The Greek that is translated as “I am the way” is translated as “I am the road to heaven” in Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac, “I am the path by which you go” in Shipibo-Conibo, “I am the one who will guide you” in Asháninka, and “Because of me you will arrive to where God is” in Tenango Otomi. (Source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation 12, November 1964, p. 1ff.)
Upper Guinea Crioulo does not use definite articles. So in that language it says: “I (emph.) am way/road” and likewise: “I am truth, I am life.” (Source: David Frank)
The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is usually translated in English as “truth” is translated in Luchazi with vusunga: “the quality of being straight” (source: E. Pearson in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 160ff. ), in Obolo as atikọ or “good/correct talk” (source: Enene Enene), and in Ekari as maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (esp. in John 14:6 and 17; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).
The translation committee of the Malay “Good News Bible” (Alkitab Berita Baik, see here ) wrestled with the translation of “truth” in the Gospel of John (for more information click or tap here):
“Our Malay Committee also concluded that ‘truth’ as used in the Gospel of John was used either of God himself, or of God’s revelation of himself, or in an extended sense as a reference to those who had responded to God’s self-disclosure. In John 8:32 the New Malay translation reads ‘You will know the truth about God, and the truth about God will make you free.’ In John 8:44 this meaning is brought out by translating, ‘He has never been on the side of God, because there is no truth in him.’ Accordingly Jesus ‘tells the truth about God’ in 8:45, 46 (see also 16:7 and 8:37a). Then, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’ becomes ‘I am the one who leads men to God, the one who reveals who and what God is, and the one who gives men life.” At 3:21 the translation reads ” … whoever obeys the truth, that is God himself, comes to the light …’; 16:13a appears as ‘he will lead you into the full truth about God’; and in 18:37 Jesus affirms ‘I came into the world to reveal the truth about God, and whoever obeys God listens to me.’ On this basis also 1:14 was translated ‘we saw his glory, the glory which he had as the Father’s only Son. Through him God has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace)’; and 1:17 appears as ‘God gave the law through Moses; but through Jesus Christ he has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace).'” (Source: Barclay Newman in The Bible Translator 1974, p. 432ff. )
Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) tells of the translation into Kui which usually is “true-thing.” In some instances however, such as in the second part of John 17:17 (“your word is truth” in English), the use of “true-thing” indicated that there might be other occasions when it’s not true, so here the translation was a a form of “pure, holy.”
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. )
Following are a number of back-translations of John 14:6:
Uma: “Yesus said: ‘I am the way, I am the one who is true and who gives life. No-one comes to my Father, if not through me.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Isa said to him, ‘I am the way to/towards God, I am the source of all that is true and I am the source of life. Nobody can come to my Father God if he does not go by/through me.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way. I am the true thing to believe, I am the source of life forever. No one can get to where my Father lives if I am not the way he goes on.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Whereupon Jesus said, ‘I am the path, because I am the source/origin of truth and the one who gives life. No one goes to my Father if I am not his pathway.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Jesus answered, saying, ‘I am the one who is the trail, I am the one who is the truth and I also am the one who is the life. There’s no-one who can go there to God the Father unless I am the trail he travels.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Jesus said, ‘Because of me you will arrive to where God is. Because of me you know what is true. I give the new life. Only those who believe in me will arrive where my Father is.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
I am the way, the truth, and the life (so most translations) is a fairly literal translation of the Greek text. Of the major modern language translations, only Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has a dynamic equivalent: “I am the way, and I am also the goal, since in me you have the truth and the life.” Even this restructuring is rather ambiguous for the average reader. What is the relation between the words way, truth, and life? In the present context Jesus as “the way” is the primary focus, and “truth” and “life” are somehow related to Jesus as “the way.” Thus there are two possible interpretations: (1) The emphasis may be on the goal to which the way leads (note Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). If this exegesis is followed, one may translate “I am the way that leads to the truth and to life”; or, expressed more fully, “I am the way that leads to the truth (about God) and to the life (that God gives).” (2) However, the emphasis may be on the way itself. If this exegesis is followed, “truth” and “life” must be taken as qualifiers of “way,” which is primary in the context. One may then render “I am the true way, the way that gives people life.” Or, more fully, “I am the way that reveals the truth (about God) and gives life (to people).” In effect, the two possible interpretations are close in meaning, and it is difficult to argue for one against the other. However, the context would seem to favor the second.
For a discussion of truth, see 1.14; for life, see 1.4; and for I am, see 4.26.
That the way is in primary focus in this passage is indicated by the words of Jesus in the second half of this verse: no one goes to the Father except by me. That is, the way is in focus, and the Father is the goal to which it leads. God is the source of all truth and life, and Jesus leads people to him.
In most languages it is quite possible to speak of Jesus as “a way” or “a road,” in the sense of a means by which a person may arrive at a particular destination. However, in some languages “way” or “road” does not have this metaphorical possibility, and one must use a term which more closely identifies the concept of “means,” that is, “I am the means by which people know the truth about God….” In such cases Jesus’ statement could be rendered “I am the one by whom people know the truth about God and receive the life that God gives” or “… become truly alive” or even “… have true life.”
Rather than employ a negative such as no one followed by an exception such as except by me, it may be better in some languages to make the entire expression positive and include the concept of totality, for example, “All people must go to the Father by me” or “I alone am the one by whom people go to the Father.” This relation of Jesus to the Father as being a “way” or “road” may be rendered in some languages as “I am the only road that leads to the Father” or “… that leads to my Father.”
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 .
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