All languages have ways of showing that the same person fills two different roles in a sentence. English does this by using **reflexive pronouns**. These are pronouns that refer to someone or something that has already been mentioned in a sentence. In English the reflexive pronouns are: "myself", "yourself", "himself", "herself", "itself", "ourselves", "yourselves", and "themselves". Other languages may have other ways to show this.
* Languages have different ways of showing that the same person fills two different roles in a sentence. For those languages, translators will need to know how to translate the English reflexive pronouns.
* The reflexive pronouns in English also have other functions.
> Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and <u>many</u> went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the Passover in order to purify <u>themselves</u>. (John 11:55 ULT)
> So they left the crowd, taking Jesus with them, since he was already in the boat. Other boats were also with him. And a violent windstorm arose and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already full. But <u>Jesus himself</u> was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. (Mark 4:36-38 ULT)
> When Jesus realized that they were about to come and seize him by force to make him king, he withdrew again up the mountain <u>by himself</u>. (John 6:15 ULT)
> He saw the linen cloths lying there and the cloth that had been on his head. <u>It</u> was not lying with the linen cloths but was rolled up in its place <u>by itself</u>. (John 20:6-7 ULT)
> **Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the Passover in order to <u>purify themselves</u>.** (John 11:55)
>> “Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the Passover in order to <u>self-purify</u>.”
(3) In some languages people emphasize a certain person or thing by adding something to that word or putting another word with it. English adds the reflexive pronoun.
> **When Jesus realized that they were about to come and seize him by force to make him king, he withdrew again up the mountain <u>by himself</u>.** (John 6:15)
>> “When Jesus realized that they were about to come and seize him by force to make him king, he withdrew again <u>alone</u> up the mountain.”
> **He saw the linen cloths lying there and the cloth that had been on his head. It was not lying with the linen cloths but was rolled up in its place <u>by itself</u>.** (John 20:6-7 ULT)
>> “He saw the linen cloths lying there and the cloth that had been on his head. It was not lying with the linen cloths but was rolled up and lying <u>in it’s own place</u>.”