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Language: Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin Chinese (cmn) is a(n) Sino-Tibetan language of China, Korea, Democratic People's Republic of, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Mongolia, Russian Federation, Taiwan, Province of China, Viet Nam, marked as not endangered
Many languages have terms for siblings that define whether one is younger or older in relation to another sibling.
In Fuyug, Tae’, Batak Toba, and Mandarin Chinese, Martha was assumed to be the older of the two sisters because she is mentioned first. (Sources: David Clark [Fuyug] and Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Navajo (Dinė) translates accordingly but for a different reason: “since Martha seemed to take the responsibility of the housework, she was probably the older of the two” (source: Wallis 2000, p. 103f.) whereas in Mandarin Chinese he is the younger brother.
In Fuyug, Lazarus is assumed to be the oldest sibling on the grounds that he died first, whereas in several Thai translations he is described as the youngest of the three. (Source: David Clark)
Mukulu (Guerguiko): sooru ki diine or “walk in the middle” (source: Barnabas Al-Nadif Nidjei)
Bokoto (Bhogoto): dɛɛmɔ nɛ riwarɛɛ or “behavior on the path (of life)” (source: Adam Huntley)
Budu-Nita translation by CITBA (Centre Interconfessionnel de la Traduction de la Bible et Alphabétisation): mʉkyananakɨa wɔta uɗo or “good character” (source: François Anzabati)
Ngiemboon : mà wembóŋo or “good habit,” i.e. something that is recognized as the right way to do things (source: Moise Yonta)
The Hebrew that is translated as “womb” in English is translated in the latest edition of the Mandarin ChineseUnion Version (rev. of 2010) with zǐgōng (子宫), literally “child palace.” (Source: Zetzsche)
The Greek and Latin that is transliterated as “paradise” in English is often transliterated in other languages as well. Translations include “Place of well-being” (Toraja-Sa’dan, Tzeltal), “abode of happiness (or: of happy people)” (Marathi), “garden of eternal life” (Uab Meto), or the name of a place where you don’t have to work and fruits drop ripe in your hand (Ekari). (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
In Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese it is translated as 乐园 / 樂園 (lèyuán in Mandarin, lok6jyun4 in Cantonese). This term, literally meaning “garden of joy,” originates from Buddhist terminology.
Chichimeca-Jonaz: “who believed that message” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Elhomwe: “those who lived according to the Way of the Lord” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): “Christian(ity)”
In the Mandarin ChineseUnion Version, the most commonly used Protestant Chinese Bible, it is translated as zhèdào (这道) or “this way.” Note that dào (道) or “way” is the same word that is also used for Logos (usually “Word” in English) in John 1:1 and elsewhere (see Word / Logos).
The Hebrew in Ezekiel 9:4 and Ezekiel 9:6 that is translated as “mark” or “sign” in Protestant English Bibles was translated in the LatinVulgate translation as signa thau or “signs of Thau.” The Hebrew had used tav (תָּו) which means “mark” or “sign,” but was interpreted here as strictly referring to tav (taw) (ת), the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
This is a tradition that Catholic Bibles, for into the 1940s which the Vulgate was the source version, have maintained until the present day. While the 16th century EnglishDhouay-Rheims version translated this directly as mark Thau, later versions either translated this as “X” (New American Bible, including its Revised Edition), but were more commonly using cross (Knox, Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Catholic Bible, Christian Community Bible). In a footnote it usually says something like this: “Literally, ‘with a tau.’ This was the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and in the old script a cross was the symbol for it.”
Indeed, this is what tav looked like historically:
Protestant Bibles in English, with the exception of the recent Evangelical Heritage Version (2019), all use a form of “mark.”
Other languages have the same tradition. The French Catholic La Bible de Jérusalem uses croix, the Mandarin ChineseSigao translation says 一個十字記號 (yīge shízì jìhào) or “a mark in the sign of a cross,” the PortugueseBíblia Ave Maria uses cruz, the PolishBiblia Tysiąclecia uses Taw (and mentions in a footnote that taw used to be written in the form of a cross), the German EinheitsübersetzUng has Taw as well, and the SpanishEl Libro del Pueblo de Dios has “T.”
This last translation (“T”) also found its way into a series of stained glass window from the Three choir windows in the Marienkirche, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, of the 14th century (note the “T” in the antichrist’s halo as well as on the forehead on his followers):
Incidentally, the German word for devil is “Teufel” (in the spelling “tiuvel” in the 14th century), which likely helped the choice of the “T” for the mark.
For the Greek in John 19:30 that is translated with an equivalent of “It is finished (or: completed)” in most English Bible translations a perfect tense is used that has no direct equivalent in English. It expresses that an event has happened at a specific point in the past but that that event has ongoing results. The English “Expanded Translation” by Kenneth S. Wuest (publ. 1961) attempted to recreate that by translating “It has been finished and stands complete.”
Irish uses yet a different system of tenses, resulting in these translations:
Atá sé ar na chríochnughadh (Bedell An Biobla Naomhtha, publ. early 17th century): “It is upon its completion”
Tá críoch curtha air (Ó Cuinn Tiomna Nua, publ. 1970): “Completion is put on it”
Tá sé curtha i gcrích (An Bíobla Naofa, publ. 1981): “It is put in completion”
Source for the Irish: Kevin Scannell
In Ojitlán Chinantec it is translated as “My work is finished,” in Aguaruna as “It is completely accomplished,” and in Mezquital Otomi as “Now all is finished which I was commanded to do.” (Source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
In Mandarin Chinese, it is translated as chéng le (成了) which means both “it is completed” and “it is finished” (source: Zetzsche), in Ebira it is translated as Ma sị mẹ ta or “I have finally completed/finished it” (source: Scholz /Scholz 2015, p. 98), and in both German and Dutch major translations it is translated as vollbracht and volbracht respectively, which means “finished” but comes from “to bring (or: deliver) completely.”
The following is a contemporary stained glass window in the Catholic Church of the Resurrection in Bryanston, New Zealand:
The Window of the Saviour: Jesus said, “It is accomplished,” and bowing His head He gave up His spirit (John 19:30). This window with its powerful colours of sorrow and mourning yet glory and new life shows the Saviour at the moment of His supreme sacrifice of Himself for love of all humanity. (Source: Catholic Church of the Resurrection in Bryanston )
Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum .
