The good shepherd (image)

Hand colored stencil print on washi by Sadao Watanabe (1975).

Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe.

For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.

complete verse (John 10:18)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 10:18:

  • Uma: “No-one can kill me if it is not my will. I choose to / would rather die of my own free will [lit., with my holy-holy heart]. I have authority/power to give my life to be killed, and I also have authority/power to live again. That is the command that I receive from my Father.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “No man/human has the authority to kill me, because I have the power whether I die or not. I surrender my life from my own will. I have the authority to surrender my life and I have authority to make my body/myself alive again. This is what my Father God commanded me.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I was not forced by any person, because I will allow myself to be killed of my own will. I have a right to allow myself to be killed, and it is also my right to be raised again because my Father God commanded this to me.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Definitely no one will kill me if I am not the originator of the thought, because I have authority to give my life and I also have authority to take-it-back. Because this is what God commanded me.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “There’s no person who could sever my life/breath, but on the contrary this is my will to give it. I am the one who owns life/breath and I have supernatural-power to give my life/breath and to reclaim it again. This also is the task given me which comes from my Father.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “No one can kill me if that is what I want. But I myself want to give up my life. I have power to give up my life and I have power to again live. This is the word my Father told me.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 10:18

In Greek my life is literally a pronoun “it,” which Good News Translation makes explicit by translating as a noun.

In place of the present tense, takes … away, some ancient Greek manuscripts have the past tense “took away” (New English Bible “No one has robbed me of it”). The past tense is obviously the more difficult reading. It is best taken, not as a reference to past attempts on Jesus’ life, but rather to the crucifixion viewed from the time the Gospel was written, rather than from the time Jesus was speaking. The UBS Committee prefers the present tense, because the manuscript evidence supporting the past tense is too limited in its range and represents only the Egyptian family of manuscripts. Evidently most translators prefer the present tense, but modern commentators tend to consider the past tense as the original reading.

The present tense in No one takes my life away from me is entirely acceptable in English, since it refers to a process reported as already begun or contemplated. However, in some languages the present tense would not be acceptable, since it would imply that Jesus was at that very time in process of dying. Therefore it may be necessary to say “No one will take my life away from me.” A literal translation of “take my life away from me” may be misleading or even impossible. One may translate “kill,” but it is not the meaning of this passage to say “no one will kill me.” The meaning must be expressed in some languages as “No one will kill me unless I let him do so” or “… unless I permit him to kill me.”

Of my own free will (so also New English Bible and Jerusalem Bible) is the meaning most translations give to Jesus’ words. The same expression is used in 5.30 (Good News Translation on my own authority). I give it up of my own free will may be rendered in some languages “I am the one who allows myself to be killed” or “I am the one who permits my life to cease.”

The noun translated right (so also New English Bible) is rendered “power” in most translations. The same word is used in 1.12, and its primary meaning is right or “authority,” though some commentators believe that in this context it is equivalent to “power.” Here the meaning right seems more in keeping with the context, since it is something the Father has commanded Jesus to do. That is, the meaning right or “authority” is more in keeping with the idea of a command than is the meaning “power.” In some languages the closest equivalent to right is “ability,” for example, “I am able to give up my life and I am able to take it back again” or “I am able to permit myself to be killed, and I am able to come back to life.”

My Father has commanded me to do translates substitute passive construction in Greek (literally “this command I received from my Father”). Good News Translation makes it into an active construction. It may be necessary to restructure the final sentence of verse 18 as direct discourse, for example, “My Father has commanded me, ‘This is what you shall do.’ ”

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 .