flesh (human nature)

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The Greek that is often translated as “flesh” in English (when referring to the lower human nature) can, according to Nida (1947, p. 153) “very rarely be literally translated into another language. ‘My meat’ or ‘my muscle’ does not make sense in most languages.” He then gives a catalog of almost 30 questions to determine a correct translation for that term.

Accordingly, the translations are very varied:

The Toraja-Sa’dan translation uses a variety of terms for the translation of the same Greek term (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight)

  • A form of kale tolinona or “corporeal” is for instance used in Romans 9:5 or Colossians 1:22 (and also in Genesis 6:3 and Exodus 30:32)
  • A form of mentolinona or “the human” is for instance used in Matthew 16:17 or John 1:14
  • Phrases that include pa’kalean or “bodiliness” (also: “human shape”) are for instance used in Romans 6:6 or 1 Peter 2:11 (as well as in Isa 52:14, Isa 53:2, and Lamentations 4:7

(Source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 207ff. )

See also spirit / flesh, old self, and flesh (John 1:14).

complete verse (Romans 8:5)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 8:5:

  • Uma: “Whoever follow the evil desires of their heart, that-that always is what they think about. People like that get death that separates them from God. But whoever follow the desire of the Holy Spirit, the desire of the Holy Spirit is what they think about, and they get good life and peace/unity/agreement with God.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “The people ruled by their greedy-desires, what they are always thinking of is obeying/following the wishes of their greedy-desire. But the people ruled by the Holy Spirit, what they always think about is following/obeying the will/wish of the Holy Spirit.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For anyone whose evil desires are the thing that control him, the only thing he can think about is what is wanted by the evil desires of his body. But by contrast, anybody who the Holy Spirit is the one who controls him, the thing that is big in his breath is what the Holy Spirit wants.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The person who obeys his evil desires, those alone are what his mind is concentrated on, and the result is that he will be separated from God forever. But the one who obeys the Holy Spirit, his mind is concentrated on what the Holy Spirit desires, and the result is that his mind will become peaceful while at-the-same-time he enjoys life that has no end.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The person who by his own thoughts takes the road he walks (lives) is one who earnestly does according to the evil in which people live. But the person who is given the good thoughts on how to walk by the Holy Spirit, is one who earnestly does according to the will of God.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Spirit (of God) (Japanese honorifics)

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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-tama (御霊) or “Spirit (of God)” in the referenced verses.

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

See also Holy Spirit

Translation commentary on Romans 8:5

Verse 5 takes up the thought begun in verse 4 and expands it. Exegetically the verse is not difficult; Paul is simply saying that the way in which one lives is determined by that on which one focuses one’s thoughts. He is speaking of the contrast between a life which is controlled by one’s own human nature and the life which is controlled by God’s Spirit. The New English Bible implies that the contrast is between one’s “lower nature” and one’s “spiritual nature,” but this does not seem to be what Paul means. In this verse, as in the following verses, the word mind(s) is used as a comprehensive term to refer to one’s will and affections as well as one’s reason.

In this verse, in the rest of the chapter, and in a number of other contexts, it may be necessary to translate Spirit (with initial capital letter) as “the Spirit of God” or “the Holy Spirit.” Capitalization alone is usually not sufficient to indicate clearly to the hearer that the reference is to the Holy Spirit. This is especially true if the term for Spirit may be either completely neutral in connotation or possibly have the implication of an evil spirit when the context does not mark it otherwise.

For many languages the equivalent of human nature in this context is “the body”—for example, “those who live as their body commands have their minds controlled by what their body wants,” “… what their body wants controls their thinking,” “or … causes them only to think of that.” Similarly, the second sentence of verse 5 may be rendered as “those who live as the Spirit tells them to live think only about what the Spirit wants,” “what the Spirit wants controls what they think,” or “… occupies all their attention.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .