Mourning Tabitha

The following is a contemporary stained glass window from the Southwark Cathedral in London of the story of Tabitha:

Source: Art in the Christian Tradition , a project of the Vanderbilt University Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. Original source: Wikimedia

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 )

washing Tabitha's body

In Purari it was necessary to specify who washed Tabitha’s body, so to conform with their cultural expectations, they specified other women.

complete verse (Acts 9:37)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 9:37:

  • Uma: “At the time that Petrus was in Lida, Dorkas became very sick and immediately died. After they bathed her, they put her in the room on the top.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “At that time, she was hit by sickness and died. They washed/cleansed (sutsi) her body and they laid her in a room upstairs in the house.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And at that time she got sick and died. They washed her body, and they placed it in a room up above which was in her house.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “While Pedro was in Lidda, Tabita got-sick and died. They bathed her body, and then they laid-her-face-up in the room upstairs.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “At that time, she became seriously ill which caused her death. When she died, her body was washed according to their customs, and then she was-laid-out in an upstairs room.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 9:37

In all languages there are ways of speaking about “getting sick” but there are a number of different idioms employed: “fever grabbed her,” “sickness entered her,” and even in some languages “God took her” (a reference to mysterious divine power overcoming an individual).

The passive expressions was washed and laid may readily be made active—for example, “people washed her body and laid it.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .