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Season after Pentecost Year A – Twenty Third Sunday after Pentecost

A small selection of resources from global Bible translations as illustrations for your upcoming message

  • Follow the links below to find a selection of message illustrations for the first reading and psalm

    • Joshua 3:7: "Joshua" means "YHWH is salvation" and is the same name in Hebrew and Greek than becomes "Jesus" in English. In Swiss-German Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts a trumpet of rams' horn, referring to Joshua 6:4 and following.
    • Joshua 3:8 / 14: "Covenant" is translated in Vai (Liberia) as "a thing-time-bind" (i.e. "an arrangement agreed upon for a period of time"), in Huastec (Mexico) as "a broken-off word" ("based on the concept of 'breaking off a word' and leaving it with the person with whom an agreement has been reached"), in Nabak (Papua New Guinea) as "tying the knot," and in Q'anjob'al (Guatemala) as "put mouths equal" (representing agreement).
    • Joshua 3:8 / 14: "ark of the covenant" is translated in Uma (Indonesia) as "Promise Box" and in Tagbanwa as "Chest of the Initiated-agreement." See also a very colorful sample of a reverse applique stitching ("mola") by an unknown Guna (Panama) artist depicting the ark.
    • Joshua 3:8: "Jordan" means "descending (rapidly)," "flowing down" (which makes this story even more dramatic.) In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with the sign for the river bordering Jordan and Israel, along with the general sign for river.
    • Joshua 3:8: "Priest" is translated in Cherokee as "fire feeders." "[This] provides a point of semantic overlap between the Jewish priests mentioned in the book of John and traditional Cherokee leaders who would have maintained a ceremonial fire. No loanword or semantic extension would have highlighted this specific similarity. Just as the New Testament Christ seeks to supersede the priests of his day, the missionaries working to translate the New Testament hoped to replace traditional ceremonialism with Christian beliefs and practices. Describing the Jewish priests as 'fire feeders' may have been a way to emphasize the obsolescence of fire-based ceremonialism. Strikingly, this word has become the term for Catholics. The vast majority of Cherokee converts to Christianity are Protestants." In Cuban Sign Language "priest" is translated referencing the ephod, the traditional apron that was worn by priests.
    • Joshua 3:9: "LORD your God" is translated as "LORD our God" in Tzotzil (Mexico) as well as in many other Mayan languages if the speaker is included as one who calls the LORD their God. If the speaker said "your God" in Tzotzil, he or she would refer to the God of the people he or she addresses but would specifically exclude himself or herself.
    • Joshua 3:10: "The living God" is translated into Bukusu (Kenya) as "God who is there." In the Bukusu culture it is impossible to talk about a "living God." That would make a mockery of God. The expression "the God who is there" is a confession of the fact that he is active and present.
    • Joshua 3:10: Complete verse in Newari (Nepal): "By this you will know that your God is really among you. He will indeed completely drive out from before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites from their land."
    • Joshua 3:12: Complete verse in Kupsabiny (Uganda): "So, pick 12 young men from Israel. Let them come one from each clan."
    • Joshua 3:13: Complete verse in Kupsabiny (Uganda): "As soon as the priests who carry the Box of God step into the river that water will separate to make the upper side stop/stand like a wall.'"
    • Joshua 3:13: "Will pile up in one place" translates what is literally "will stand in one heap"; the word translated "heap" occurs here and in verse 16, and is also used of the crossing of the Sea of Reeds in Exodus 15.8. The picture is that of the waters solidified into a barrier or dam. This verb phrase may be rendered "will pile up (or, stand up) like waters behind a dam." (Source: "Translation Notes")
    • Joshua 3:16: The waters "stopped (stood) ... (and) rose up in one heap" (verse 16); the same expression is used in verse 13. Commentators point out that there are substantiated reports of one occasion (in December 1267) when a landslide of the walls of the Jordan (which are of soft limestone) blocked the flow of the river for 16 hours; on another occasion (July 11, 1927) an earthquake interrupted the flow of the water for 21 1/2 hours. Here also one may render "stood up (or, piled up) like waters behind a dam." (Source: "Translation Notes")
    • Joshua 3:17: There is a slight discrepancy here, since in verse 8 the priests were told to stand near the bank (that is, on the east side), but here they are standing in the middle of the Jordan. It may be, however, that the phrase in the middle of does not necessarily refer to the geographical center of the Jordan River, but may mean rather that they were "completely in the riverbed." It is not the role of the translator to attempt a harmonization of the text at points where it is obviously at variance. However, the directions in verse 8 are themselves somewhat ambiguous. The priests are commanded to stand "in the Jordan River" when they have come to the "edge of the Jordan River." This command is not necessarily contradictory to what the priests are described as having done here in verse 17, especially if in the middle of the Jordan may be taken in a broader sense of "in the Jordan." (Source: "Translation Notes")

  • Follow the links below to find a selection of message illustrations for the second reading

    • 1 Thessalonians 2:9: "Burden" is translated in Malagasy (Madagascar) as "breaking someone's chest." The imagery behind this metaphor is that of the fisherman sailing and paddling breathless upwind. In Malagasy, it expresses the idea of abusing the generosity of someone else.
    • 1 Thessalonians 2:9: "Remember" is translated in Mairasi (Papua New Guinea) as "it is (or: place it) in your liver's crack," in Noongar (Australia) as "ear-hold," and in Apinayé (Brazil) as "having an eye on something." In Kalmyk (Russia), there is no equivalent to "remember," so the translation there is "don't forget."
    • 1 Thessalonians 2:9 et al.: Some languages have distinctive first-person plural pronouns ("we") that can refer to two or more than two. A few, including Fijian, have a form that means "me and two more." This is used throughout 1 Thessalonians. What's interesting about that is that Fijian readers or listeners are reminded throughout the letter that the exact threesome of Paul, Silas and Timothy (see 1 Thess 1:2) is referred to when "we" is used. Considering that Paul sometimes uses "we" when referring only to himself in other letters and sometimes to a less clearly defined plurality, it's a definite benefit to keep in mind that here exactly three people are being referred to.
    • 1 Thessalonians 2:10: "Witness" is translated as "telling the truth regarding something" in Eastern Highland Otomi (Mesico), as "know something is true because of seeing it" in Teutila Cuicatec (Mexico), as "one who will confirm that these-things that they have seen are true" in Kankanaey (Philippines), and as "one who is to testify about these things, because it all happened before their eyes" in Tagbanwa (Philippines).
    • 1 Thessalonians 2:10: "Blameless" is translated in Huautla Mazatec (Mexico) as "do not find any ugly / bad matter for them." In Huautla Mazatec there is no term to indicate the irreproachable character of a person, therefore this concept is described with a phrase." Similarly, in Isthmus Mixe it is "someone who hasn't stolen, who hasn't done damage." In the Catholic Mandarin Chinese Sigao version it is translated with a historical Chinese idiom: wúkě zhǐzhāi (無可指摘), lit. "nothing to point out."
    • 1 Thessalonians 2:11: Complete verse in Uma (Indonesia) "You yourselves know our caring for each of you, like a father caring for his children. We strengthened and fired-up your hearts."
    • 1 Thessalonians 2:12: Complete verse in Western Bukidnon Manobo (Philippines): "We advised you; we are the ones who comforted your breath, and we begged you to act in a way worthy of the will of God. He is the one who made you believers so that He might rule over you and make you immortal."
    • 1 Thessalonians 2:12: Complete verse in Bariai (Papua New Guinea): "And always we thank God for another reason as follows: In the day in which you heard God's talk which we expounded to you, you received this talk not as the talk of humans, but you received [it] as the true talk of God. Among you people who believe in Iesus, this talk is working strongly in your interiors."

  • Follow the links below to find a selection of message illustrations for the Gospel

    • Matthew 23:1: "Disciples" is translated in American Sign Language with a combination of the signs for "following" plus the sign for "group." In British Sign Language it is with a sign that depicts a group of people following one person (the finger in the middle, signifying Jesus). Note that this sign is only used while Jesus is still physically present with his disciples. (See the entry with videos for both.)
    • Matthew 23:2: "Moses's seat" is translated in a German translation of 1989 as "Moses's professorial chair."
    • Matthew 23:2: "Pharisees" is transliterated in Mandarin Chinese as Fǎlìsài (法利賽) (Protestant) or Fǎlìsāi (法利塞) (Catholic). In Chinese, transliterations can typically be done with a great number of different and identical-sounding characters. Often the meaning of the characters are not relevant, unless they are chosen carefully as in these cases. The Protestant Fǎlìsài can mean something like "Competition for the profit of the law" and the Catholic Fǎlìsāi "Stuffed by/with the profit of the law."
    • Matthew 23:2: "Pharisees" is translated in Finnish Sign Language with the sign signifying "prayer shawl," in British Sign Language with a sign that depicts "pointing out the law," and in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts the box of the phylacteries (see below) attached to the forehead. (See the entry with videos for all translations.)
    • Matthew 23:2: "Pharisees" is translated by Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) as "Observant." He explains: "Pharisee has become a public, universal pejorative term for a hypocrite. Pharisees were observant of the interpretation of the Covenant Code called the 'tradition of the elders.' They conformed their behaviors to the interpretation. Among the various groups of Jews at the time of Jesus, they were perhaps closest to Jesus in their overall concern to make a radical commitment to the will of God (as they understood it)."
    • Matthew 23:4: Complete verse in Tagbanwa (Philippines): "For they keep on adding to what they command which is only giving people a very hard time. What it's like is they bundle into big bundles what they cause people to shoulder which they really aren't able to shoulder. But even the little finger of their hand, they don't want to touch with it in giving-a-helping-hand."
    • Matthew 23:4: "Phylacteries" or "tefillin" is translated in Uma (Indonesia) as "prayer headbands," in Yakan (Philippines) as "containers for the writing copied from the holy-book which are tied to foreheads and arms," in Central Mazahua (Mexico) as "the little leathers that are tied at their elbows and at their foreheads where they put God's word," and in Cherokee as "headband." The now commonly-used German term Denkzettel (literally "contemplation note"), which today is primarily used with the meaning of a penalty or an experience that's supposed to change a person's behavior, goes back to Martin Luther's 1522 New Testament translation for "phylacteries." It was kept through and including the revision of 1912. See the entry for a short video about phylacteries.
    • Matthew 23:4: "Fringe" or "tzitzit" is translated in Uma (Indonesia) as "the decorations (lit.: "fruit") of clothes," in Tenango Otomi (Mexico) as "clothing that reaches the ground," and in Bura-Pabir (Nigeria) a term is used that is traditionally used for the tassels worn on clothes by hunters. See the entry for a short video about tzitzits.
    • Matthew 23:7 / 8: The Hebrew and Aramaic word that is transliterated in Greek and typically in English as "rabbi" is translated in Indonesian and Malay as guru -- "teacher" -- or bapak guru -- "father teacher." In Jesus' day it was used exclusively as an honorific for teachers. In verse 8 the identification is made of rabbi and "teacher," which is the basis for Good News Translation's "to have people call them, 'Teacher.'" Elsewhere in Matthew's Gospel the word is employed only by Judas when he addresses Jesus during the last meal (26:25) and at the time of betrayal (26:49).
    • Matthew 23:8: Complete verse in Tagbanwa (Philippines): "But as for you, don't you have yourselves called teacher, because I alone am your teacher. You are all like one brotherhood."
    • Matthew 23:9: "Your Father" is rendered as "our Father" in Tzotzil (Mexico) "so as to not exclude Jesus." In Japanese God the Father is addressed with mi-chichi (御父). This form has the "divine" honorific prefix mi– preceding the archaic honorific form chichi for "father." Only when Jesus addresses his Father directly, he is using chichi-o (父を) which is also highly respectful but does not have the "divine" honorific.
    • Matthew 23:10: "Master" translates a noun which is found only here in the New Testament. Its root meaning is "interpreter," which explains the renderings "teacher" and "Leader." (Source: "Translation Commentary")
    • Matthew 23:10: Complete verse in Mairasi (Papua New Guinea): "And then also you guys must not be called 'Throated One Guru Path Pointer [Master Teacher]!,' because you have one and only One Throated One Guru Path Pointer, This One is the King of Life all mashed out infinitely [Christ]." ("all mashed out": "Bark cloth required pounding. It got longer and wider as it got pounded. Similarly, life gets pounded or mashed to lengthen it into infinity. Tubers also get mashed into the standard way of serving the staple food. It spreads out into infinity.")
    • Matthew 23:11: Complete verse in Mairasi (Papua New Guinea): "Whoever has the throat [desire] of becoming important among you he must live as your slave."
    • Matthew 23:12: "humbled" is rendered in Gumuz (Ethiopia) as "become small," in Uma (Indonesia) as "make hearts low" ("proud," the opposite, is translated as proud "make hearts high"), and in Cherokee as "prayerful."