knowledge

The Greek that is translated as “knowledge” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as “theology” in these verses. The translators explain: “We have often translated the Greek word gnosis with ‘theology’ because it doesn’t refer to knowledge [Erkenntnis, also meaning ‘realization’] but to theological knowledge.”

See also wisdom.

wisdom

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is translated as “wisdom” in English is rendered in various ways:

  • Amganad Ifugao / Tabasco Chontal: “(big) mind”
  • Bulu / Yamba: “heart-thinking”
  • Tae’: “cleverness of heart” (source for this and all above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Palauan: “bright spirit (innermost)” (source: Bratcher / Hatton)
  • Ixcatlán Mazatec: “with your best/biggest thinking” (source: Robert Bascom)
  • Noongar: dwangka-boola, lit. “ear much” (source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018 — see also remember)
  • Kwere “to know how to live well” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Dobel: “their ear holes are long-lasting” (in Acts 6:3) (source: Jock Hughes)
  • Gbaya: iŋa-mgbara-mɔ or “knowing-about-things” (note that in comparison to that, “knowledge” is translated as iŋa-mɔ or “knowing things”) (source: Philip Noss in The Bible Translator 2001, p. 114ff. )
  • Chichewa: nzeru, meaning both “knowledge” and “wisdom” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Uma: “clearness” (source: Uma Back Translation)

See also wisdom (Proverbs) and knowledge.

complete verse (1 Corinthians 12:8)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 12:8:

  • Uma: “To one person the Holy Spirit gives cleverness to speak. To one person the same Holy Spirit gives knowledge to make-clear/explain God’s Word.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “There are people who are given by God’s Spirit the expertise of proclaiming the good news from God. There are also those given expertise in explaining the deep teachings of God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “To some, by means of the Holy Spirit, are given the skill to interpret the true doctrine; and to someone else is given by means of the power of the Holy Spirit, the skill to explain the deep things which God wants taught.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “God’s Spirit gives to one the ability to make-known God’s wisdom, and to another (lit. one also), the ability to understand and teach concerning God.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well some, they are being graced by the Espiritu Santo that they can explain with far-from-ordinary wisdom/understanding the determined-plans of God. In the case of others, (they) are being graced to say something which the Espiritu Santo made known to them.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Concerning some of the believers, the Holy Spirit causes that they know well in their hearts how to apply the word they speak. Others, he causes them to know how to tell the words which are hard so that people understand that word.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Spirit (of God) (Japanese honorifics)

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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-tama (御霊) or “Spirit (of God)” in the referenced verses.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also Holy Spirit

Translation commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:8

The Greek sentence runs on without a break from verse 8 to the end of verse 11. Good News Bible and most modern translations divide this at various points. Translators should read these verses and decide where they would naturally make a division in their languages. Both the language and thought of this verse are more closely linked with verse 7 than are the following verses. Verses 9-11, on the other hand, may be an extension of Paul’s original point, or even an afterthought.

The grammar of verse 8 marks a contrast: “to one…,” “to another…,” yet the words that follow are similar in meaning. Bruce writes “Paul presumably intends some distinction between sophia (wisdom) and gnōsis (knowledge), but the distinction is not clear to us.” Paul has used language similar to 8a in 2.7: “we impart … a hidden wisdom.” Verse 8b mirrors 1.5: “enriched in … all knowledge.” The word for wisdom is often used in a negative sense, but clearly this is not so here. Nor can we make a clear distinction between wisdom as something practical, and knowledge as something more abstract or impractical. Both wisdom and knowledge seem to have been words commonly used, and perhaps sometimes misused, in discussion in Corinth.

In this verse Paul is less concerned to make precise distinctions between the gifts than to show that all these gifts come from the same Spirit. His style in verses 8-11 emphasizes the piling up of items rather than the differences between them. He does, though, distinguish the people to whom the gifts are given from the gifts themselves, with the puzzling exceptions of wisdom and knowledge.

“The same Spirit” is the expression used in verse 4; it will be repeated in a more emphatic phrase “by one and the same Spirit” in verse 11. Good News Bible brings out the meaning of the Greek by translating “a word of wisdom/knowledge” by “a message full of wisdom/knowledge.” In some languages it may be preferable to use an adjective such as in the English phrase “a wise message.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• God’s Spirit gives one person the ability to speak a message that is full of wisdom, and the same Spirit gives to another person the ability to speak a message that is full of knowledge.

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .