Σὺ δὲ παρηκολούθησάς μου τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ, τῇ ἀγωγῇ, τῇ προθέσει, τῇ πίστει, τῇ μακροθυμίᾳ, τῇ ἀγάπῃ, τῇ ὑπομονῇ,
Paul’s Charge to Timothy
10Now you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness,
The Greek that is translated in English as “endurance” (or “patience”or “perseverance”) is translated in Tzotzil as “(good) strength of heart(s).” (Source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.)
In Isthmus Zapotec it is translated as “learning not to lose patience.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
The Greek noun that is translated as “love” or “charity” in English is translated in Mandarin Chinese as àixīn (爱心 / 愛心), literally “loving heart.”
pain-love and love (Khanty).
The Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “patient” or “patience” are translated in a variety of ways.
Eugene Nida (1952, p. 130) gives some examples:
“Peace is the quality of the soul; patience is the behavior of the soul. The Aymara of Bolivia have described patience well by the phrase ‘a waiting heart.’
“The Ngäbere of Panama describe patience in more vivid terms. They say that it is ‘chasing down your temper.’ The impatient person lets his temper run away with him. Patience requires one to “chase down his temper” and get it under control [see also Mairasi down below].
“The Yucateco describe patience as ‘strength not to fall.’ This seems to include almost more than patience, but it is important to note that this Yucateco translation recognizes that impatience means ‘falling.’ For some of us, who tend to take a certain secret pride in our impatience—describing it as energetic drive—it might be well to recognize that impatience is failure, while patience is strength.
“The San Blas Kuna in Panama use a rather strange phrase to depict patience. They say ‘not caring what happens.’ But this is not meant as condoning foolhardy indifference to life and danger. It reflects a kind of reckless confidence in God, a confidence not bred of desperation but of utter reliance. The patient person is not concerned about what happens; he is willing to wait in confidence.”
In Mairasi, the phrase that is employed is “stop (our) anger” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Suki “slow careful thinking way” is used (source L. and E. Twyman in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 91ff. )
In Kwang an expression is used that directly translates as “carry one’s head” (source: Mark Vanderkooi right here ), and in Q’anjob’al it is translated with the phrase “large stomach” (source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. ).
In Akan, it is typically translated as abodwokyɛre, lit. “chest cool longer.” (Source: Kofi Agyekum in International Journal of Language and Communication 2015, p. 35ff. )
See also Seat of the Mind / Seat of Emotions.
Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Timothy 3:10:
Translations of the Greek pistis and its various forms that are typically translated as “faith” in English (itself deriving from Latin “fides,” meaning “trust, faith, confidence, reliance, credence”) and “believe” (from Old English belyfan: “to have faith or confidence in a person”) cover a wide range of approaches.
“Since belief or faith is so essentially an intimate psychological experience, it is not strange that so many terms denoting faith should be highly figurative and represent an almost unlimited range of emotional ‘centers’ and descriptions of relationships, e.g. ‘steadfast his heart’ (Chol), ‘to arrive on the inside’ (Chicahuaxtla Triqui), ‘to conform with the heart’ (Uab Meto), ‘to join the word to the body’ (Uduk), ‘to hear in the insides’ (or ‘to hear within one’s self and not let go’ — Nida 1952) (Laka), ‘to make the mind big for something’ (Sapo), ‘to make the heart straight about’ (Mitla Zapotec), ‘to cause a word to enter the insides’ (Lacandon), ‘to leave one’s heart with’ (Baniwa), ‘to catch in the mind’ (Ngäbere), ‘that which one leans on’ (Vai), ‘to be strong on’ (Shipibo-Conibo), ‘to have no doubts’ (San Blas Kuna), ‘to hear and take into the insides’ (Kare), ‘to accept’ (Pamona).”
One evening, though, Bobby began to ask questions. We were sitting around a fire. The light flickered over him. His face was serious.
‘How can I walk on Jesus’ trail?’ he asked. ‘No Motilone [speakers of Barí] has ever done it. It’s a new thing. There is no other Motilone to tell how to do it.’
I remembered the problems I had had as a boy, how it sometimes appeared impossible to keep on believing in Jesus when my family and friends were so opposed to my commitment. That was what Bobby was going through.
‘Bobby,’ I said, ‘do you remember my first Festival of the Arrows, the first time I had seen all the Motilones gathered to sing their song?’ The festival was the most important ceremony in the Motilone culture.
He nodded. The fire flared up momentarily and I could see his eyes, staring intently at me.
‘Do you remember that I was afraid to climb in the high hammocks to sing, for fear that the rope would break? And I told you that I would sing only if I could have one foot in the hammock and one foot on the ground?’
‘Yes, Bruchko.’
‘And what did you say to me?’
He laughed. ‘I told you you had to have both feet in the hammock. ‘You have to be suspended,’ I said.’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘You have to be suspended. That is how it is when you follow Jesus, Bobby. No man can tell you how to walk His trail. Only Jesus can. But to find out you have to tie your hammock strings into Him, and be suspended in God.’
Bobby said nothing. The fire danced in his eyes. Then he stood up and walked off into the darkness.
The next day he came to me. ‘Bruchko,’ he said, ‘I want to tie my hammock strings into Jesus Christ. But how can I? I can’t see Him or touch Him.’
‘You have talked to spirits, haven’t you?’
‘Oh,’ he said. ‘I see now.’
The next day he had a big grin on his face. ‘Bruchko, I’ve tied my hammock strings into Jesus. Now I speak a new language.’
I didn’t understand what he meant. ‘Have you learned some of the Spanish I speak?’
He laughed, a clean, sweet laugh. ‘No, Bruchko, I speak a new language.’
Then I understood. To a Motilone, language is life. If Bobby had a new life, he had a new way of speaking. His speech would be Christ-oriented.
“[The missionary translator] Lancelot Threlkeld learned that Awabakal, like many Australian languages, made no distinction between knowing and believing. Of course the distinction only needs to be made where there are rival systems of knowing. The Awabakal language expressed a seamless world. But as the stress on ‘belief’ itself suggests, Christianity has always existed in pluralist settings. Conversion involves deep conviction, not just intellectual assent or understanding. (…) Translating such texts posed a great challenge in Australia. Threlkeld and [his indigenous colleague] Biraban debated the possibilities at length. In the end they opted not to introduce a new term for belief, but to use the Awabakal ngurruliko, meaning ‘to know, to perceive by the ear,’ as distinct from knowing by sight or by touch.”
What does losing feathers have to do with faith? [The translator] explained that there is a species of bird in his area that, upon hatching its eggs, loses its feathers. During this molting phase, the mother bird is no longer able to fly away from the nest and look for food for her hungry hatchlings. She has to remain in the nest where she and her babies are completely dependent upon the male bird to bring them food. Without the diligent, dependable work of the male bird, the mother and babies would all die. This scenario was the basis for the word for faith in his language.
“Luba-Katanga word for ‘Faith’ in its New Testament connotation is Twi tabilo. This word means ‘echo,’ and the way in which it came to be adapted to the New Testament meaning gives a very good idea of the way in which the translator goes to work. One day a missionary was on a journey through wild and mountainous country. At midday he called his African porters to halt, and as they lay resting in the shade from the merciless heat of the sun. an African picked up a stone and sent it ricocheting down the mountain-side into the ravine below. After some seconds the hollow silence was broken by a plunging, splashing sound from the depths of the dark river-bed. As the echo died away the African said in a wondering whisper ‘Twi tabilo, listen to it.’ So was a precious word captured for the service of the Gospel in its Luba Christian form. Twi tabilo — ‘faith which is the echo of God’s voice in the depths of human sinful hearts, awakened by God Himself, the answer to his own importunate call.’ The faith that is called into being by the divine initiative, God’s own gift to the responsive heart! (Source: Wilfred Bradnock in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 49ff. )
The Venda term u tenda, lutendo. This term corresponds to the terms ho dumela (Southern Sotho), and ku pfumela (Tsonga) that have been used in these translations of the Bible, and means “to assent,” “to agree to a suggestion.” It is important to understand this term in the context of the character of the people who use it.
The way in which the Venda use this term reveals much about the priority of interpersonal relationships among them. They place a much higher priority on responding in the way they think they are expected to respond than on telling the truth. Smooth interpersonal relationships, especially with a dominant individual or group, take precedence over everything else.
It is therefore regarded as bad form to refuse directly when asked for something one does not in fact intend to give. The correct way is to agree, u tenda, and then forget about it or find some excuse for not keeping to the agreement. Thus u tenda does not necessarily convey the information that one means what one says. One can tenda verbally while heartily disagreeing with the statement made or having no intention whatsoever to carry out what one has just promised to do. This is not regarded as dishonesty, but is a matter of politeness.
The term u sokou tenda, “to consent reluctantly,” is often used for expressing the fatalistic attitude of the Venda in the face of misfortune or force which he is unable to resist.
The form lutendo was introduced by missionaries to express “faith.”
According to the rules of derivations and their meanings in the lu-class, it should mean “the habit of readily consenting to everything.” But since it is a coined word which does not have a clearly defined set of meanings in everyday speech, it has acquired in church language a meaning of “steadfastness in the Christian life.” Una lutendo means something like “he is steadfast in the face of persecution.” It is quite clear that the term u tenda has no element of “trust” in it. (…)
In “The Christian Minister” of July 1969 we find the following statement about faith by Albert N. Martin: “We must never forget that one of the great issues which the Reformers brought into focus was that faith was something more than an ‘assensus,’ a mere nodding of the head to the body of truth presented by the church as ‘the faith.’ The Reformers set forth the biblical concept that faith was ‘fiducia.’ They made plain that saving faith involved trust, commitment, a trust and commitment involving the whole man with the truth which was believed and with the Christ who was the focus of that truth. The time has come when we need to spell this out clearly in categorical statements so that people will realize that a mere nodding of assent to the doctrines that they are exposed to is not the essence of saving faith. They need to be brought to the understanding that saving faith involves the commitment of the whole man to the whole Christ, as Prophet, Priest and King as he is set forth in the gospel.”
We quote at length from this article because what Martin says of the current concept of faith in the Church is even to a greater extent true of the Venda Church, and because the terms used for communicating that concept in the Venda Bible cannot be expected to communicate anything more than “a mere nodding of assent”. I have during many years of evangelistic work hardly ever come across a Venda who, when confronted with the gospel, would not say, Ndi khou tenda, “I admit the truth of what you say.” What they really mean when saying this amounts to, “I believe that God exists, and I have no objection to the fact that he exists. I suppose that the rest of what you are talking about is also true.” They would often add, Ndi sa tendi hani-hani? “Just imagine my not believing such an obvious fact!” To the experienced evangelist this is a clear indication that his message is rejected in so far as it has been understood at all! To get a negative answer, one would have to press on for a promise that the “convert” will attend the baptism class and come to church on Sundays, and even then he will most probably just tenda in order to get rid of the evangelist, whether he intends to come or not. Isn’t that what u tenda means? So when an inexperienced and gullible white man ventures out on an evangelistic campaign with great enthusiasm, and with great rejoicing returns with a list of hundreds of names of persons who “believed”, he should not afterwards blame the Venda when only one tenth of those who were supposed to be converts actually turn up for baptismal instruction.
Moreover, it is not surprising at all that one often comes across church members of many years’ standing who do not have any assurance of their salvation or even realise that it is possible to have that assurance. They are vhatendi, “consenters.” They have consented to a new way of life, to abandoning (some of) the old customs. Lutendo means to them at most some steadfastness in that new way of life.
The concept of faith in religion is strange to Africa. It is an essential part of a religion of revelation such as Christianity or Islam, but not of a naturalistic religion such as Venda religion, in which not faith and belief are important, but ritual, and not so much the content of the word as the power of it.
The terms employed in the Venda Bible for this vital Christian concept have done nothing to effect a change in the approach of the Venda to religion.
It is a pity that not only in the Venda translation has this been the case, but in all the other Southern Bantu languages. In the Nguni languages the term ukukholwa, “to believe a fact,” has been used for pisteuo, and ukholo, the deverbative of ukukholwa, for pistis. In some of the older Protestant translations in Zulu, but not in the new translation, the term ithemba, “trust”, has been used.
Some languages, including Santali, have two terms — like English (see above) — to differentiate a noun from a verb form. Biswạs is used for “faith,” whereas pạtiạu for “believe.” R.M. Macphail (in The Bible Translator 1961, p. 36ff. ) explains this choice: “While there is little difference between the meaning and use of the two in everyday Santali, in which any word may be used as a verb, we felt that in this way we enriched the translation while making a useful distinction, roughly corresponding to that between ‘faith’ and ‘to believe’ in English.”
Likewise, in Noongar, koort-karni or “heart truth” is used for the noun (“faith”) and djinang-karni or “see true” for the verb (“believe”) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
See also this devotion on YouVersion .
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Faith (Word Study) .
Now is actually “But” (Good News Translation); the Greek text in fact begins with an emphatic “But you” (or better, “But as for you”), thus marking the contrast between Timothy and the false teachers mentioned in the previous section.
You have observed translates an aorist but with a perfect sense, a fact that is reflected in many translations. The ordinary meaning of the verb is “to accompany,” which makes it a fitting description of the action of a disciple in regard to his or her master; this verb in fact is used in Stoicism to describe the master-disciple relationship. From this ordinary meaning have developed two other related meanings: (1) to make a careful study and diligent investigation of something (so Contemporary English Version “you know,” New International Version “know all about”); (2) to conform to a particular model, to follow closely, to follow faithfully. This second meaning is preferred by many translations. (See further comments on the same verb translated “followed” in 1 Tim 4.6.) The rendering in Revised Standard Version have observed is ambiguous in the sense that “observe” here can mean either “watch” (that is, pay attention to) or “obey.”
Except for the last two, the nine features that Paul mentions as examples that Timothy has followed deal with personal qualities that characterize his life as a Christian and as a leader of the Christian community.
For teaching see the same term translated “doctrine” in 1 Tim 1.10. Included here is perhaps both content and method: “what I teach” and “how I teach.”
Conduct appears only here in the whole New Testament. The word denotes one’s way of life, particularly one’s daily behavior. Here it focuses on how Paul has conducted his life both as a Christian and as a church leader. So one may translate “the way I live,” “the way I walk my life.”
For aim in life (Good News Translation “purpose in life”) see comments on “purpose” in 2 Tim 1.9. The word comes from the verb that means “to plan in advance,” hence “plan,” “main purpose,” “main concern,” “intentions.”
For faith see 1 Tim 1.5. Here it could be objective, referring to content (“what I believe”), or subjective, referring to Paul’s relationship to Christ (“how much I trust Christ”).
For patience see 1 Tim 1.16.
For love see 1 Tim 1.5. As is often the case, the focus here is not vertical but horizontal, that is, love directed to people rather than to God.
For steadfastness (Good News Translation “endurance”) see 1 Tim 6.11. There is a close relationship between steadfastness and patience (see above). On the one hand, patience puts focus on the emotional state of a person, that is, a person’s ability to remain calm when confronted with adverse and unpleasant circumstances. Steadfastness, on the other hand, focuses on a person’s ability to persevere or endure in the midst of difficult situations.
In many languages it will be helpful to divide this long sentence into two sentences; for example,
• But as for you, Timothy, you have paid attention to my teaching and have lived your life as I have, having the same purpose in life. You have observed (or, seen) how much I trust in Christ, my ability to put up with troubles, how I love other people, and my ability to endure.
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 .
Section 3:10–4:8
Paul gave Timothy some more instructions and encouraged him to continue preaching the gospel
In 3:10–4:8 Paul reminded Timothy that Timothy had thoroughly learned true doctrine, so he should continue to preach it faithfully, even if he had to suffer because of it.
Paragraph 3:10–17
3:10a
You, however: This verse in Greek begins with the pronoun meaning “you (sing)” and the conjunction de, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as however. By using the pronoun as the very first word, Paul clearly contrasts Timothy with the false teachers of 3:1–9. Use the words or grammatical pattern in your language that also show such contrast. For example, you could say: “But as for you….”
In addition, since this verse begins a new section, it might be helpful for the readers if you repeat Timothy’s name. You might say, “But as for you, Timothy….”
have observed: The clause have observed is the Berean Standard Bible translation of one Greek verb. Some English versions have translated this verb literally as “follow.” (See Good News Translation, NET Bible, New American Standard Bible, New Century Version, New Jerusalem Bible.) Other versions have translated this verb metaphorically as “know” in the sense of “follow with the mind.” (See the New International Version (2011 Revision), King James Version, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), Contemporary English Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English.) Paul used this same verb in 1 Timothy 4:6.
It is important for you to notice that this one verb relates to all nine items that Paul listed in 3:10a–3:11a. In Greek, the verb occurs only once, but in many languages, it is necessary to repeat the verb at some point or to use a different verb before some of the things that Paul listed. Two English versions (Good News Translation, New Century Version) that translate the Greek verb as “follow” in 3:10a change the verb to “observe” or “know” when they repeat a verb later in the list.
In translating this verb, you have at least the following two choices:
• Follow the example of the Berean Standard Bible and begin the list with a verb that can be used with all of the items in the list. The Berean Standard Bible uses “have observed.”
• Follow the example of the New Century Version and use one verb for part of the list and another verb for the rest of the list, when it becomes necessary. The New Century Version uses “follow” and “know.”
my teaching: When Paul said my teaching he was referring to all of the doctrines that he had taught. He considered all of these doctrines to be closely related to each other and spoke of them as a group.
my: In the Greek text this pronoun occurs just once before this first item in the list of things that Timothy knew about Paul’s life and teaching. In that position it indicates that my applies to each item in the list from 3:10a–11a. The Berean Standard Bible repeats the word my for each item in the list, but you should follow the patterns for proper pronoun use in your language as you translate each of the items in 3:10b–11a. You must not feel that you have to follow the Greek or any English grammatical pattern.
3:10b–11a
In 3:10b–11a, Paul listed some of the things that characterized the way that he had served Christ. He reminded Timothy about some things that Timothy already knew about Paul and how he had served the Lord and suffered because he preached the gospel. Paul implied that he hoped Timothy would remember these characteristics and imitate them. In some languages, it may be necessary to use verbs or whole sentences to translate each of the abstract nouns that Paul used in 3:10b–11a.
3:10b
my conduct: The phrase my conduct is the translation of one Greek word. It indicates that Timothy knew that Paul had lived in a way that was right according to God’s word. He also knew that Paul behaved in the same righteous manner that he instructed the believers to follow.
3:10c
my purpose: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as purpose also occurs in 1:9d. Some other ways to translate this word are “plan,” “intention,” “goal,” or “what I want to do.”
Paul’s purpose in life was to preach God’s word to others. When groups of Christians formed congregations as a result of his preaching, it was also Paul’s purpose to teach them even more truths from the word of God, so that they would develop spiritually.
3:10d
faith: In Paul’s letters, the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as faith has at least three meanings:
(a) a Christian’s belief or trust in God,
(b) the basic doctrines that Christians believe,
(c) faithfulness or trustworthiness.
In this verse, Paul probably used the word faith in the first sense. Here Paul said that Timothy knew how much he (Paul) trusted God.
See the note in 3:10a about the word “my.”
3:10e
patience: The word patience refers to being able to endure something that is unpleasant without complaining. Here Paul was referring to his own patience towards other people as he traveled to different places preaching and teaching the good news.
love: Here Paul was referring to his love for other people, not his love for God. Paul did not define love as an emotional feeling. He defined it as an attitude of caring about the well-being of other people.
3:10f
perseverance: This word means almost the same thing as the word “patience” in 3:10e. The word perseverance refers to being able to continue doing whatever one is doing, even in difficult circumstances. Timothy knew about Paul’s perseverance because he knew that Paul had continued to preach and teach even when he was living in difficult circumstances and when people were reluctant to accept his teaching.
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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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