endurance

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.)

In Isthmus Zapotec it is translated as “learning not to lose patience.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)

complete verse (Revelation 3:10)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 3:10:

  • Uma: “Since you follow my commands that say you must endure, that is why I protect you from the hardship that will strike the whole world. That time of hardship will test/try all people who live in the world.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “You persevere following my commandment that you should endure/suffer. Therefore I will also care for you so that no evil will befall you when the difficulties come to the whole world to test all the people in the world.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because you are faithful to My command that you endure, I will watch over you so that you will not experience the punishment which all mankind must suffer and be tested by.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Since you have obeyed my command that you endure your hardship, I will save you from the fearful hardship that will arrive to the entire world which is the time-of-hardship of people who don’t believe.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Because you obeyed my command to hold fast even though being persecuted, I really will take care of you so that you won’t be lost/perish when the time comes that all people here under the heavens will experience hardship for I will then test/try them.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “I have told you to endure whatever suffering you must pass through. And this word I commanded you to do, that is what you have done. Therefore now I will help you when you suffer the suffering which all the people who live on the earth must pass through. Thus it will be made known which people will come out having good faith.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

first person pronoun referring to God

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 show 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 Revelation 3:10

Because you have kept my word of patient endurance: this means little if anything in English (New Revised Standard Version is the same). Here word means “command, instruction, order, teaching,” and the genitive phrase of patient endurance means “to endure patiently.” For the verb “to keep” see 3.8, “kept”; and for patient endurance see 1.9. New International Version has “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently”; Revised English Bible is the same, except that it uses “to stand firm.” One may also say “Because you have endured patiently as I commanded you” or “… been patient and endured, as I commanded you.”

I will keep you from the hour of trial: this is a promise that the believers in Philadelphia will not be defeated by the suffering that will soon come upon all people in the world. This hour of trial is the time of distress and suffering which, in apocalyptic theology, will precede the end of the age, before the Messianic coming. The promise here is not that they alone, of all the world’s population, will be exempt from these sufferings; rather the promise is that God will keep them firm during this period of hardship and calamity (see the similar thought in John 17.15). So it may be better to translate “I will keep you safe (or, protect you) in the time of distress that is coming on the world.” New Jerusalem Bible translates “I will keep you safe in the time of trial,” and Beckwith comments: “The Philadelphians … are promised that they shall be carried in safety through the great trial, they shall not fall.”

Which is coming on the whole world may be rendered as “that the people of the world will undergo” or “during the time when the people of the world suffer terribly.”

The rest of the sentence—which is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell upon the earth—shows that this hour of trial will affect everyone (see 7.14; 13.10; 14.12; Matt 24.7-13, 22). Should hour give the idea of only sixty minutes, it is better to say “period,” “time.” And for trial, something like “suffering,” “distress” is better than Good News Translation “trouble.” Revised English Bible has “the ordeal that is to fall upon the whole world.” The related verb “to try” means “to put to the test” (as in 2.10).

In this book those who dwell upon earth is often used of the followers of Satan, the enemies of the people of God (6.10; 8.13; 11.10; 13.8, 12, 14; 17.2, 8). Here it means all people, as the preceding clause makes clear.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• You have endured patiently as I commanded you. So I will protect you during the time when I test all the people of the world by causing them to endure great suffering.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Revelation 3:10

3:10a–b

have kept…will…keep: The same Greek verb occurs twice here. However, the phrase have kept (3:10a) means “obeyed” and the phrase will…keep (3:10b) means “will protect.” The same Greek verb is used to emphasize the reason-result connection between the two clauses.

Some languages need to use different verbs in order to indicate the correct meaning in both clauses. If that is true in your language, you may want to emphasize the reason-result connection in some other way. For example:

Since you have obeyed my command to endure patiently, indeed, I will protect you during the time/hour of trial
-or-
You obeyed my message and endured. So I will protect you from the time of trouble that everyone in all the world must go through. (Contemporary English Version)

3:10a

Because: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Because here introduces a reason for what is said in 3:10b. In some languages it is more natural to introduce 3:10b as a result. For example:

10a You have kept my command to endure patiently, 10b so I will also keep…

you have kept My command to persevere: The believers in Philadelphia had continued to follow Jesus faithfully in spite of suffering. Jesus had commanded them to do that. Other ways to translate this clause are:

you have obeyed my command to persevere
-or-
You have obeyed my teaching about not giving up your faith (New Century Version)

command: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as command is literally “word.” This word may refer to a command given in a prophecy to the believers in Philadelphia. Or it may refer to a command that Jesus gave during his lifetime to all believers.

persevere: The Greek word here is the same word that is translated as “perseverance” in 2:19b. Jesus wanted the believers to continue to follow him faithfully even though they suffered because of it. See how you translated this Greek word in 2:19 or 2:2.

3:10b

I will also keep you from the hour of testing: There are two ways to interpret the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as from :

(1) It means from. For example:

I will keep you from the hour of trial (Revised Standard Version)

(2) It means during. For example:

I will keep you safe in the time of trial (New Jerusalem Bible)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because the Greek word means “out of,” and a different Greek word means “during.” See the note below for more information about the meaning of the word from.

I will also keep you from: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as from refers to removing something from something else. Here Jesus will remove the believers in Philadelphia from the hour of trial. Other ways to translate this word are:

I will remove you out of
-or-
I will also keep you safe from (Good News Translation)

keep you: Here the word keep refers to Jesus protecting his followers in some way. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

protect you
-or-
preserve you

the hour of testing: This phrase refers to a time of hardship. It is a time when people will suffer greatly. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

the time of trouble (Good News Translation)
-or-
the great time of testing (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
the ordeal (Revised English Bible)

hour: The word hour refers figuratively to a specific period of time. But here is not clear if it is hours, days, months, or years. Use a word or phrase that allows that general meaning.

testing: This word can mean “testing” or “trial” or “hardship.” God will test people with hardship to see if they will obey or trust him. You may want to see how you translated this word in 2:10 (“to test”), Luke 8:13, or James 1:2, or refer to the notes there.

3:10c

that is about to come upon the whole world: The Greek words are literally “that will happen to everyone in the world.” Other ways to translate this phrase are:

that will come to the whole world (New Century Version)
-or-
that is to fall upon the whole world (Revised English Bible)

come upon the whole world: Here the phrase come upon means “happen to.” All the words here indicate that the whole world will experience something difficult. Other ways to translate this are:

occur in all the world
-or-
that the whole world will experience

3:10d

to test those who dwell on the earth: This clause indicates the purpose of “the hour of testing” mentioned in 3:10b. Its purpose is to test people, to see if they really obey or trust God. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

indeed, to test/try those living on the earth
-or-
in order to test all those on this earth

In some languages explaining the purpose of the test is more natural. For example:

to test ⌊the faith of⌋ those who live on the earth

test: The Greek word here has the same basic meaning as “testing” in 3:10b. The Greek word here is a verb, but the Greek word in 3:10b is a noun. See the examples above.

General Comment on 3:10a–d

In the Greek and the Berean Standard Bible, this verse is one long sentence. In some languages it is more natural to translate it as two or more sentences. For example:

10a You have kept my command to endure patiently. 10b So I will also keep you from the hour of trial 10c that is coming upon the whole world. 10d It will test ⌊the faith of⌋ those who live on earth.
-or-

10a You have obeyed my teaching about not giving up your faith. 10b So I will keep you from the time of trouble 10c that will come to the whole world 10d to test those who live on earth. (New Century Version)

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