John 17:12

in the name of, on the account of his (or: my) name

Some of the Hebrew and Greek phrases that are translated in English in association with “name,” including “in the name of,” “in my name,” “in your name,” “on the account of my name,” “on the account of your name” (according to a classification by Robert Bratcher in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 72ff. , phrases that belong to the categories of “Agency or instrumentality” and “Representation”) present a number of challenges in other languages.

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Eugene Nida (1947, p 178ff.) explains this way:

“The biblical attitudes toward human personality are of great theological importance. There is, however, only one word which produces any considerable difficulty in other languages. This is the word ‘name.’ The great difference attached to the significance of the name of a person in the Bible times in contrast with our own culture is very important. Note such phrases as ‘whatsoever ye shall ask in my name,’ John 14:13, ‘believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God,’ John 3:18, and ‘life through his name,’ John 20:31. These expressions are generally difficult for us to understand, for the word ‘name’ does not mean the same to us as it meant to those of Bible times. To them the name was the symbolization of the authority and personality of the individual who possessed the name. To us a name is far less important. It may be changed whenever one can convince a judge that another name might be more economically advantageous. The name is also a legal method of giving one’s written assent to certain business transactions, but to us it is not the symbol of the personality.”

The translation in Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl typically is “in someone’s authority” (for instance “I have come in my Father’s name” in John 5:43 becomes “I have come on my Father’s authority”) (source Nida 1947, p. 179), or in Highland Puebla Nahuatl with the more paraphrastic equivalent “as though on orders from you” or in Tzeltal as “by your authority, so he said” (both examples for Mark 9:38 and 39, see Bratcher / Nida).

In Guhu-Samane, Mark 11:9 (in English: “Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord”) is translated as “Blessed is the Lord’s namesake who comes.” “In the name of the Lord” caused “puzzlement [because] “has he just assumed the name of the Lord, valid or otherwise? [But] with ‘blessed is the Lord’s namesake who comes’ the strong bond between the namesake and the important ancestor for whom named entitles the namesake to the deference due the ancestor. Thought very proper in this context.” (Source: Ernest L. Richert in Notes on Translation December 1963: p. 4-7; reprinted in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff. )

Barclay Newman (see The Bible Translator 1974, pp, 432ff. ) reports on different solutions for the translation of the Today’s Malay Version (Alkitab Berita Baik, 1987):

In Malay “the phrase ‘in my name’ is problematic (…) since it sounds like the use of magic. For this reason [the English] Today’s English Version (Good News Bible) was followed at such passages as John 5:43 and 10:25, where ‘in the name of my Father’ is translated as ‘with my Father’s authority’ and ‘by my Father’s authority’ [respectively]. In John 12:13 ‘in the name of the Lord’ has become ‘in his (the Lord’s) behalf,’ following the common language German translation Die Gute Nachricht. In John 14:13, ‘because you are my followers’ is used, in John in 15:16, 16:23 and 24 ‘as my followers,’ in John 17:11 ‘by your own power, the power you gave me,’ and in John 14:26 ‘in my place.'”

Other translations for “in the name of Jesus Christ” include “in the authority of Jesus Christ” (Isthmus Mixe), “calling on Jesus Christ” (Teutila Cuicatec), “calling the name of Jesus Christ over you” (Ayutla Mixtec), “because of Jesus” (Tepeuxila Cuicatec), “by the power of the name of Jesus Christ” (Chichimeca-Jonaz), or “the word of Jesus Christ is strong” (Lalana Chinantec). (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.).

scripture

The Greek that is translated “scripture” or “scriptures” in English is translated as “God’s word which people wrote” in Guerrero Amuzgo (source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125) and “paper writings” in Copainalá Zoque (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.).

While the term “Bible,” often used as a synonym, does not appear in the Bible itself, there’s an interesting translation of that word in Dehu. Missionaries had translated “Bible” as “Container of the Word” until they realized that this was also used for “penis sheath.” (Source: Clifford 1992, p. 87)

For other translations of scripture see all scripture is inspired by God and examined the scriptures.

form of address between the persons of the Trinity

In Hindi a differentiation is made between the way that the different persons of the Trinity are addressed by a regular person or by another person of the Trinity. When Jesus addresses God the Father or when God the Father addresses Jesus, a familiar form of address is used, unlike the way that any of them would be addressed with a honorific (pl.) form by anyone else.

Source: C.S. Thoburn in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 180ff.

complete verse (John 17:12)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 17:12:

Uma: “While I am still with them, I am the one who takes care of them with the power of your (sing.) name–with the name that you (sing.) gave me. I guard them and none of them received disaster, except for one. He must have disaster, so that they world written in the Holy Book come true.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “As long as I was here with them I have watched over the people you gave to me with the power of your name. I watched over them, therefore none is lost from you, except one, for someone had to be lost so that the writing of the holy-book would be fulfilled.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “These people you have given me, while I was still with them I kept them safe by means of the power of your name. I watched over them and there is not even one of them who will be lost. The person whose punishment was prophesied, he will be lost because the prophecy in the written word of God will be fulfilled.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “While I was with them, I protected and cared-for them by the power of your (sing.) name which you (sing.) gave to me. And assuredly none of them were separated from me except the one who was designated/destined to be punished, in order that what you (sing.) caused-to-be-written would come-true.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “While I am with them, I am taking care of them through the strength of your supernatural-power which you gave to me. I have watched over them well, therefore not even one has been lost, except that person who searched for what-would-cause-him-to-be-lost, for it was also just the fulfilling of what is contained in the writings.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “While I have been with them here on the earth, I have cared for those you delivered over to me by means of your power. I have not let anything happen to them. No one was lost, except one person he who was written about as being lost so that it turned out as written in the Holy Book.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 17:12

As indicated in the footnote of Good News Translation, this verse presents the same textual problem as verse 11.

Except for the change of the imperative (keep them safe) to the indicative (I kept them safe), the first sentence of this verse repeats the thoughts of verse 11. I kept them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me may be rendered “I kept them safe by your power, the power you gave me.”

The verb protected is the same one rendered keep in 12.25 and obey in 12.47, the only other two occurrences of the verb in John’s Gospel. Ordinarily protected would be considered a stronger term than keep … safe, but in the present context the two verbs are used synonymously, one reinforcing the other. The use of synonyms is characteristic of the Johannine style.

Was lost is the same verb rendered die in 3.16 and 10.28; in 12.25 it is used with the same meaning it has here. Because of the continuing relationship of Judas Iscariot to the developments described in Chapter 18, it may be necessary in some languages to use the perfect tense here, for example, “not one of them has been lost.”

The man who was bound to be lost (New American Bible “him who was destined to be lost”; New English Bible “the man who must be lost”; Jerusalem Bible “the one who chose to be lost”; Goodspeed “the one who was destined to be lost”) has been traditionally rendered “the son of perdition.” The word rendered “perdition” in many translations is a noun made from the same stem as the verb translated was lost in Good News Translation and most other translations. This word is frequently used in the New Testament of the final fate of those who are without God (see Matt 7.13; Acts 8.20; Rom 9.22; Phil 1.28; 3.19; 1 Tim 6.9; Heb 10.39; 2 Peter 2.1; 3.7; Rev 17.8,11). The phrase “son of (literally “man of”) perdition” means “one who is going to be lost (eternally).” The same expression appears in Thessalonians 2.3 and is rendered the … One … who is destined to hell in Good News Translation.

In English the form lost fits very well into this type of context, but in other languages a literal rendering may be misleading, since it might suggest that in some way or other Jesus had lost sight of Judas. A more appropriate equivalent in some languages is “has gone astray” or “has suffered ruin.” Accordingly, the phrase the man who was bound to be lost may be rendered “the man who would certainly go astray” or “the man for whom there was nothing else but to suffer ruin.”

That the scripture might come true is best taken as a reference to Psalm 41.10, referred to in 13.18. To show the relation of the clause that the scripture might come true to what has preceded, it may be necessary to add such a phrase as “all this had to happen so that the scripture might come true” or “… so that what is written in the scripture would prove to be true” or “… would tell it as it really turned out to be.”

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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Verse: John 17:12