complete verse (Revelation 3:15)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 3:15:

  • Uma: “He says: I know what you do. You are not cold, you also are not hot. It would be better if you were just cold, or if you were just hot.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “I do know your doings that you are between following me and not. You are figuratively like water that is neither hot nor cold. I wish/want that if you follow me, really follow, if not, na, then not at all.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I know everything that you are doing. You are not hot and you are not also cold, which is to say, you are not My enemies and you are also not My followers.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “I know your way-of-life. You can-be-compared to lukewarm water which is not hot or cold. I wish you were hot or cold,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Really nothing is lost on me of all your doings. You don’t oppose me at all but also your believing/obeying me isn’t whole-hearted, but on the contrary, it’s terribly insipid. I wish your believing/obeying me were whole-hearted, for I really can’t accept believing which is not genuine, which is just talk (lit. only on the beak). Admittedly my anger/hatred is really big against those who don’t believe, but my anger is much greater against these who are making pretence.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “I know what all you are doing. I know that you are neither separating from me nor are you strengthening yourselves to follow my word. But it is needed that you decide what you are going to do, whether it be to separate from me or to strengthen yourselves to follow my word.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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 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 3:15 – 3:16

I know your works: see comments at 2.2.

You are neither cold nor hot: this is a judgment on their spiritual condition. Three times the phrasecold nor hot appears in these two verses. In certain languages it will be necessary to dispense with the figurative language and say something like “You are neither unresponsive nor enthusiastic toward me.”

Would that: a wish can be expressed by “How I wish (that)” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible), “I wish that” (New Revised Standard Version), or “I want you to be….”

You are lukewarm: in matters of spirit and Christian life, they are indifferent, ineffective, impotent. The symptoms of their spiritual indifference are given in verses 17-18. In some languages these metaphors of heat, cold, and lukewarmness may not make sense, and an appropriate figure must be used, or else the figurative language must be abandoned altogether; for example, “You are totally ineffective” or “You are only half-hearted in your faith.”

I will spew you out of my mouth: this is a figure of disgust and rejection. The glorified Christ will no longer tolerate such lukewarm, ineffective believers. They are like salt that has lost its saltiness, which will be thrown out as useless (Matt 5.13). Again, in some languages it will be necessary to abandon the metaphors or figurative language and say, for example, “I will reject you.”

In the verbal phrase I will spew, will represents a Greek verb that adds a note of urgency and divine authority (see 1.19).

An alternative translation model for these verses is:

• I know all the things that you have done. In your lives you are neither unresponsive nor enthusiastic toward me. I wish you were either of these. But, because you are only half-hearted in your belief in me, I will reject you.

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 3:15

3:15a

I know your deeds: Here the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as deeds means “actions” or “activities.” You should translate this clause as you did in 3:8.

you: The Greek pronoun that the Berean Standard Bible translates as you is singular. It refers to the angel of the church as the representative of all the believers there.

In many languages it is more natural to use plural pronouns here. If that is true in your language, use plural forms in the following verses to refer to the believers directly. This is the same issue as in 3:8a.

3:15b

you are neither cold nor hot: This is a metaphor. It is probably comparing the Laodiceans and their deeds to water. In their culture, hot water was useful for certain activities (such as bathing), and cold water was useful for other activities (such as drinking). But the believers in Laodicea were not like the hot water or the cold water. They were not useful for anything.

In some languages it is necessary to make the implied comparison with water explicit. It may also be necessary or more natural to translate this metaphor as a simile. For example:

you are neither ⌊like⌋ hot ⌊water⌋ nor like cold ⌊water⌋

In some languages a literal translation would not indicate the correct meaning. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Explain the meaning in your translation. For example:

you are neither ⌊useful⌋ like hot ⌊water⌋ nor ⌊useful⌋ like cold ⌊water⌋

• Translate literally and explain its meaning in a footnote. An example footnote is:

The phrase “neither cold nor hot” uses the metaphor of hot and cold water. Hot water is useful for certain activities, and cold water, for other activities. But the believers in Laodicea were not like the hot water nor the cold water. They were not useful for anything, because their faith bore no fruit (3:17).

3:15c

How I wish you were one or the other: This clause refers to the believers being neither cold nor hot as in the metaphor above. In other words, Jesus wished they would act in some useful manner. Other ways to translate this clause are:

Would that you were cold or hot! (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
I wish that you were hot or cold! (New Century Version)
-or-
I wish that you served me in some useful way!
-or-
If only your deeds were ⌊as useful⌋ as hot water or ⌊as useful⌋ as cold water.

How I wish: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as How I wish introduces an unfulfilled wish. Jesus wanted the believers in Laodicea to be like hot water or cold water, but they were not like either. Other ways to translate this clause are:

It would be better that
-or-
I wish (New International Version)
-or-
If only

one or the other: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as one or the other is literally “cold or hot.” In some languages it is more natural to translate the Greek literally. Use the order that is natural in your language. For example:

cold or hot (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
hot or cold (New Century Version)

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.