horse

In the Bawm Chin culture there are no horses, but one kind of buffalo is guided by a rope in its mouth, so that was used here in the translation into Bawm Chin.

See also bridle.

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Jas. 3:3)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the inclusive form (including the writer and the readers of this letter).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (James 3:3)

Following are a number of back-translations of James 3:3:

  • Uma: “Something that is small can control what is big. Usually we use-bits-with horses so that they follow our will. With a small bit we can command a big horse.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “A figure (for it is) a bridle of a horse. We (dual) put a bridle in the mouth of a horse so that he follows/obeys our (dual) wishes/will and we (dual) can carry/direct him wherever we (dual) want to go.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “We put a bit in the mouth of a horse so that we might control where we want him to go.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “For-example, if we put-a-bit-in the mouth of a horse so that he will obey us, we can direct him where we want to go.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For example a horse, provided its mouth has a bit in it, obeys wherever we want to cause it to go.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “When the reins are put in horses’ mouths, then they can be controlled. Wherever they are directed, they go.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on James 3:3

Verse 3 begins a series of three illustrations describing the power of the tongue. The relationship between the tongue and the body is like that between bit and horse, rudder and ship, and fire in the forest. They all show that something very small can effect or produce something really great.

If …: there is a textual problem at the beginning of this verse. The King James Version rendering “Behold…” is based on one variant of the text, the one with slightly weaker support. The UBS Greek New Testament (“C” rating) and a majority of scholars favor the other variant, a conditional construction rendered either as If or “When” (New International Version, Revised English Bible), and this is recommended by this Handbook.

If we put bits into the mouths of horses: in Greek this is all in the plural. In languages where it is natural to give this sort of illustration in the plural, we should by all means keep the plural form. If, however, it is more natural to use the singular form, we can follow what Good News Translation has done: “We put a bit into the mouth of a horse….” In cultures where horses are unknown, translators may say something like “an animal named horse.” It will also be helpful to include an illustration of a horse. The reference to bits links this illustration with verse 2, where a cognate verbal form “to bridle” is used. The bit is usually the steel part of a bridle inserted in the mouth of a horse; its function is to control the movement of the horse. In cultures where a “bit” is unknown, it will be best to use a short descriptive phrase in place of the noun; for example, “we put something in the mouths of horses to make them go in the right direction” or “we put a piece of metal in the mouth of a horse to….”

That they may obey us: in Greek this clause expresses purpose and so can be rendered more straightforwardly as “to make them obey us” (New Revised Standard Version) if we use the plural form, or “to make it obey us” (Good News Translation) in the singular.

In Greek there is a conjunction “and” before the next statement we guide their whole bodies. Grammatically the If we put … clause is the subordinate clause of a conditional sentence, and we guide … is the main clause. In other words “and” is a marker introducing the consequent clause. For this reason it may be desirable to make the relationship between the two clauses clearer. We can do this by supplying “can” for the main clause; for example, “If [or, When] we…, we can…” (similarly Goodspeed, New International Version, Revised English Bible). The verb guide basically means “to cause to change from one direction to another” and therefore “to turn” (so King James Version, New International Version), “to direct” (Revised English Bible), or more generally “to control” (Goodspeed), “to make it go where we want” (Good News Translation), or “turn … in different directions” (Contemporary English Version).

Quoted with permission from Loh, I-Jin and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Letter from James. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .