not soiled their clothes

The Greek in Revelation 3:4 that is translated as “not soiled their clothes” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as eine reine Weste or “a clean vest” or idiomatically “free of guilt.”

dressed in white

The Greek in Revelation 3:4 that is translated as “dressed in white” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as in strahlender Helle or “in radiant brightness.”

complete verse (Revelation 3:4)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 3:4:

  • Uma: “But there are also some of you there in Sardis who take care of your clothes so that they are not dirty. You are the ones who will walk with me, will be clothed with gleaming white clothes, because you are fit to walk with me.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But there are still some of you there in Sardis, who have not made their clothes dirty, that means you have not gone along doing bad. You will walk with me dressed in white because you are fitting/right/worthy to be with me/to follow me.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Only a few of you there in Sardis have not stained your clothing, which is to say, you have not joined in the bad behavior. You will accompany Me clothed in white because you are worthy to accompany Me.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “”But there are still a few of you there at Sardis whose clothes are not stained. In a future day, they will companion-with me dressed in white, because they are worthy to do that.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But there are indeed a few there in Sardis who are careful, who haven’t fallen(fig.) into doing disgusting things. They are really acceptable to be my companions in my kingdom dressed in white.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Yet I know that there in the city of Sardis there are some believers who have not soiled the clothes God gave them. These are the ones who will talk with me and they will wear white clothing. This will be the payment for not spoiling what they were given.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

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 Revelation 3:4

Yet you have still a few names in Sardis: it should be noticed that the words are addressed to “the angel” of the church in Sardis, who is told “You still have a few people in Sardis who….” If a translation follows this form, care should be taken to avoid giving the impression that the angel owns or controls these people—and this may be difficult to avoid. The text means that they belong to “your” church, the church of which you are “the angel.” So it may be better to imitate Good News Translation, “But a few of you there in Sardis…”; note New Jerusalem Bible “There are a few in Sardis, it is true, who….” In 2.1 we suggested that “angel” may be better expressed as “representative.” So in this verse one may say “In the church in Sardis, which you represent, there are a few people….” Here names means “people” (see 2.3), referring specifically to Christians.

Who have not soiled their garments: to keep one’s clothes clean is a figure for pure behavior, Christian conduct. If there is danger that the figure of speech be taken literally, the translation may abandon it and say “who have not been defiled (or, corrupted) by sin,” “who have kept themselves spiritually pure,” “who have lived pure lives as Christians.” Or it may be possible to retain the figure but state it positively, as Good News Translation has done, “who have kept their clothes clean.” In English “to soil one’s clothes” refers to a specific and unfortunate action.

And they shall walk with me in white: the color white may be symbolic of victory, or immortality, or purity. Purity is indicated by what precedes, and victory by what follows. But the translator must avoid the temptation to explicitly build into the figure the meaning it is supposed to have, unless a literal rendering conveys the wrong meaning. In that case it will be helpful to have a footnote explaining what white refers to. The verb walk with means to accompany, either as a disciple (see John 6.66) or as a friend and companion, in the Messianic kingdom. Translators should try to maintain the symbol of “walking” if at all possible.

For they are worthy: they deserve it, they have a right to do so, for they have lived as Christ, or God, would have them live.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• But there are a few people whom you represent in Sardis who have lived pure lives as Christians. They will walk with me wearing pure white garments, because they have the right to do this.

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 3:4

Paragraph 3:4–5

3:4a

people: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as people is literally “names” (as in the Revised Standard Version). But here the word “names” refers to people.

who have not soiled their garments: This phrase symbolically represents the idea that some believers in Sardis had not sinned. Here it probably refers to avoiding the pagan activities there. The symbol of clean garments continues into 3:4b–5a. For example:

have not dirtied your clothes with sin (Contemporary English Version)

In some languages a literal translation would wrongly refer only to literal clean garments. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Explain the meaning in your translation. For example:

have not dirtied your garments ⌊with pagan activities⌋

• Use a verb that figuratively implies sin. For example:

who have not dirtied/stained/defiled their garments

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

This clause refers to remaining faithful to Jesus Christ by refusing to participate in pagan activities.

soiled: This word means “caused to be dirty/defiled.” See the examples above.

3:4b

3:4b tells the promise given to the faithful believers in 3:4a. Consider how to indicate that connection in your language.

because they are worthy: The clause because they are worthy indicates that it was proper and appropriate for these believers to walk with Jesus. They deserved this honor because they had not soiled their clothes. In other words, they had not sinned like the other believers in Sardis did. Other ways to translate this clause are:

because they deserve it (God’s Word)
-or-
and they are fit to come with me (New Jerusalem Bible)

walk with Me in white: This phrase indicates that the people walking with Jesus were wearing white clothes. For example:

will wear white clothes (New Century Version)

The color white is symbolic of purity and freedom from sin. In some languages white is symbolic of something else (such as mourning). If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Explain the symbolic meaning of white in your translation. For example:

dressed in white ⌊to symbolize their pure hearts⌋

• Translate the symbolic meaning of white. For example:

dressed in pure/clean clothes

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