grace

Click here to view graphically

“The Greek word charis, usually translated by English ‘grace,’ is one of the desperations of translators. The area of meaning is exceptionally extensive. Note the following possible meanings for this word in various contexts of the New Testament: ‘sweetness,’ ‘charm,’ ‘loveliness,’ ‘good-will,’ ‘loving-kindness,’ ‘favor,’ ‘merciful kindness,’ ‘benefit,’ ‘gift,’ ‘benefaction,’ ‘bounty,’ and ‘thanks.’ The theological definition of ‘unmerited favor’ (some translators have attempted to employ this throughout) is applicable to only certain contexts. Moreover, it is quite a task to find some native expression which will represent the meaning of ‘unmerited favor.’ In some languages it is impossible to differentiate between ‘grace’ and ‘kindness.’ In fact, the translation ‘kindness’ is in some cases quite applicable. In other languages, a translation of ‘grace’ is inseparable from ‘goodness.’ In San Miguel El Grande Mixtec a very remarkable word has been used for ‘grace.’ It is made up of three elements. The first of these is a prefixial abstractor. The second is the stem for ‘beauty.’ The third is a suffix which indicates that the preceding elements are psychologically significant. The resultant word may be approximately defined as ‘the abstract quality of beauty of personality.’” (Source: Nida 1947, p. 223)

Other translations include (click or tap here to see more):

  • Inuktitut: “God’s kindness that enables us” (source: Andrew Atagotaaluk)
  • Kwara’ae: kwae ofe’ana (“kindness to one who deserves the opposite”) (source: Norman Deck in The Bible Translator 1963, 34ff. )
  • Chichewa: “being favored in the heart by God” (Source: Ernst Wendland)
  • Sayula Popoluca: “God’s favor” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Caribbean Javanese: kabetyikané (“goodness”)
  • Saramaccan: bunhati (“good heart”)
  • Sranan Tongo: bun ati (“good heart”) or gadobun (“God’s goodness”)
  • Eastern Maroon Creole: (gaan) bun ati (“(big) good heart”) (source for this and three above: Jabini 2015)
  • Fasu: “free big help”
  • Wahgi: “save without reward” (source for this and the one above: Deibler / Taylor 1977)
  • Kera: “to do kindness/good to someone” (“without them having done anything to receive it”) (source: Jackie Hainaut)
  • Warao: “goodness of his obojona.” Obojona is a term that “includes the concepts of consciousness, will, attitude, attention and a few other miscellaneous notions” (source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. ) — see other occurrences of Obojona in the Warao New Testament.
  • Nukna: “God gave his insides to one.” (“The ‘insides’ are the seat of emotion in Nukna, like the heart in the English language. To give your insides to someone is to feel love toward them, to want what is best for them, and to do good things for them.” (Source: Matt Taylor in The PNG Experience )
  • Uma: “(God’s) white insides” (source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Hindi, Bengali: anugraha (Hindi: अनुग्रह, Bengali: অনুগ্রহ) from graha: “grasp, a reaching out after, with gracious intent” (source: R.M. Clark in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 81ff. )
  • the German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) uses a large variety of translations, including “undeserved friendliness,” “wonderful work of God,” “loving attention,” “generous,” but also “undeserved grace” (using the traditional German term Gnade)

In Latvian the term žēlastība is used both for “grace” and steadfast love. It is also often used as a synonym for “mercy.” (Source: Katie Roth)

In the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) and the Buku Lopatulika version (1922/2018) it is translated with chisomo. This word was earlier used to refer to a charm that people were using for others to like them. It meant that on his/her own, a person would not be qualified to be liked by people. But with this charm, people would look at that person more kindly. This is also used in a number of Old Testament passages for what is typically translated as “find favor” or “gracious” in English, including Exodus 33:12, Numbers 6:25, or Psalm 84:11. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

For Muna, René van den Berg explains the process how the translation team arrived at a satisfactory solution: “Initial translation drafts in Muna tended to (…) use the single word kadawu ‘part, (given) share, gift,’ but this word is really too generic. It lacks the meaning component of mercy and kindness and also seems to imply that the gift is part of a larger whole. Consequently we now [translate] according to context. In wishes and prayers such as ‘Grace to you and peace from God’ we translate ‘grace’ as kabarakati ‘blessing’ (e.g. Gal 1:3). In many places we use kataano lalo ‘goodness of heart’ (e.g. Gal 1:15 ‘because of the goodness of his heart God chose me’) as well as the loan rahamati ‘mercy’ (e.g. ‘you have-turned-your-backs-on the mercy of God’ for ‘you have fallen away from grace’; Gal 5:4). In one case where the unmerited nature of ‘grace’ is in focus, we have also employed katohai ‘a free gift’ (typically food offered to one’s neighbo-1urs) in the same verse. ‘The reason-you-have-been-saved is because of the goodness of God’s heart (Greek charis, Muna kataano lalo), going-through your belief in Kristus. That salvation is not the result of your own work, but really a free-gift (Greek dooron ‘gift’; Muna katohai) of God.’ (Eph 2:8).

In Burmese, it is translated with the Buddhist term kyeh’jooh’tau (ကျေး​ဇူး​တော်). LaSeng Dingrin (in Missiology 37/4, 2009, p. 485ff.) explains: “As regards the Christian term ‘grace,’ Judson [the first translator of the Bible into Burmese] could not have brought the Burmese Buddhists the good news about the redeeming work of Jesus Christ and its benefits (i.e., forgiveness and salvation), without employing the Burmese Buddhist term kyeh’jooh’tau (‘grace’). Deriving from Pali kataññuta (“gratefulness”), kyeh’jooh’tau denotes ‘good deeds for others or benefits,’ which occur among humans. (…) When Christianized, kyeh’jooh’tau also refers to the atoning work of Jesus and its benefits, and can occur between humans and God. The word kyeh’jooh’tau looks very Burmese Buddhist, but it is Christian, too, and conveys the core of the Christian proclamation. Furthermore, kyeh’jooh’tau itself shows that translatability of Christianity cannot be imagined without reliance on Buddhism.” (See also the Burmese entry for God)

In American Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines “compassion” and “giving out.” (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Grace” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

See also Seat of the Mind / Seat of Emotions and grace to you and grace (of God) (Japanese honorifics).

Translation: Eastern Canadian Inuktitut

ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ᒍᕇᑭᒃᑯᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖅᑕᖓᑦ ᑐᑭᓕᐅᔾᔭᐅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᒫᒃ “ᓴᐃᒪᓂᖅ” ᖃᓪᓗᓈᑎᑐᓪᓕ ᑐᑭᓕᐅᔾᔭᐅᓯᒪᒻᒪᑦ ᐃᒫᒃ “ᒎᑎᐅᑉ ᑐᙵᓇᕐᓂᖓᓂ ᐅᕙᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᔪᓐᓇᑎᑦᑎᕙᑦᑐᖅ.”

(Translator: Julia Demcheson)

complete verse (Romans 11:6)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 11:6:

  • Uma: “not because of their behavior. For if for example he chose them because he was repaying them for their good behavior, it means that God’s grace is not really grace.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When God chooses people, he does not choose them because of their good deeds but he chooses them because he loves and he pities them. If it were because of their good deed that he chose them, his choosing would not be because of his love and pity/mercy.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The reason He chose them was only because of His kindness to them and not because they obeyed what He wanted. If His choosing them was payment to them because of their good works, it could not be that it was just because of His kindness.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “And if his grace was the cause of his choosing them, it means to say that it was not because of the good they had done. Because if the good they had done were the cause, it would not be possible for us to say it was grace.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Is it that there is some good that these people have done so that they were chosen? No, not that. Rather it was purely grace that God had in choosing them. If it were because of some good done by the people that God chose them, then it would be apparent that it is not purely grace that God gave them.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Romans 11:6

The purpose of this verse is to indicate that God’s mercy is based on his own free choice and not on what men do. The verse is literally: “But if by grace, no longer from works, since the grace would no longer be grace.” In English the introductory words “but if” may convey the possibility of doubt. However, this is a form that in Greek introduces a condition true to fact, and so the verse need not be introduced by “if” (see Good News Translation, Moffatt, Jerusalem Bible).

The subject of the verse is not explicitly expressed, though it is clear from the context that it is his (God’s) choice, which most translations indicate by including a pronoun “it” (New English Bible “selected by the grace of God…. But if by grace, then it…”). It is obvious that the phrase “no longer on works” can be transformed to read not on what they have done. The second sentence in the Good News Translation again picks up the idea expressed in the first half of the verse (“but if by grace”), and so translates: For if God’s choice were based on what men do….

The clause his choice is based on his mercy may be rendered as “because he is so merciful, he selects as he does” or “God is so very merciful; therefore he selects as he does.” In this way one can show clearly the relation between the fact of God’s mercy as the basis for God’s selecting persons as he does. The connection with the latter part of the first sentence of verse 6 may then be explained as “he does not select people because of what they have done.”

In the second sentence of this verse, the word mercy is the same word used in the previous sentence.

There is some question regarding the force of the negative used in this sentence. The normal meaning is “no longer” (Revised Standard Version “otherwise grace would no longer be grace”; Moffatt, New English Bible “grace would cease to be grace”). If the negative is taken in this way, then the force of Paul’s argument would be as follows. Paul would be saying that God originally made this choice according to grace, but if he now changed the way that he worked and made his choice on the basis of what men do, then his choice would no longer continue to be made on the basis of grace. On the other hand, it is possible to take the negative to mean simply “not”: then his mercy would not be true mercy (An American Translation* “his mercy would not be mercy at all”; Jerusalem Bible “grace would not be grace at all”; New American Bible “grace would not be grace”). If this interpretation is followed, it means that Paul is not actually thinking in temporal terms, as we consider them; rather he is making the absolute statement that if God at any time had based his choice on what men do, then his mercy would not be true mercy.

In order to show clearly that what men do does not constitute the basis for God’s choice, one may translate as follows: “For if God were to choose people because they had done certain things, then he wouldn’t really be showing mercy” or “… the way in which he would be showing mercy would not be genuine.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .