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 Colossians 1:9

The phrase for this reason should not refer specifically to the love which the believers in Colossae had manifested, but to all of their experience in Christian faith. It may, therefore, be necessary in some cases to use a transitional expression which will be more inclusive, for example, “because of all this,” or “because of all you have experienced,” or “because of all that has happened to you.”

We have always prayed represents the Greek “we never stop praying,” which is not to be taken literally, of course. In the place of we have always prayed, one may more appropriately translate this in some instances as “we continued to pray.”

Ever since we heard about you may be rendered as “beginning the first day we heard about you and even until now” or “we began praying for you when we first heard about you and we still do.”

We ask God to fill you represents the passive “asking that you be filled”; the active is used in order to make God explicit, as the one who does the filling. Other ways may be sought to express the idea of “fill”: compare Translator’s New Testament “you may be completely certain”; Barclay “have complete insight”; New English Bible “you may receive from him … for full insight.”

To fill you with the knowledge is essentially a causative expression and, therefore, may be best rendered in some languages as “to cause you to have knowledge” or “to cause you to experience.” In those instances, in which languages require direct discourse, one may say, “We ask God, Cause the believers in Colossae to know….”

Knowledge is here the compound noun, related to the verb “to know” in verse 7. As commentators point out, this is not merely intellectual perception, but living relationship.

His will is, in this context, God’s design, purpose, plan, intention for his people. The knowledge of his will is really “to experience what God wants for you.” This may be expressed as “to experience what God wants you to do,” but more likely as “to experience what God wants you to experience.”

Wisdom and understanding: the word “wisdom” (sophia) is used often in NT, and in Colossians it appears further in 1.28; 2.3, 23; 3.16; 4.5; “understanding” (sunesis) appears once more in (Colossians 2.2), and in 5 other places in the NT: Mark 12.33, Luke 2.47, 1 Cor 1.19 (from Isa 29.14), Eph 3.4, 2 Tim 2.7. No sharp difference in meaning is to be sought between the two words: they are joined together for emphasis to denote complete apprehension, knowledge, of God’s will.

The relation of “all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Revised Standard Version) to the preceding the knowledge of his will, as expressed by the preposition “in” (Revised Standard Version), is perhaps one of means; it is by means of all spiritual wisdom and understanding that the Colossians will have the knowledge of God’s will. Since wisdom and understanding are essentially the means by which the believers in Colossae would experience God’s will, this relationship may be expressed as a causative, “being wise and having understanding will cause you to know God’s will.”

That his Spirit gives translates the Greek adjective “spiritual.” Many translate “all spiritual wisdom and understanding,” which may better represent the intention of the text. Only Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and Bible en français courant do as Good News Translation has done, making it an explicit reference to God’s Spirit as the source of wisdom and understanding (so Abbott, Peake). Or it can also be taken to mean “wisdom and understanding about spiritual matters.” But it may be said that with Paul such “spiritual” knowledge is ultimately from (the Spirit of) God. Since the relationship of the Spirit of God to wisdom and understanding is perhaps best interpreted as causative, one may say “which God’s Spirit causes you to have.” This causative relationship may, therefore, be combined with the previous as “God’s Spirit causes you to be wise and have understanding and this causes you to know God’s will.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Colossians 1:9

Paragraph 1:9–12

Theme: Paul was constantly asking God to help the Colossians to know all that God wanted them to do.

In these verses Paul was not actually praying. Rather, he was telling the Colossians what he usually prayed for them. In Greek these four verses are one long sentence. You will probably need to divide this sentence into several sentences in your translation, as most English versions do. The main part of the long sentence is “we have not stopped praying for you and asking God…” (1:9a–b). The rest of these verses contain a list of what Paul was praying for the Colossians.

Study the different ways the English versions have broken 1:9–12 into different sentences. Consider how you can arrange the sentences and connect them together to make Paul’s prayer sound natural in your language. One way to do this would be to repeat, “We pray that…” at the beginning of each subject Paul prayed for the Colossians.

1:9a

For this reason: These words connect 1:9–12 with what Paul said in 1:3–8. Because of the news Paul had heard about the Colossians, he prayed for them.

we have not stopped praying for you: This is another hyperbole (see 1:6b). It does not mean that Paul prayed for the Colossian believers all day and all night and never stopped. It means that he prayed for them often and regularly. If it is more natural in your language, you could translate not stopped praying in a positive way. For example:

we have always prayed for you (Good News Translation)

See also New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004).

1:9b

to fill you with the knowledge of: This is a figure of speech. To be “filled with knowledge of something” means “to know something fully, to understand it completely.”

His will: God’s will is what God wants and desires. So Paul was praying that God would cause the Colossians to know fully what he wanted for them. He was praying that they would understand all that God wanted them to do.

1:9c

in all spiritual wisdom and understanding: The Greek preposition en that the Berean Standard Bible translates in has many possible meanings depending on the context. Because of this, commentators have three opinions of how to connect 1:9b and 1:9c:

(1) 1:9c is the means by which a person is filled with the knowledge of God’s will (1:9b). So 1:9b–c means: “[We ask God] to cause you to know fully all that he wants you to do by means of him making you very wise and enabling you to understand spiritual things.”

(New International Version, God’s Word, New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) 1:9c is a restatement of 1:9b. So 1:9b–c means: “[We ask God] to cause you to know fully all that he wants you to do; that is, we ask him to make you very wise and to enable you to understand spiritual things.” No English version follows this, but several commentaries support it.

(3) 1:9c is something that accompanies 1:9b. So Paul not only prayed that God would fill the Colossians with the knowledge of God’s will, but also with all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

(Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004))

All these options are possible. The Display follows the first interpretation (1) because it has strong support from both English versions and commentaries. If you wish to follow the second option, you could say:

that is, ⌊that God will fill you⌋ with all spiritual wisdom and understanding

all spiritual wisdom and understanding: The order of the words in Greek here is: “all wisdom and understanding spiritual.” It is not clear from this word order how the adjectives all and spiritual are connected to the nouns wisdom and understanding. There are two main possibilities:

(1) The adjectives all and spiritual modify both nouns, so it is translated all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, NET Bible, New Living Translation (2004))

(2) The adjective all only modifies the noun wisdom and the adjective spiritual only modifies the noun understanding. For example:

perfect (all) wisdom and spiritual understanding (New Jerusalem Bible)

(New Jerusalem Bible, see also SSA)

It is recommended you follow the first interpretation (1) like the majority of English versions and commentaries do. This means that Paul was not simply praying that the Colossians would be wise, but that they would be wise “spiritually.”

spiritual: There are two ways to understand spiritual in this context:

(1) It means being wise about and understanding spiritual matters, that is, about God and his ways.

(New Century Version)

(2) It means that the wisdom and understanding come from the Holy Spirit.

(Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version)

Either of these interpretations is acceptable. Most English versions are ambiguous. The Display follows the first interpretation (1), which is supported by many commentaries. If you wish to follow the second interpretation you could say:

⌊we(excl.) ask⌋ God to make you very wise and cause you to understand ⌊his ways⌋ by means of the Holy Spirit ⌊helping you⌋

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