καὶ ὑπομονὴν ἔχεις καὶ ἐβάστασας διὰ τὸ ὄνομά μου καὶ οὐ κεκοπίακες.
3I also know that you are enduring and bearing up for the sake of my name and that you have not grown weary.
The Greek that is translated in English as “endurance” (or “patience”or “perseverance”) is translated in Tzotzil as “(good) strength of heart(s)” (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.) and in Isthmus Zapotec as “learning not to lose patience.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
In Mairasi it is translated idiomatically as “having well-split bones” (source: Enggavoter 2004).
Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 2:3:
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”.
I know you are enduring patiently: the Greek text does not have I know at the beginning of the verse (see Good News Translation), but a translation may choose to include it for a more natural transition. This statement repeats what was said in verse 2.
And bearing up for my name’s sake: here the same verb “to bear” used in verse 2 appears, but in a different sense; it is practically synonymous with enduring patiently. Here “to bear up” implies suffering of some sort; so Bible en français courant “you have suffered,” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy and Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje “you have suffered greatly.”
For my name’s sake: as in many other places in the Bible, “name” stands for the person, and here the person is Christ. They are suffering for Christ’s sake, that is, they are suffering because they are determined to be faithful Christians. This indicates persecution, either the occasional kind inflicted by a pagan society, or else the official organized persecution started by the authorities.
And you have not grown weary: they had not given up, they had not renounced their faith. It is to be noticed that the Greek verb here is related to the noun “toil” of verse 2, implying here “not to tire of toil,” meaning “haven’t tired of following me.” Other ways of translating this clause are “and you have never given up following me” or “and your hearts have always remained strong as you follow me.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
2:3a
This verse tells more of what Jesus Christ knew about the believers in Ephesus. You may want to use the same word or phrase here that you used at the beginning of 2:2a. For example:
I know you are… (Revised Standard Version)
Without growing weary: Here the phrase Without growing weary indicates that the believers did not become discouraged and stop doing what God wanted them to do. They did not stop believing in Jesus. They continued to follow him. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
did not tire ⌊of following me⌋
-or-
you have not given up (Good News Translation)
2:3b
you have persevered: The word persevered has the same meaning as the noun “perseverance” in 2:2a. It refers to continuing to follow Christ even though there are hardships or opposition. See how you translated the similar word “perseverance” in 2:2.
endured many things: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as endured many things refers to experiencing troubles and difficulties. It is implied here that the believers in Ephesus have endured many things with a good attitude. Other ways to translate the Greek word are:
have faced/experienced difficulties ⌊with a good attitude⌋
-or-
carried/endured troubles ⌊well⌋
for the sake of My name: The name of Jesus is a figure of speech. It stands for who Jesus is. This phrase indicates that the believers in Ephesus persevered and endured because they followed Jesus. Doing this honored Jesus. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
for my sake (Good News Translation)
-or-
in my cause (Revised English Bible)
-or-
because you follow me
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