affection

The Greek in 2 Corinthians 6:12 that is often translated as “affection” in English is translated in Huba as “with one stomach.” This is a close match to the Greek original which uses splagchnon, the “inward part” or “bowels” to express the concept of affection. The English King James Version / Authorised Version translates here as “bowels.” (Source: David Frank in this blog post ).

See also Seat of the Mind / Seat of Emotions and maintain constant love for one another / love each other deeply.

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (2Cor. 6:12)

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 6:12)

Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Corinthians 6:12:

  • Uma: “It’s not we (excl.) who have closed our (excl.) hearts to you. You have closed your hearts to us (excl.).” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Our (excl.) love for you is not lacking, but your love for us (excl.) is lacking.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “It’s not our love for you that is lacking, but rather it is your love for us that is lacking.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “It is certainly not we (excl.) who are being-selfish-with our (excl.) love but rather you.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “We really hold you very dear but you, your holding us dear is cold.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “If if be that we are not friends, it is only because that you alone do not want to be friends. For my part, very much do I want to be friends with you.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

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

Translation commentary on 2 Corinthians 6:12

A literal translation of this verse is “You are not squeezed [or, crushed] by us, but you are squeezed [or, crushed] by your bowels.” All of this verse is metaphorical language, and it continues to deal with the figure of space in verse 11, “our heart is wide.” In biblical Greek the bowels are the seat of emotions, hence affections (Revised Standard Version) and “hearts” (Good News Translation). Paul says that he is not squeezing the Corinthians into a small place where there is little room for affection. Any restriction of space for affection is on their side. Good News Translation captures the sense of the original, as does Contemporary English Version: “We are not holding back on our love for you, but you are holding back on your love for us.” Knox provides another possible model: “it is not our fault, it is the fault of your own affections, that you feel constraint with us.” Or some translators may prefer “We have not stopped loving you, but it is your love for us that has grown weak [or, cold].” Note how several of these modern versions have had to abandon the figure of space, since local expressions of affection do not deal with such figures of speech, or else use other figures such as warm and cold, strong and weak.

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 .