means two times. The crowing of a rooster would be heard two times.

14:30c

you will deny Me three times: Peter would say three times that he did not know Jesus.

you: In the Greek text the pronoun you refers to Peter and emphasizes him. If your language has a natural way to emphasize Peter, it may be helpful to use it here. For example:

As for you, Peter…

deny: In this context the word deny indicates that Peter would refuse to admit that he was one of Jesus’ followers. He would deny that he knew Jesus.

Here are some other ways to translate deny:

say three times that you do not know/follow me
-or-
disown me three times (New International Version)

Some languages will need to translate deny as a direct quote. For example:

As for you, Peter, you will say, ‘I do not know Jesus.’

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