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”.

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 Matthew 16:24

Several commentators put a section heading before verses 24-28 which reads something like “The way of suffering that the disciples must follow.” The impact of these verses is to remind the followers of Jesus that they must walk the same route that he went.

In the previous verse the exchange was between Peter and Jesus. What Jesus says now is to all the disciples, so that even if translators do not have a section heading here, most of them will begin a new paragraph. Barclay makes the transition quite clear with “Jesus went on to say to his disciples.”

Any man is obviously inclusive, with the meaning “anyone” (Good News Translation, Moffatt, New International Version).

If … would come after me is in reality a call to discipleship; therefore New Jerusalem Bible has “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine,” and New English Bible “If anyone wishes to be a follower of mine.” Although come after does assume a nonliteral meaning for later Christians, it was required of the first disciples that they accompany Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem. Thus one may wish to retain the literal form as much as clarity will allow: “If anyone wants to come with me” (Good News Translation; An American Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch are similar). It will be important, however, to make sure the readers don’t think Jesus is only talking about his trip to Jerusalem. “Be my follower,” “follow after me,” or “go with me” are frequent translations.

Deny himself (so also New American Bible, New International Version, Moffatt) represents the traditional rendering of most English translations, though some modern translations are more dynamic: “renounce himself” (New Jerusalem Bible), “leave self behind” (New English Bible), “disregard himself” (An American Translation), “give up all right to himself” (Phillips), and “once and for all say No to himself” (Barclay). Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition translates “no longer thinks of himself.” In the only other occurrences of the verb in this Gospel, it is used of Peter’s denial that he knows Jesus (26.34, 35, 75).

The phrase beginning with let him has often been expressed as “he should” or “he must” (Good News Translation). It may be easier in some languages to restructure the sentence as “The person who wants to follow me should no longer think of himself” or “Before a person can follow me, he has to stop thinking of himself.”

Take up (so also New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) is the root meaning of the verb translated “carry” in Good News Translation. Depending on the context, however, the verb may mean “take up” or “carry,” or even “take up and carry.” Many languages will require the use of two verbs: “take up and carry.”

For a discussion of take up his cross, see 10.38.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 16:24



16:24a

If anyone: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as If does not indicate uncertainty. So this phrase doesn’t say that Jesus did not know whether anyone wanted to follow him. Jesus used this word to refer to all those who want to follow him.

Here are some other ways to translate it without making it seem uncertain:

Anyone who
-or-
Those who (God’s Word)
-or-
The people who

anyone: Jesus was speaking to the disciples who were with him, but he talked about people everywhere at any time. Translate this in a way to include any person.

come after Me: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as come after Me refers to becoming a disciple of Jesus. Being a disciple often meant following a teacher around from place to place and learning from him.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

to be my follower (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
to follow me (New Century Version)
-or-
to be my disciple

16:24b–d

he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me: The Greek phrases that the Berean Standard Bible translates as he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me are three indirect commands. A person who desires to be one of Jesus’ disciples must do three things:

(a) He must deny himself

(b) He must take up his cross

He must follow Jesus as a disciple.

Indicate in a natural way in your language that a person must do each of these actions in order to be a follower of Jesus.

16:24b

he must deny himself: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as deny himself means “refuse to do what he wants to do.” A disciple of Jesus must give up the right to do what he wants to do. He must do what his master wants him to do.

Here are some other ways to translate deny himself:

you must forget about yourself (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
must say no to the things they want (God’s Word)
-or-
he must let go of his own desires
-or-
he must not do what he wishes/wants to do but what I wish

In some languages, there will be an idiom or figure of speech for this. For example:

turn his back on himself
-or-
remove from his thinking the things he wants to do

16:24c

take up his cross: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as take up means “carry.” For example:

carry your cross (Good News Translation)

This same phrase occurs in 10:38a.

This phrase refers to the way that Roman soldiers made criminals suffer and die. They forced a condemned criminal to pick up a large wooden cross. He had to carry it to the place where he would be put to death. Carrying a heavy cross was painful. Then the soldiers nailed him on the cross to die.

In this context, Jesus used this phrase figuratively. He meant that anyone who wanted to become his disciple must be willing to suffer and die. Jesus was willing to suffer and carry his cross to the place where he died. So a believer must also be willing to suffer for Christ even if it means dying.

Here are some other ways to translate the phrase take up his cross:

• Translate the figure of speech literally and add a footnote that explains the meaning. Here is a sample footnote:

In the time of Jesus, a person who was condemned to be nailed to a cross was forced to carry the cross. He carried it to the place where he would be nailed to it. So Jesus was saying that a person who wants to be his follower must be ready to suffer and die.

• Translate the figure of speech and also explain the meaning in the text. For example:

he must be willing to carry his cross, ⌊meaning to suffer and die for me⌋

• Translate the meaning directly without using a figure of speech. For example:

They must be willing even to give up their lives (New Century Version)
-or-
must willing to suffer and even die for me

If you follow this option, think about adding a footnote that gives Jesus’ literal words.

16:24d

and follow Me: This phrase is a figurative expression that means “be my disciple.” It means the same thing as “come after Me” in 16:24a. Disciples usually followed their teacher wherever he went. By doing this, they learned from his example and his teaching.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

follow me ⌊and be my disciple⌋

-or-

be my disciple

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