complete verse (Ephesians 5:15)

Following are a number of back-translations of Ephesians 5:15:

  • Uma: “That is why we must be careful of our behavior: don’t be like foolish people; rather we should behave like people whose hearts are clear/aware/mature.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Therefore be very careful as to how your conduct is. Don’t be like people who don’t know how to/cannot think instead you should have deep thoughts/reasoning/be wise.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Therefore, brothers, carefully guard over your behavior so you might be those who are wise and not those who are ignorant.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Be-careful then of your manner-of-life so that you don’t take-after the behavior of the foolish but rather the wise and thinking/reflective person.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Therefore be very careful how you live. Hopefully now (you will be) like people whose understanding is big about the life which pleases God. Don’t imitate the people who are still lost concerning these things.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Therefore now, be very careful how you walk. Do not walk like the people who do not know God walk. Rather, do so that it will be seen that you know God.” (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 Ephesians 5:15 – 5:16

The writer turns once more to warnings and advice. The readers must be careful about their conduct (again the verb “to walk,” as in verse 8). Since they are people living in the light of Christ, they must behave like wise people, not like ignorant people; that is, they must apply their Christian wisdom to the practical matters of conduct that face them.

Be careful how you live may be more appropriately rendered in some languages as “pay close attention to how you behave.” Such a shift in wording may be required since live might suggest standard of living. Similarly, the admonition Don’t live like ignorant people may be best rendered as “Don’t act like ignorant people.” The phrase ignorant people may be rendered as “people who do not know any better.”

Verse 16 in Greek follows without a break from verse 15, with the use of a participial phrase “buying up the time.” This expression is found exactly the same in Colossians 4.5. The verb means literally “to buy out, redeem,” but here and in the Colossians passage it means make good use of. Most commentators and translators give the same meaning that appears in Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version, but Barth takes it to mean “Redeem the time” (so Robinson), and Jerusalem Bible translates “This may be a wicked age, but your lives should redeem it.” But this seems most unlikely. The readers are being told to seize and use every opportunity to carry on their Christian witness, because these are evil days, a comment which reflects the Christian thinking of that time, that the period in which they lived was under the control of the Devil (see 2.2). It may be that there is the further implication that there was not too much time left before the end of the age.

In some languages it is necessary to specify what is involved in every opportunity. Accordingly, it may be necessary to translate make good use of every opportunity you have as “every time you can do something good you should” or “you should use every chance to do good.”

The statement these are evil days seems perfectly evident in meaning, and yet a literal translation might mean nothing more than “this is a period of bad weather.” It may be necessary, therefore, to translate these are evil days as “these are days when people are evil” or “in these times people are evil.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1982. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .