The Greek words that are often translated with “assurance” in English are translated in Lisu with a combination of “to know” + “faith” + “satisfied.”
Arrington (2020, p. 74) explains: “A persistent stumbling block with the Bible translation was that the Lisu language lacked many essential words that were commonly used in the biblical text. In 1931, Leila Cooke reported that Lisu church leaders had approved the addition of seventy-one words to the Lisu language at recent Bible schools at Muchengpo and at Gospel Mountain. ‘Among these is the word for assurance.’ To make the new word they combine the Lisu ‘to know,’ ‘faith,’ and ‘satisfied.’”
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 readers of this letter).
Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.
“Hope is sometimes one of the most difficult terms to translate in the entire Bible. It is not because people do not hope for things, but so often they speak of hoping as simply ‘waiting.’ In fact, even in Spanish, the word esperar means both ‘to wait’ and ‘to hope.’ However, in many instances the purely neutral term meaning ‘to wait’ may be modified in such a way that people will understand something more of its significance. For example, in Tepeuxila Cuicatec hope is called ‘wait-desire.’ Hope is thus a blend of two activities: waiting and desiring. This is substantially the type of expectancy of which hope consists.
In Yucateco the dependence of hope is described by the phrase ‘on what it hangs.’ ‘Our hope in God’ means that ‘we hang onto God.’ The object of hope is the support of one’s expectant waiting. In Ngäbere the phrase “resting the mind” is used. This “implies waiting and confidence, and what is a better definition of hope than ‘confident waiting’.” (Source for this and above: Nida 1952, p. 20, 133)
Enlhet: “waitings of (our) innermost” (“innermost” or valhoc is a term that is frequently used in Enlhet to describe a large variety of emotions or states of mind — for other examples see here) (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )
Kwang: “one’s future is restored to one’s soul like a fresh, cool breeze on a hot day.” (Source: Mark Vanderkooi right here )
Noongar: koort-kwidiny or “heart waiting” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Anjam: “looking through the horizon” (source: Albert Hoffmann in his memoirs from 1948, quoted in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 7)
Ron: kintiɓwi or “put lip” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Alekano: “wait not hearing two ears” (meaning to “wait without being double-minded” — source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation June 1986, p. 36ff.)
Marathiaasha (आशा) with a stronger emphasis on desire
In Mwera “hope” and “faith” are translated with the same word: ngulupai. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
C.M. Doke looks at a number of Bantu languages and their respective translations of “hope” with slightly varying connotations (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 9ff. ):
Xhosa and Zulu: themba “hope, expect,” also “have faith in, rely upon”
Tswana: tsholofelo “hope, expect, look for confidently”
Southern Sotho: tshepo “trust, rely on, believe in, have confidence in”
“Unlike English, which uses the word hope broadly, the French language uses two words that derive from the word espérer (to hope): espoir and espérance. Both can first refer to something hoped for. In this sense, the word espoir usually refers to an uncertain object; that is, someone who hopes for something in this way does not have the certainty that it will happen (“I hope the weather will be nice tomorrow”). On the other hand, espérance describes what, rightly or wrongly, is hoped for or expected with certainty. It often refers to a philosophical or eschatological object (‘I hope in the goodness of human beings’; ‘I hope for the return of Jesus Christ’).
“When we speak of espoir or espérance, we then have in mind different types of objects hoped for. This difference matters, because both terms also commonly refer to the state of mind that characterizes the hopeful. And this state of mind will be different precisely according to the object hoped for.
“Having espoir for an uncertain yet better future in these difficult times may be a good thing, but it is not enough. Such hope can be disappointed and easily fade away when our wishes and expectations (our hopes) do not materialize.
“The opposite is true with espérance, which is deeper than our desire and wish for an end to a crisis or a future without pain and suffering. To face the trials of life, we need peace and joy in our hearts that come from expecting certain happiness. This is what espérance is: a profound and stable disposition resulting from faith in the coming of what we expect. In this sense, it is similar in meaning to the English word hopefulness.
“If we have believed in the Son of the living God, we have such a hope. It rests on the infallible promises of our God, who knows the plans he has for us, his children — plans of peace and not misfortune, to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). By using the two meanings of the word, we can say that the espérance that the fulfillment of his promises represents (the object hoped for) fills us with espérance (the state of mind).”
Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 6:11:
Uma: “But we (excl.) really request, relatives, that every one of you exert effort to have behavior like that until the end, so that you indeed get what you are hoping for from God.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “That is what we (excl.) wish, that each one of you simply/just perseveres doing like that as long as you live so that your expectation from/hope in God will be fulfilled.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Now as for each of you, we desire that you do not abandon your hard work until the time when Jesus returns in the future, so that at the time will be fulfilled for you, all of the good things that we (incl.) are expecting.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “What I extremely desire, it is that each of you will persevere in hoping for the fulfillment of what God has promised until the last day.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But what I desire is that each one of you persevere in doing like this until the Lord returns here, so that your assurance (of receiving) all that we who are believing/obeying him are hoping-for/expecting will become all the more sturdy.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “And now, I want that whatever help comes to your hearts to do for your fellow believers, you will continue to do it for all the days. Then concerning the good you wait for God to give you, it will certainly be given to you.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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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).
Our great desire must in most languages be expressed by a verb; for example, “We desire greatly” or “We desire very much.” Our really represents the desire of the writer and therefore may be translated as “I desire very much.” As can be seen from Revised Standard Version, this verse repeats the Greek word for “show” from verse 10 and uses it to make a comparison. “The same earnestness” (eagerness, keenness) may imply (a) “be as earnest in the future as you have been in the past” or (b) “be as earnest in your hope as you have been in your work of love.” The first alternative is simpler, since the writer has just stated that the help they have been giving belongs to their salvation and is pleasing to God.
To the end comes at the end of the verse in Greek and is therefore emphasized. New English Bible does this by expansion: “until your hope is finally realized.”
In a number of languages it is impossible to speak of to the end without indicating what end is involved. Here, the end may mean either the end of the age or the end of the readers’ lives. 11.40 suggests that the writer may not have separated the two events. In many languages it is necessary to choose either the end of the age or the end of their lives. Sometimes it is possible to employ a rather general phrase such as “until the time you reach your goal.” This figurative substitute may be justified in view of the obscurity of the text itself.
That each one of you keep up his eagerness to the end may be restructured as “that each one of you continue to be eager until the end.”
In 10.22, Revised Standard Version‘s “assurance” means “confidence” (Good News Translation has sure) and is close in meaning to the word which Good News Bible translates confidence in 3.6, brave in 4.16, complete freedom in 10.19, and courage in 10.35. Here, however, the word may mean “fullness,” and hope may stand for “what you hope for.” This would give the meaning “show the same eagerness to the end, with a view to receiving the full measure of what you hope for.” This fits in well, both with the immediate context (see the next verse) and with the underlying theme discussed at the beginning of section 6.9-12.
The things you hope for may be expressed as “what you wait for patiently and with desire” or “the good which you wait for with patience.” The Greek term for hope has the important components of patience, waiting for, and the expectation of something good.
Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
There are several ways to order the phrases in this verse. Be sure to use a natural way in your language to express the relationship of the phrases. See the General Comment on 6:11 at the end of 6:11 for examples.
We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure: There are two views about what the phrase to the very end is connected to in this verse:
(1) It is connected to “show the same diligence.” It means that they should be diligent to the very end. For example:
We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. (New International Version)
(2) It is connected to “realize the full assurance of hope.” It means that they should be eager to realize the hope until the end. For example:
And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end. (New American Standard Bible)
Some English versions are ambiguous. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most English versions and commentators.
We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end: In 6:10 the author indicated that the listeners had showed love for God by serving other believers. Here in 6:11 the author told them to continue to show that same eagerness to serve until the end of their lives. Some other ways to translate this meaning are:
and we earnestly request that every one of you will continue to behave like that for as long as you live -or-
Our great desire is that you will keep on faithfully doing this until you die
6:11a
We: The word We refers here to the author of Hebrews. It does not include the listeners. At the time when Hebrews was written, it was common for an author to use a plural form to refer to himself. In some languages it is more natural to use a singular form like “I.”
want: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as want means “to earnestly desire.” It indicates here that the author strongly desired his listeners to be diligent. Other ways to translate this meaning are:
greatly desire -or-
earnestly beg/plead
In some languages it may more natural to use a noun to translate the meaning. For example:
great desire (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
earnest wish (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English) -or-
longing
to show this same diligence: The phrase this same diligence refers to the same type of eager effort and perseverance that the listeners showed in the past when they served God’s people. It indicates that they were devoted to what they were doing. In some languages it is more natural to use a verb to translate this phrase. For example:
to persevere -or-
to faithfully continue to do this
6:11b
to the very end: In Greek this phrase is more literally, “until the end.” There are two ways to interpret this phrase:
(1) It means “to the end of their lives.” For example:
as long as life lasts (New Living Translation (2004))
(New Living Translation (2004), New Century Version)
(2) It means “until the end of time when the Lord returns.” For example:
until the last day
Most English versions are ambiguous. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). In the context of Hebrews, the believers suffered persecution and might be killed for following Jesus. It is important for believers to be faithful to him for as long as we live.
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
all your lives (New Century Version) -or-
as long as you live
in order to make your hope sure: This clause indicates the purpose of continuing to be diligent. The listeners should continue to be diligent so that they will be sure to receive what they hope for. Some other ways to translate this clause are:
so that you will receive what you have fully/confidently expected -or-
so you will surely get what you hope for (New Century Version)
hope: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as hope refers to expecting something with confidence that it will happen. That expectation is based on a reason. In this context hope refers to being confident that God will do the good things that he promised to do for his people.
In some languages it is more natural to express hope with a clause. For instance:
what you hope for -or-
what you confidently expect
This word occurred also in 3:6. See how you translated it there. It also occurs in 6:18, 7:19 and 10:23.
General Comment on 6:11
In this verse the author indicated that the listeners should continue to do what he praised them for doing in 6:10. Be sure that the reference back to those actions is clear. Some other ways to make it clear are:
We really request that every one of you exert effort to have behavior like that until the end so that you will indeed get what you are hoping for from God. -or-
That is what we wish, that each one of you simply/just perseveres doing like that as long as you live so that your expectation from God will be fulfilled.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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