Lloyd Peckham explains the Mairasi translation: “In secret stories, not knowable to women nor children, there was a magical fruit of life. If referred to vaguely, without specifying the specific ‘fruit,’ it can be an expression for eternity.”
The Greek that is translated as “eat my flesh and drink my blood” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as mein Fleisch kaut und mein Blut schlürft or “chew my flesh and slurp my blood.”
(1) Possible items in general, taking normal or “neutral” pronoun forms
(2) Edible items, to which are linked “edible” pronoun forms
(3) Drinkable items, to which are linked “drinkable” pronoun forms
(4) Body parts and kinship, taking “familiar” pronoun suffixed forms.
The Greek terms that are translated as “body (or: flesh)” and “blood” used in John 6:52-56 “as symbols of Christ’s sacrifice are not treated by either version as edible and drinkable objects, even though they are said in the text to be eaten and drunk. The apparent reason is that the passage is taken to be about the institution of a memorial and not about the actions of eating and drinking themselves. Hence the translators use the familiar pronoun for the body part (lewequ ‘my body’) and the neutral pronoun for the blood part (noqu dra ‘my blood’).”
Following are a number of back-translations of John 6:54:
Uma: “The people who eat my body and drink my blood, they receive good life forever, and I raise them on Kiama Day.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “The ones who eat my flesh and drink my blood live forever. And I will make them alive in the last day.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because he who eats my body and drinks my blood has already come to own life forever, and I will raise him up in the future on that last day;” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Because those who eat my body and drink my blood, it is they to whom God gives life that is forever, and they also are the ones I will make-alive at the last day.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “That one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood, he has life which is without ending and I really will raise him to life again at the end of the world.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has the new life forever. And I will cause him to be resurrected at the last day.” (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 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.
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®).
The verb here translated eats was originally used only in reference to animals, and some commentators see here the meaning of “gnaw” or “munch,” which would underscore the realism of this passage as a reference to the Lord’s Supper. However, in New Testament times the verb was also used in reference to people, and so some commentators assume that John uses this verb for the present tense of “to eat.” Most translations have the equivalent of eats in the present context, though New American Bible has “feeds on.” The same verb is used four times in this paragraph (verses 54,56,57,58) and in 13.18. It appears also in Matthew 24.38, where it is again used of people, not animals.
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 .
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