brother (fellow believer)

The Greek that is translated in English as “brother” (in the sense of a fellow believer), is translated with a specifically coined word in Kachin: “There are two terms for brother in Kachin. One is used to refer to a Christian brother. This term combines ‘older and younger brother.’ The other term is used specifically for addressing siblings. When one uses this term, one must specify if the older or younger person is involved. A parallel system exists for ‘sister’ as well. In [these verses], the term for ‘a Christian brother’ is used.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae)

In Martu Wangka it is translated as “relative” (this is also the term that is used for “follower.”) (Source: Carl Gross)

See also brothers.

complete verse (John 7:10)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 7:10:

  • Uma: “The relatives of Yesus did go to Yerusalem to attend the Feast of Huts there. In fact, Yesus also followed silently [i.e., without telling], but by himself so that the people did not know.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When his brothers had left for that festival, not long after that, Isa also followed them going there. But he did not go with the crowds that’s why nobody knew about his going there.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “After his siblings had left going up to the feast, Jesus followed although he did not join himself to many people because he did not wish that it be known.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When his siblings/cousins had left to go attend-the-fiesta, Jesus then followed by-himself so that it would not become-known.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “After his siblings had left, before long Jesus then set out to go to the fiesta. But it’s like what he was doing was keeping-out-of-sight/avoiding-confrontation.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “After his brothers had gone to the celebration, also Jesus went to celebrate. He acted so that the people wouldn’t know he was there, going about unnoticed.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 7:10

Jesus also went is literally “he also went up.” The pronoun “he” of the Greek text obviously refers to Jesus.

But secretly follows the same Greek text that Revised Standard Version translates “but in private.” It is possible to follow other Greek manuscripts which read “but went—as it were in secret.” For example, New American Bible reads “as if in secret,” and Moffatt “as it were privately.” Phillips has “as though he did not want to be seen,” and New English Bible “almost in secret.” Actually, the best Greek manuscripts support the reading “as it were in secret.” However, it seems likely that some ancient scribe changed the text to read in this way to soften the force of secretly. The UBS Committee on the Greek text rates their choice as “D” indicating that there is a high degree of doubt concerning the reading selected for the text.

He did not go openly, but secretly may be rendered “he did not go in such a way that people would recognize him, but he went in such a way that people wouldn’t know who he was.”

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 .