he who, whoever

The Greek that is typically translated with a generic expressions such as “he who,” “whoever,” or “if anyone” in English is translated with the plural form (“they”) in Daga. “A literal translation of these conveys the idea that one specific unnamed individual is being discussed. Thus, for instance, in John 5:24 ‘he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life’ meant in Daga that there was one fortunate individual to whom it applied.”

See also love your neighbor as yourself.

complete verse (John 6:57)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 6:57:

  • Uma: “‘My Father sent me, He is the source of life, and I live from / because-of him. So also the people who eat my body, they receive goodness from me.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “My Father God who sent me, he really is the source of life and I live because of him. Likewise also the people who eat me, they live because of me.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “My Father who is the one who sent me, he has life, and because of that I also have life. And just the same with the one who eats me because I will give him life forever.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “I live on-account-of my Father who sent me, because he is the source of life. It is the same also with the one who eats me, he lives on-account-of me.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “The Father is really living who sent me to come here and as for me, I am also living because of him. Like that indeed will be whoever eats me. He is living because of me.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “My Father lives and I live because of him. My Father sent me so that I will cause to live those who eat my flesh.” (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 6:57

In Greek this verse reads “In the same way that the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me.” Good News Translation restructures this complex sentence into two simpler sentences. Since the actual comparison is between the first two statements (“In the same way … because of the Father”) and the final statement (“so he … because of me”), Good News Translation does not introduce the comparison (in the same way) until the second sentence. Thus a more natural English structure is achieved, and at the same time a long, involved sentence is avoided. It should be noted that Good News Translation substitutes the pronoun him for “the Father” in the phrase “because of the Father”—also in keeping with the desire to attain naturalness in English.

The expression the living Father does not occur elsewhere in the Scriptures, though the phrase “the living God” appears in both the Old and New Testaments. The phrase is probably used on the analogy of the living bread mentioned in verse 51, so that the meaning of the living Father would be “the Father who is the source of life” or “the Father who gives life.”

Note that whereas the preceding verse reads eats my flesh, this verse reads eats me; the meaning is the same.

In 5.21 also the Father is said to have life-giving power; according to this passage the Son derives his power to give life from his union with the Father.

The agents expressed in the phrases because of him and because of me may be clearly marked by indicating a causal relation, for example, “the Father who causes people to live sent me, and he has caused me to live. In the same way if anyone eats me, I will cause him to live.”

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 .