Honorary "are" construct denoting God (“say”)

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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.

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

Translation commentary on John 6:35

The people think that Jesus possesses the bread of life and that he can give it to them always. Jesus corrects both these errors. First, he indicates that he himself is the bread of life (equals “bread which gives life”), and that those who eat it will never again become hungry. The thought of Jesus as the one who gives life is central to John’s Gospel.

The metaphor in I am the bread of life is extremely difficult for some people to comprehend. It may be useful to change this expression into a simile, for example, “I am just like food that causes life.”

On the use of I am in the Gospel of John see the note at 4.26. Here I am is not used absolutely but is followed by a predicate (the bread of life).

Comes to me and believes in me are placed together here and at 7.37-38; the phrases are parallel in meaning.

In some languages the expression He who comes to me would not convey the meaning of trust or confidence. It may be necessary to say “he who becomes one of my followers.” Or it may be better to combine these two statements: “he who comes and believes in me will never hunger and never be thirsty.” This type of statement is equivalent in some languages to a conditional, for example, “If anyone comes to me and believes in me, he will never be hungry or thirsty.” It may even be necessary to mark the expressions of hunger and thirst as similes, for example, “If a man comes and believes in me, it will be as if he would never be hungry or thirsty” or “… he will never be hungry and thirsty, so to speak.”

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 .