truth

The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is usually translated in English as “truth” is translated in Luchazi with vusunga: “the quality of being straight” (source: E. Pearson in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 160ff. ), in Obolo as atikọ or “good/correct talk” (source: Enene Enene), and in Ekari as maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (esp. in John 14:6 and 17; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).

The translation committee of the Malay “Good News Bible” (Alkitab Berita Baik, see here ) wrestled with the translation of “truth” in the Gospel of John (for more information click or tap here):

“Our Malay Committee also concluded that ‘truth’ as used in the Gospel of John was used either of God himself, or of God’s revelation of himself, or in an extended sense as a reference to those who had responded to God’s self-disclosure. In John 8:32 the New Malay translation reads ‘You will know the truth about God, and the truth about God will make you free.’ In John 8:44 this meaning is brought out by translating, ‘He has never been on the side of God, because there is no truth in him.’ Accordingly Jesus ‘tells the truth about God’ in 8:45, 46 (see also 16:7 and 8:37a). Then, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’ becomes ‘I am the one who leads men to God, the one who reveals who and what God is, and the one who gives men life.” At 3:21 the translation reads ” … whoever obeys the truth, that is God himself, comes to the light …’; 16:13a appears as ‘he will lead you into the full truth about God’; and in 18:37 Jesus affirms ‘I came into the world to reveal the truth about God, and whoever obeys God listens to me.’ On this basis also 1:14 was translated ‘we saw his glory, the glory which he had as the Father’s only Son. Through him God has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace)’; and 1:17 appears as ‘God gave the law through Moses; but through Jesus Christ he has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace).'” (Source: Barclay Newman in The Bible Translator 1974, p. 432ff. )

Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) tells of the translation into Kui which usually is “true-thing.” In some instances however, such as in the second part of John 17:17 (“your word is truth” in English), the use of “true-thing” indicated that there might be other occasions when it’s not true, so here the translation was a a form of “pure, holy.”

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (2Cor. 13:8)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding the addressee).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (2 Corinthians 13:8)

Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Corinthians 13:8:

  • Uma: “As long as you follow what is true, we (excl.) cannot obstruct you. In fact we (excl.) always want to help you follow what is true.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “We (excl.) cannot do anything opposing what is true but we always advance what is true.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For if your behavior is proper, as for us apostles, it’s no longer possible for us to show our authority over you because we only have to show our authority over you when you disobey proper behavior.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because it’s not possible for us (excl.) to oppose you if you are following the true teaching but rather it is necessary that we (excl.) help you.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Because it’s really not possible/acceptable that I should be happy about anybody doing what isn’t in harmony with the truth. The only thing I am happy with is the doing of good in the sight of God.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “About this word which is true, I hunt for how it will conquer, I do not do anything that will spoil this word.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 2 Corinthians 13:8

We again does not include the Corinthian readers.

We cannot do anything against the truth: that is, “we cannot do anything to oppose the truth.” The verb with the negative indicates powerlessness. New Jerusalem Bible translates “we have no power to resist the truth.”

The truth is the gospel or the progress of the gospel.

In the context of chapters 10-13, verse 8 means that when Paul returns to Corinth, he will take the necessary action, depending on whether they have done wrong or have done what is right (verse 8).

In some languages it will be more natural to state the positive side in this verse before the negative: “We can do only those things that advance the truth; we cannot do anything to hold it back.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellingworth, Paul. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Sung version of 2 Corinthians 13

Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).

For more information, see here .