Sabbath

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “Sabbath” in English is rendered as “day we rest” in Tzotzil, in Mairasi as “Jew’s Rest Day,” in Quiotepec Chinantec as “day when people of Israel rested,” in Shilluk as “day of God,” in Obolo as Usen Mbuban or “Holy Day,” and in Mandarin Chinese as ānxírì (安息日) or “rest day” (literally: “peace – rest – day”). (Sources: Tzotzil: Marion Cowan in Notes on Translation with Drill, p. 169ff; Mairasi: Enggavoter 2004; Quiotepec Chinantec: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.; Shilluk: Nida 1964, p. 237; Obolo: Enene Enene; Chinese: Jost Zetzsche)

In Matumbi it is translated as Sabato ya Ayahudi or “Sabbath of the Jews,” to distinguish it from the Islamic Sabbath (which is Friday) or the Christian Sabbath (which is Sunday). (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

In the old Khmer version as well as in the first new translation this term was rendered as “day of rest” (Thngai Chhup Somrak / ​ថ្ងៃ​ឈប់​សំរាក). Considered inadequate to convey its religious meaning (not only about cessation of work, but also in honor of Yahweh as the Creator), the committee for the Today’s Khmer Version (publ. 2005) decided to keep the Hebrew word and use its transliterated form Thgnai Sabath (​ថ្ងៃ​សប្ប័ទ). “The Buddhist word Thngai Seil ‘day of merits’ used by some Catholics was once under consideration but was rejected because it did not receive unanimous support.” (Source: Joseph Hong in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 233ff. )

In Spanish, the translation is either día de reposo (“day of rest”) or sábado (usually: “Saturday,” derived from the Greek and Hebrew original). Nida (1947, p. 239f.) explains that problem for Spanish and other languages in its sphere of influence: “In translation ‘Sabbath’ into various aboriginal languages of Latin America, a considerable number of translators have used the Spanish sábado, ‘Saturday,’ because it is derived from the Hebrew sabbath and seems to correspond to English usage as well. The difficulty is that sábado means only ‘Saturday’ for most people. There is no religious significance about this word as the is with ‘Sabbath’ in English. Accordingly the [readers] cannot understand the significance of the persecution of Jesus because he worked on ‘Saturday.’ It has been found quite advantageous to use the translation ‘day of rest,’ for this accurately translated the Hebrew meaning of the term and resolves the problem in connection with the prohibitions placed upon some types of activities.”

In the Nueva traducción viviente translation (2010) it día de descanso al mantenerlo santo (“day of rest to keep it holy”). (Source: Lénart de Regt in The Bible Translator 2017, p. 131ff. )

In French Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts closing of the blinds of a store:


“Sabbath” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Sabbath .

sanctuary

The Hebrew, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “sanctuary” in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) with opatulika or “separated place.” This is understood in a religious setup as a place designated for worship. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

complete verse (Ezekiel 23:38)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 23:38:

  • Kupsabiny: “They also insulted my house and broke the day of Sabbath that I had set aside.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Aside from that, they still defiled my temple and the Day For-Resting which I caused- them -to-be-followed. On the day they offered their children to their little-gods, they entered my temple, and that even on the Day For-Resting.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They have done otherdisgraceful things: They have caused my temple to be an unacceptable place for worship, and have not respected the Sabbath days.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 23:38 - 23:39

Moreover this they have done to me means the sisters had done more sins than those mentioned in the previous verse. Good News Translation says “And that is not all they did,” and New Jerusalem Bible has “And here is something else they have done to me.”

They have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my sabbaths: They have defiled my sanctuary means they made the Temple ritually unclean (see 5.11). Translators may say “They made my Temple unfit for worship.” Profaned my sabbaths means they destroyed the holiness of the Sabbath days, which God had set aside as sacred days of rest (see 20.13). They did this by breaking the laws of the Sabbath that God had given. Good News Translation says “broke the Sabbath, which I had established,” and Contemporary English Version has “stopped respecting the Sabbath.” On the same day connects the pollution of the Temple and the Sabbath with the adultery and murder of verse 37.

For when they had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day they came into my sanctuary to profane it: This sentence shows that the sisters were entering the Temple while they were ritually unclean from their false worship and child sacrifices. That made the Temple unclean. The repetition of on the same day shows that there was a close connection between these sins. Translators need not to repeat this phrase as long as this close connection is kept in some way. They may follow the requirements of their own languages.

And lo, this is what they did in my house: Lo renders the Hebrew particle hinneh. Here it emphasizes the seriousness and horror of the sisters’ sins. This is what they did in my house repeats the idea occurring at the beginning of verse 38. By repeating it God emphasizes that the sins of the sisters were terrible. Translators should look for ways to heighten the sense of God’s disgust and horror at the actions of the two sisters. My house refers to the Temple in Jerusalem.

The similarity of content between these two verses means that it is acceptable to abbreviate the text. Contemporary English Version provides a good model by combining them as follows: “They came into my temple that same day, and that made it unfit as a place to worship me. They have even stopped respecting the Sabbath.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (1982) is similar with “And even on the same day that they had killed their children, they came into my Temple. Thus they polluted my house. And they have dishonored the Sabbath, my rest-day.” Here is another model for combining these two verses:

• And here is something else that they did to me: on the very day that they killed their children as sacrifices to their idols, they entered my Temple and thus made it unfit for my worship. And they also stopped respecting the day of rest that I had given them to honor me. Yes, it is true, this is what they did in my Temple.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .