he who, whoever

The Greek that is typically translated with a generic expressions such as “he who,” “whoever,” or “if anyone” in English is translated with the plural form (“they”) in Daga. “A literal translation of these conveys the idea that one specific unnamed individual is being dis cussed. Thus, for instance, in John 5:24 ‘he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life’ meant in Daga that there was one fortunate individual to whom it applied.”

See also love your neighbor as yourself.

complete verse (Matthew 10:22)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 10:22:

  • Uma: “‘The time will come, all people will hate you because of your following of Me. There will be people who will give their own relatives or children to be killed because of their following of Me. There will also be children who oppose their parents and kill them. But people who are faithful believing in Me until the end [lit., all], they will receive goodness/salvation in the future.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “And you, my disciples,’ said Isa, ‘you will be hated by all people because you follow me. But whoever endures until the end of this persecution, certainly has life in heaven without end.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Everyone will be against you because you are my disciples. But he who holds tight his believing in me until the end of those tribulations, he will be given life forever.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “All people, they will hate you because of your being-united to me. But if you persevere in believing, not giving-out until the time-of-your -hardship is done, you will be saved.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “You really will be hated by all people because of your belief in me. But whoever holds-fast to his belief-in me till the end, he certainly will be freed/saved.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Everyone will hate you because you believe in me. But the person who endures whatever suffering he goes through is the one who will save his soul.” (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 Matthew 10:22

You will be hated by all is altered to an active construction by Good News Translation: “Everyone will hate you.” New English Bible is similar: “All will hate you.” Phillips avoids the use of “all” by translating “You yourselves will be universally hated” (Barclay “You will be universally hated”). Both Phillips and Barclay are rather sophisticated, and the adverb “universally” may imply more than is intended in the original.

For my name’s sake is translated “because of me” by Good News Translation, since in Jewish thought a person’s name stands for the person himself. The meaning is probably identical with “for my sake” of verse 18. New English Bible translates “for your allegiance to me”; An American Translation has “on my account” (New American Bible “on account of me”); Barclay translates “because of your connection with me.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch shifts to a verb structure: “because you acknowledge me.” As in verse 18, it may also be “because you are my followers.”

But he who endures to the end will be saved occurs two other times in the New Testament; in Matthew 24.13 and Mark 13.13 the Greek wording is the same as here. To say the least, the saying is difficult to interpret, although the meaning of the first verb itself is obvious. It is consistently rendered either endures or “holds out” (Good News Translation, Moffatt, An American Translation, New English Bible, New American Bible) by most translations, and elsewhere in the New Testament it occurs in contexts of suffering, persecution, and temptation (for example, Rom 12.12; 1 Cor 13.7; Heb 10.32; 12.3; James 1.12; 1 Peter 2.20).

He may be “the person” or “those people,” whichever is more natural.

Some common ways to translate endures in this context are “remains faithful (to me),” “continues to trust in me,” “stays strong in his faith (in me),” and “doesn’t stop serving me.”

In Greek to the end lacks the definite article the and so may be understood adverbially: “finally,” “fully,” “altogether.” In the context the meaning could then be expressed “without giving up” or “without denying one’s faith,” but this interpretation does not find favorable support among the scholars. Most scholars prefer the meaning to the end (“to the very end” [An American Translation, Moffatt, Phillips]), with the time reference being the end of persecution. One can then translate “whoever holds out until the persecution comes to an end…” or, in order to relate this to the previous sentence, “whoever remains faithful to me until the persecution comes to an end….” So as not to refer to any one incident of persecution, this may need to be “until this period of persecution comes to an end.”

Will be saved is also possible to interpret in more than one way. Some scholars take this as a reference to physical safety with the sense “will be brought safely through the period of persecution” (see New American Bible “will escape death” and Phillips “will be safe and sound”). But most scholars seem to prefer to interpret will be saved of the believer’s salvation. If the passive construction is impossible, then the clause may require considerable restructuring: “But if you remain faithful to me through all the persecution, then God will save you” or “… will save your soul.” This shift to a second person subject may be required in some languages, especially since verse 22a and verse 23 are both in the second person. Such a shift is normal in Hebrew as well as in the Greek of the New Testament, which often follows Hebrew patterns. But for most languages it is jarring to shift between a second and a third person subject when referring to the same individual.

The agent, God, in the expression will be saved can also be placed first in the sentence, as in “but God will save those of you who remain faithful to me until the persecution comes to an end.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .