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Home › Library › Philology › 1 Corinthians 13-13 Faith, Hope and Love

信仰と希望と愛 shinkō to kibō to ai 1 Corinthians 13-13 Faith, Hope and Love

信仰と希望と愛 (shinkō to kibō to ai), faith, hope and love, are the three that remain in 1 Corinthians 13:13, three words every Japanese Bible read here has printed in that order since the revision of 1917. The Meiji Bible of 1880 wrote 信仰と望と愛, and the three words in these characters were already in Japanese print in 1891, in a translation of Henry Drummond's The Greatest Thing in the World.

Japanese Scroll of 1 Corinthians 13:13 Faith, Hope and Love (shinkō to kibō to ai) — Calligraphy by Eri Takase
1 Corinthians 13:13 Faith, Hope and Love (shinkō to kibō to ai)

信仰と希望と愛shinkō to kibō to ai

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Abstract

信仰と希望と愛, faith, hope and love, are the three that remain in 1 Corinthians 13:13, in the 1955 口語訳's own characters as that Bible prints them, and in the characters of the 1917 revision before it. The Meiji Bible of 1880 wrote 信仰と望と愛, and the revisers of 1917, who wrote 希望, still read it のぞみ. The three words in these characters were in Japanese print by 1891, in a translation of Henry Drummond's essay, the earliest year the National Diet Library's full-text search finds them.

Overview

The sense. The three that remain, faith, hope and love, and the greatest of them love: このうちで最も大いなるものは、愛である, in the 口語訳's words. 信仰と希望と愛 is that Bible's phrase as it prints it.

The words. 信仰 is old in Japanese, first cited from the 今昔物語集 of about 1120, to believe in and revere gods or buddhas; the Christian use is the same word [1]. 希望 is a Meiji word in its modern reading: the dictionary's first example of きぼう is a newspaper of 1872, and its 語誌 notes an older reading, けもう, from the 往生要集 of 984 [2]. 愛 carries a Christian sense in the dictionary, for God to cherish all humankind without limit, first cited from 植村正久's Browning of 1890 [3].

The text in English. 1 Corinthians 13:13: the King James reads faith, hope, charity, and charity again for the greatest; the American Standard, the New International, the English Standard and the New Revised Standard all read faith, hope, love [4].

The historical record

1852 and 1919. The Chinese Bibles beside the Japanese. Two Chinese translations stand beside the Japanese wording, read here for what they share with it, not as its source. The Delegates' Version of 1852 reads the three virtues as 信也、望也、仁也 [5]; the Union Version of 1919 as 有信、有望、有愛 [6].

1880 and 1881. The Meiji New Testament. The Meiji committee finished its New Testament in 1880; the 1881 新約全書, the earliest complete printing in the National Diet Library, reads それ信仰(しんかう)と望(のぞみ)と愛(あい)と此(この)三(みつ)の者(もの)ハ常(つね)に在(あ)るなり此(この)うち尤(もつと)も大(おほい)なる者ハ愛なり for 1 Corinthians 13:13 [7]. 三浦徹's annotated 新約全書略註 of 1904 prints the verse in plain readings, それ信仰と望と愛と此の三の者は常に在るなり此のうち尤も大なる者は愛なり [8]. The Meiji Bible has 信仰と望と愛 for the three virtues where 信仰と希望と愛 has 希望.

1888. The Orthodox 正教の鑑. The Orthodox church's own book of 1888 counts the three virtues in a discussion of 信と望と愛と … 三の者の中に愛を大なりと [9]. The same three virtues stood in an Orthodox book twenty-nine years before the 1917 revision, in shorter words, 信 and 望 for 信仰 and 希望.

1891. Drummond's 世界最大のもの. The Japanese translation of Henry Drummond's essay was in print by 1891, quoting 1 Corinthians as 「信仰と希望と愛と此三のもの、常に在るなり」と云ひ … 「此のうち最も大なるものは愛なり」 [10]. The three words in that order, 信仰と希望と愛, were in Japanese print twenty-six years before the 1917 revision wrote them into the Bible; 1891 is the earliest year the National Diet Library's full-text search finds them, in this book and one other [11].

1910. The Catholic ラゲ訳. Émile Raguet's Catholic translation of 1910 reads 1 Corinthians 13:13 今(いま)存(そん)するものは信(しん)、望(ばう)、愛(あい)此(この)三(みつ)なれども、就中(なかんづく)最(もつとも)大(おほ)いなるものは愛(あい)なり [12]: the three virtues in the Orthodox book's short words.

1917 and 1919. The 大正改訳. The Protestant revision of the New Testament, finished 5 October 1917, reads 1 Corinthians 13:13 げに信仰(しんかう)と希望(のぞみ)と愛(あい)と此の三つの者は限りなく存らん、而して其のうち最も大なるは愛なり in the 1919 新約聖書 改訳 printing [13]. The 1927 printing carries the same verse with the same ruby [14]. The revisers wrote 希望 where the Meiji Bible had 望, and read it with the old sound: the ruby on both printings is のぞみ, not きぼう. 信仰と希望と愛 is the revision's characters exactly.

1955. The colloquial 口語訳. The Japan Bible Society's colloquial translation, the New Testament in 1954 and the whole Bible in 1955, reads このように、いつまでも存続するものは、信仰と希望と愛と、この三つである。このうちで最も大いなるものは、愛である at its own verse-search endpoint [15]. The Japan Bible Society's own list of the wordings it revised in 1975, 1984 and 2002 does not touch this verse [16]. 信仰と希望と愛 is this Bible's words as it prints them.

1970, 2003 and 2017. The 新改訳. 新改訳 first appeared in 1970; its 2003 text reads こういうわけで、いつまでも残るものは信仰と希望と愛です [17] and its 2017 text こういうわけで、いつまでも残るのは信仰と希望と愛、これら三つです [18].

1987. The 新共同訳. 新共同訳, published September 1987, reads 1 Corinthians 13:13 それゆえ、信仰と、希望と、愛、この三つは、いつまでも残る。その中で最も大いなるものは、愛である [19].

2018. The 聖書協会共同訳. 聖書協会共同訳, published December 2018, reads 1 Corinthians 13:13 それゆえ、信仰と、希望と、愛、この三つは、いつまでも残ります。その中で最も大いなるものは、愛です [20]: the 1987 sentence with its verbs made polite.

Across the Bibles. The three words stand in that order in every Japanese Bible read here from the 1917 revision on; the Bibles of 1987 and 2018 set them off with commas, 信仰と、希望と、愛.

A reading

信仰と希望と愛 is the 1955 口語訳's phrase as that Bible prints it, and the 1917 revision's characters before it. The Meiji Bible's 信仰と望と愛 is how the verse read in the Protestant Bible from 1880 until the revision, and the revisers who wrote 希望 still heard のぞみ in it. The three words in their present characters were in Japanese print in 1891, in a translated essay, twenty-six years before any Bible read here had them.

Sources not seen

The 1917 first printing of the 大正改訳, the New Testament's original revision; the National Diet Library's earliest digitized printing is 1919, two years later, and no earlier printing is described here. A copy of 1917 would confirm the revision's wording had already reached its final form by 1919, or show what changed in the two years between.

The Catholic フランシスコ会訳 and バルバロ訳, two twentieth-century Catholic translations still in copyright, with no public verse-search endpoint. Their text of this verse would show whether the Catholic church's modern Bible differs from ラゲ訳's 1910 wording or from the Protestant Bibles it postdates.

A reader with access to any of these is invited to write to Takase Studios at Tim@Takase.com.

References

  1. 「信仰」, 精選版日本国語大辞典・デジタル大辞泉, at kotobank. https://kotobank.jp/word/信仰
  2. 「希望」, 精選版日本国語大辞典・デジタル大辞泉, at kotobank. https://kotobank.jp/word/希望
  3. 「愛」, 精選版日本国語大辞典・デジタル大辞泉, at kotobank. https://kotobank.jp/word/愛
  4. 1 Corinthians 13:13, Greek text and English versions, at biblehub.com. https://biblehub.com/text/1_corinthians/13-13.htm
  5. 哥林多前書, 聖經 (委辦譯本或稱代表譯本), 1852, at zh.wikisource. https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/聖經_(委辦譯本或稱代表譯本)/哥林多前書
  6. 哥林多前書, 聖經 (和合本), 1919, at zh.wikisource. https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/聖經_(和合本)/哥林多前書
  7. 新約全書, 米国聖書会社, 1881, scan 250 (1 Corinthians 13:13, p. 492). https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/992682/1/250
  8. 三浦徹, 新約全書略註, 1904, scan 333 (1 Corinthians 13:13, p. 601). https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/825539/1/333
  9. 正教の鑑, 1888, scan 2 (1 Corinthians 13:13), from the National Diet Library's next-generation full-text search, its snippet only. https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/824717/1/2
  10. 世界最大のもの (Henry Drummond, tr.), 1891, scan 9 (1 Corinthians 13:13). https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/824797/1/9
  11. National Diet Library next-generation full-text search on 信仰と希望と愛, searched again 26 September 2026: 122 books to about 1949; the oldest two are of 1891, pid 824797 and pid 824983. https://lab.ndl.go.jp/dl/api/book/search?searchfield=contentonly&keyword=信仰と希望と愛
  12. コリント前書 (ラゲ訳), 1910, at ja.wikisource (1 Corinthians 13:13). https://ja.wikisource.org/wiki/コリント前書_(ラゲ訳)
  13. 新約聖書 改訳, 大英国北英国聖書会社, 1919, scan 182 (1 Corinthians 13:13, p. 356). https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/988334/1/182
  14. 我らの主なる救主イエス・キリストの新約聖書, 1927, scan 232 (1 Corinthians 13:13, p. 459). https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1053815/1/232
  15. 口語訳, 日本聖書協会, at the publisher's verse search (1 Corinthians 13:13). https://www.bible.or.jp/read/vers_search.html
  16. 聖書語句訂正一覧（口語訳聖書）, 日本聖書協会, the 1975 · 1984 · 2002 revisions. https://www.bible.or.jp/read/si_word_correction/jc_word_correction.html
  17. 新改訳 第三版, 新日本聖書刊行会, 2003 text, at the publisher's verse search (1 Corinthians 13:13). https://www.seisho.or.jp/biblesearch/
  18. 新改訳2017, 新日本聖書刊行会, 2017 text, at the publisher's verse search (1 Corinthians 13:13). https://www.seisho.or.jp/biblesearch/
  19. 新共同訳, 日本聖書協会, 1987, at the publisher's verse search (1 Corinthians 13:13). https://www.bible.or.jp/read/vers_search.html
  20. 聖書協会共同訳, 日本聖書協会, 2018, at the publisher's verse search (1 Corinthians 13:13). https://www.bible.or.jp/read/vers_search.html

Authors

Tim Jackowski (Systems Architect, Takase Studios, LLC) · 典 Ten (Anthropic Claude Fable 5.1, Takase Studios LLC)

AI written · Ten wrote the history. Tim Jackowski commissioned it and answers for it.

Not yet reviewed.