12and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day the deposit I have entrusted to him.
The Greek that is often translated as “persecute” or “suffer” in English has the option of various terms in Luang with different shades of meaning.
For Acts 8:1 and 9:4, ramuki-rama’ala (“hit and kick”). This term refers to “physical persecution.”
For Acts 7:6, 7:19, 7:24, rnahora-rnala’a (“to send here-to send there”, “give the run-around”). This term is used when “emotional pressure or frustration is in focus.”
For Acts 20:23, kropna-kreut (“send here-there”). This term is used for “pushing people around, treating them as no better than a slave.”
For 2 Tim. 1:12, mola-ma’a (“make shame”). This term is used when “making someone lose face, generally with words.”
Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.
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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.
In these verses, the Greek that is translated as “entrust” in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-makase (お任せ), combining “entrust” (makase) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Timothy 1:12:
Uma: “So, because of that work of mine carrying the Good News, I have ended up getting suffering to the point that now I am imprisoned. But in spite of that, I am not ashamed. For I know who he is whom I have believed, and I hope/trust that he will take care of me, and it is clear in my heart that he has power to take care of me until the Judgment Day.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “And this is the reason why I endure here in prison. But I am not ashamed because I know whom I trust. And I am sure that he is able to guard all he entrusted to me until the day when he returns to earth is reached.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “and because of this I have to endure today this affliction. But in spite of that, I know who He is whom I have trusted, and I also know that until the day in the future when He will investigate the things mankind has done, He knows how to watch over me here as I carry out all He has given me to do.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “and that is the reason I am being hardshipped. But I am certainly not ashamed of this, because I know whom I trust and I know for-certain that he has power to protect what he has entrusted to me until the day of Cristo’s coming again arrives.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “And because of my attending-to/facing this responsibility of mine, I had this suffering/hardship happen to me like this. But I don’t regard it as shame, because I really know well this one I have believed in who is Cristo Jesus. And I am sure that he really has the ability to take care of me so that I can hold fast, so that on the arrival of that day of judging, the salvation will be mine which I have entrusted to him.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Therefore for this I suffer now. But I am not ashamed that I am in prison. Because I know truly that God, whom I trust, is good. And I am sure that he has the power to watch over me, that my life will come out good until that last day.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).
Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.
In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.
While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”
In that system one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and one for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.
Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains in the following way: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”
In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)
Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”
In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )
In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)
The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.
Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In both languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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. In these verses, the concept of “able to do” is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-deki (おでき), combining “able to do” (deki) with the respectful prefix o-.
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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 third person singular and plural pronoun (“he,” “she,” “it” and their various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. While it’s not uncommon to avoid pronouns altogether in Japanese, there are is a range of third person pronouns that can be used.
In these verses a number of them are used that pay particularly much respect to the referred person (or, in fact, God, as in Exodus 15:2), including kono kata (この方), sono kata (その方), and ano kata (あの方), meaning “this person,” “that person,” and “that person over there.” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
And therefore is literally “because of which cause,” which goes back to verse 11; it is because of Paul being a preacher-apostle-teacher of the gospel that he is experiencing his present state of suffering. I suffer as I do most probably refers to his being in prison, a condition that is assumed in the letter. In many languages it will be helpful to begin a new sentence here and say, for example, “For this reason I suffer as I do,” or “For this reason I am presently suffering,” or “That is why I suffer” (similarly Contemporary English Version).
Nevertheless, in much the same way that Paul has exhorted Timothy not to be ashamed, so he clearly states that he himself is not ashamed because of the certainty of his faith in Christ. For ashamed see 2 Tim. 1.8. It is possible that the focus here is on Paul’s attitude toward his condition of being a prisoner, since the natural assumption is that people who are put in prison have committed some terrible crime, and this kind of assumption would be made in the case of Paul as well. What he is saying therefore is “I am not ashamed, even though I am now in prison.” In Good News Translation there is an attempt to capture the intention of the expression by means of the positive statement “I am still full of confidence.” This captures the emotive tone of the expression; that is, by saying what he said, Paul has shown bold confidence, determination, and courage in the midst of the difficult circumstances with which he is faced. The Good News Translation restructuring may be valid in some cultures, but in cultures where the concept of “shame” plays a prominent part, it is preferable in this case to stay as close as possible to the Greek text.
The basis of Paul’s bold attitude is his knowledge of the one in whom he has “believed.” Know here is much more than simply having information, for it includes being acquainted with and having a close relationship with someone. Whom is ambiguous; it can refer to either Christ or God. Considering, however, the New Testament practice of associating faith more with Christ than with God, it is more likely that the former is meant. Believed is better translated as “trusted” (so Good News Translation), since it pertains to having trust and confidence in someone to the extent of relying and depending on that someone.
For sure, see 2 Tim. 1.5 above. The verb is in the perfect tense, indicating a continuing sense of assurance. Able contains both the elements of competence and ability, with focus on the latter. For guard see 1 Tim 5.21, where it is rendered “keep.” The focus here is on guarding something closely in order to make sure that it is not damaged or lost, hence “safeguard” (New Jerusalem Bible), “keep safe” (Revised English Bible), “take care of” (Translator’s New Testament).
The Greek for entrusted to me appears only here in the whole New Testament. The noun form is used to refer to a deposit, and figuratively to something that is put in the trust of someone. The Greek is literally “my deposit” or “my trust” and is in the genitive case, but with no clear clue as to whether the genitive should be taken as objective (for example, “something entrusted to me”; compare Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation; Contemporary English Version “what he has trusted me with”) or subjective (for example, “something I have entrusted to someone else”; compare Jerusalem Bible, New International Version, King James Version). In the first option, what is entrusted to Paul may be one of two things: (1) his own ministry or any aspects of it; (2) the gospel. In this second case “my trust” would be parallel to “the truth that has been entrusted to you” in verse 14 and also to “what has been entrusted to you” in 1 Tim 6.20. As for the second alternative, what Paul is entrusting to Christ would probably be his own life, with the assurance that Christ can guard his life even to the end of the age. The eschatological tone of the verse, as shown by the mention of Day, favors this interpretation.
Day here is used as a technical term for the final day when God judges all human beings, punishing those who are evil and rewarding those who are obedient to his will. Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation signal this understanding by capitalizing Day. In languages that cannot use capitalization like this, it will be necessary to say, for example, “that last (or, final) day.”
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• For this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed (or, I am completely confident), because I know the one [Christ] whom I believe (or, trust) in. I am certain that he is able to keep (me) safe until that final day (what he has given to me to look after).
Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
I suffer as I do: The clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as I suffer as I do is literally “I am suffering these things.” The phrase “these things” refers to the difficulties that Paul experienced when he was in prison.
1:12b
I am not ashamed: Paul leaves implicit what he is ashamed of. You may need to make this explicit and say, “Yet I am not ashamed of being in prison for Christ’s sake.” The word that Paul used here for I am not ashamed is the same Greek word that he used in Romans 1:16.
1:12c
for I know whom I have believed: Verse parts 1:12c and 1:12d contain two reasons why Paul was not ashamed of being in prison. The first reason (1:12c) that he was not ashamed was because he believed/trusted in Jesus Christ and he knew that Jesus was God.
1:12d
and I am convinced that He is able to guard…for that day: This is the second reason Paul was not ashamed. Paul was not free to travel about and preach. But he was convinced that Christ would ensure that the good news would continue to be proclaimed until the day Christ returns.
for that day: This refers to the day when Christ will return and judge all people.
Some ways to translate this phrase are “until the judgment day” or “until Christ returns.”
what I have entrusted to Him: There are two translation issues you must address before you can translate this verse.
Issue 1: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as what I have entrusted to Him is literally “my deposit.” In Greek, it is not clear in what sense the deposit was Paul’s. There are two possibilities:
(1) It was Paul’s deposit because Christ entrusted the deposit to Paul. For example, Good News Translation says:
what he has entrusted to me.
See also Revised Standard Version, NET Bible, Revised English Bible, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, New Century Version.
(2) It was Paul’s deposit because Paul entrusted the deposit to Christ. For example, the New Living Translation (2004 Revision) says:
what I have entrusted to him.
See also Berean Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), New Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, King James Version, New Jerusalem Bible.
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) for the following reason. The same word for “deposit” that appears here also appears in 1:14 and in 1 Timothy 6:20. In these other two contexts, the word clearly means something that God had entrusted to Timothy. For this reason, the versions listed under interpretation (1) above interpret “my deposit” here as something that the Lord had entrusted to Paul.
However, interpretation (2) also has strong support among the major English translations. If the major language version in your area follows interpretation (2), then you may prefer to choose it. If so, you could say,
I am convinced that Christ is able to keep safe what I have entrusted to him until the day he returns.
Whichever interpretation you choose to follow, it is recommended that you write a footnote to explain the alternative interpretation.
Issue 2: The second issue is what the deposit refers to. If you do not need to make this explicit, you can follow the Good News Translation and say:
I am sure that he is able to keep safe until that Day what he has entrusted to me.
If you need to make explicit what the deposit is, read below.
(1) If you follow interpretation (1) above, then the deposit was probably the gospel itself, which was what Paul preached and taught. (Perhaps the deposit also included the people who had believed as a result of Paul’s preaching the gospel. Paul believed that God had told him to care for these people. He was sure that even after he died, true believers would continue to preach the gospel message to others and God would protect the people who had believed.) If you follow this interpretation, you could say:
I am convinced that Christ is able to keep safe the gospel message until the day he returns.
(2) If you follow interpretation (2), then the deposit was probably Paul’s life or his service to Christ. If you follow this interpretation you could say:
I am convinced that Christ is able to protect my service/life that I have given to him until the day he returns.
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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.
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