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 8:51)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 8:51:

  • Uma: “These my words are very true: Whoever follow my words, they will not die, they will live forever.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Truly I tell you,’ said Isa, ‘whoever follows my teaching, he will really not die forever.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “True is what I say to you, that anyone who obeys my teaching to him, he will never experience death.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “This that I tell you is true that whoever believes/obeys what I am saying, he will never-die.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “This which I am saying is the truth, that whoever lives by this which I am teaching, he will not experience death.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “I truly tell you that he who respects what I say will never die.'” (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 8:51

The thoughts of this verse are similar to those in 5.24; 6.40,47; and 11.25. Obeys my teaching (see also New English Bible) is literally “keeps my word” (Jerusalem Bible). It may be translated in some languages “does what I teach him to do,” “behaves in accordance with what I have taught,” or even “does what I have told him.”

Will never die is literally “will never see death” (Jerusalem Bible). When these Jews take up Jesus’ words in the next verse, they change the metaphor somewhat by saying “will never taste death” (Revised Standard Version). “To see death” and “to taste death” are both idiomatic expressions meaning “to die”; “To see death” is a Hebraism, but the expression “to taste death” is not found in the Old Testament. However, it is found in other places in the New Testament (see Heb 2.9, for example). The death referred to in this verse is spiritual death, a fact which is misunderstood by Jesus’ opponents in the following dialogue.

In most languages one cannot preserve the literal idioms “to see death” and “to taste death.” “To see death” has sometimes been understood as “to see dead bodies.” Even worse, “to taste death” has been taken to mean “to eat a corpse” or “to partake of human flesh.” The translation will never die can lead to misinterpretation (especially if such a verse is completely isolated from its context). However, this bold figure of speech used by Jesus must be understood in terms of its wider context, which ultimately serves as a basis for understanding what he has said. Unless this expression is translated rather literally, it will be impossible for the reader to comprehend the reactions of Jesus’ opponents mentioned in the following verse.

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 .