world (Chinese)

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “world” in English is translated in Mandarin Chinese with shìjiè (世界). While shìjiè is now the commonly used term for “world” in Chinese, it was popularized as such by Chinese Bible translations. (Source: Mak 2017, p. 241ff.)

See also world.

complete verse (John 16:28)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 16:28:

  • Uma: “I am indeed from God, and I have come here into this world. Now I leave this world, I go back to my Father.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Yes, I have come from my Father God to the world. And now I am leaving this world and go back to my Father.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I came from my Father, and I came here to the earth, and now I am leaving the earth and I am returning to my Father.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “My Father is the one I came-from to come to this world, and he also is the one to-whom-I-will-return, because now I am leaving this world.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “I really have come from the Father and I descended and came here to this world. Well now/today, I will now leave here under the heavens for I will go home now to the Father.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “I came from my Father when I came here to the earth. And now I am going to leave the earth and go to heaven where my Father is.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Father (address for God)

The Greek that is translated with the capitalized “Father” in English when referring to God is translated in Highland Totonac with the regular word for (biological) father to which a suffix is added to indicate respect. The same also is used for “Lord” when referring to Jesus. (Source: Hermann Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. )

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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. In the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017, God the Father is addressed with mi-chichi (御父). This form has the “divine” honorific prefix mi– preceding the archaic honorific form chichi for “father.”

If, however, Jesus addresses his Father, he is using chichi-o (父を) which is also highly respectful but does not have the “divine” honorific. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also Lord and my / our Father.

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on John 16:28

This verse is a summary of John’s teaching regarding the Son: he came from the Father into the world, and he leaves the world to return to the Father. I did come from the Father is omitted from some Greek manuscripts, but the UBS Committee considers this omission accidental. All translations include this clause, although New American Bible places it in brackets, indicating some doubt regarding its authenticity.

In Greek the verb did come is in the aorist tense, pointing back to the particular moment of the Son’s coming into the world, while came is in the perfect tense, emphasizing the lasting effect of his coming. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates the two verbs as one: “I have come from the Father into the world.” Most other translations maintain two distinct verbs.

And now (so also Jerusalem Bible; “now” of many translations) is literally “again” (so Revised Standard Version, Moffatt), a particle used to indicate what is next in sequence.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .