serve (Igede)

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “serve,” “minister,” “walk with,” or “service” is translated in Igede as myị ẹrụ or “agree with message (of the one you’re serving).” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

See also serve.

messenger

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “messenger” in English is translated in Noongar as moort yana-waangki or “person walk-talk” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

truly truly - I tell you

The Greek that is often translated in English as “truly, truly, I tell you” or similar is translated in the Russian BTI translation (publ. 2015) as Поверьте Мне (Pover’te Mne) or “trust me.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

See also Amen.

complete verse (John 13:16)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 13:16:

  • Uma: “‘These my words are very true: a slave is not more important than his nobleman. A messenger is not more important that the one who sent him.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Truly I tell you, that the servant/slave is not greater than his master. And the one being commanded is not greater than the one commanding him.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “It is really true what I say to you, that the servant, he is not greater than the one who commands him.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because this that I tell you is true that a slave is not greater than his master, and likewise also one who is sent who is not greater than the one who sent him. I did this to you so that you will have an example-to-follow so that that also is what you will do to your companions.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “This is really the truth which I am saying, that as for the servant, he is not more important than his master. And that one who is only sent, he is not more important than he who sent him.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Truly I tell you that a worker should not think he cannot do like his boss does. A messenger should not think that he cannot do like the one who sent him does.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff.), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.

In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.

Translation commentary on John 13:16

I am telling you the truth is used a number of times in John’s Gospel. For its first occurrence see 1.51.

No slave is greater than … no messenger is greater than is literally “a slave is not greater than … a messenger is not greater than….” The word translated messenger appears only here in John’s Gospel: it is the normal word for “apostle,” but all translators recognize that it does not have that technical sense here. This verse is similar to Matthew 10.24: No pupil is greater than his teacher; no slave is greater than his master. The meaning is obvious: the disciple is not to feel too important to perform the acts of service that his Lord performed, nor is he to expect better treatment from the world than his Lord received.

In this context greater may be understood in the sense of “more important,” for example, “No slave is more important than his master.” Comparison may be expressed in some languages as involving a surpassing quality, for example, “No slave surpasses his master in being great.” For other languages a positive-negative contrast may be helpful, for example, “No slave is great while his master is not great.”

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 .