complete verse (John 5:32)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 5:32:

  • Uma: “But there is another who gives witness to me, and I know that his witness is true.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But there is someone else testifying for me. I know that his testimony of me is true.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However there is another one who testifies about my works. My Father is my witness, and I know that his witness can be trusted.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But there is also my Father who confirms/verifies concerning me, and I know that what he says concerning me is true.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But there is another who testifies about me and I know that what he testifies is really true.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But there is another who testifies who I am. And I know that it is true all that he says concerning me.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 5:32

The someone else referred to in this verse is the Father, and in translation it may be best to make this explicit, since the next person mentioned in the passage is John, at the beginning of the next verse.

In this context one may translate testifies as “says what he knows about me” or “indicates who I am.”

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 .