and there was light (image)

(Click here to view the image in higher resolution.)

Image taken from the Wiedmann Bible. For more information about the images and ways to adopt them, see here .

For other images of Willy Wiedmann paintings in TIPs, see here.

God said ‘Let there be . . .

The Hebrew that is translated as “And God said, ‘Let there be…” in English is translated in Yoruba as “God commanded that there should be…” (Bibeli Mimọ Yorùbá, 2010).

Solomon Abegunde explains (in The Bible Translator 1991, p, 242ff. ): “When God speaks, for instance, in the [Yoruban] way of thinking he speaks with the authority of a king. He does not need to ask permission from anybody to do what he wants to do. Translators should be aware of this as they translate the words ‘Let there be’ in Genesis 1. The extension of his personality comes out more forcefully if the Hebrew is rendered ‘Be’ and the verb is translated ‘commanded’ rather than ‘said.'”

Genesis 1 in Jamaican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Genesis 1 into Jamaican Sign Language:


Source: Jamaican Sign Language Bible Translation

1:1 A very, very long time ago, God created the heavens and the earth.

1:2 The earth was not yet formed and contained nothing, it was completely void. Water flowed endlessly and the entire earth was completely dark. God looked over all this. The Spirit of God, [like a bird], hovered over the water.

1:3 God spoke, saying, “Let there be light.” And the darkness became light.

1:4 God looked at the darkness and the light and saw that it was good.

1:5 God called the light ‘Day’ and the darkness ‘Night.’ Evening passed and morning came and that was day one.

1:6 Then God said, “Let there be a great dome to separate the waters above from the waters below.”

1:7 So God made a great dome to keep the waters above separate from the waters below.

1:8 God called the dome above ‘Heaven.’ Evening passed and morning came and that was day two.

1:9 God said, “Let there be dry land.” And the water gathered and dry land appeared.

1:10 God called the dry land ‘earth’ and the waters He called ‘seas.’ God looked at the earth and seas and saw that it was good.

1:11 God said “Let the earth produce plants of every kind. Let the earth grow grass, plants that make grain, and fruit trees. The fruit trees will make fruit with seeds in it. Let these plants grow on the earth.”

1:12 And it happened; the earth produced plants of all different kinds. Grass sprang up abundantly across the land, stalks with grains of all types [corn, rice, wheat, oat], trees of all varieties sprang up yielding fruits of all different kinds [orange, mango, banana, plums, guavas, guinep] everywhere [tomatoes, pineapple, strawberries, watermelon] [of all different sizes and shapes]. These plants sprang over all across the land, reproducing themselves through seeds. God looked over this and saw that it was good.

1:13 Evening passed and morning came and that was day three.

1:14 God spoke to the heavens, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate the day from the night. These lights will indicate the seasons, days and years.

1:15 The lights from heaven will give light to the earth.”

1:16 God made two great lights: the greater [brighter] light to rule the day, and the lesser [dimmed] light to rule the night, along with the stars.

1:17 God placed these lights in the sky to give light to the earth.

1:18 The greater [brighter] light ruled over the day and the lesser [dimmed] light ruled over the night and separated light and darkness. God looked at this and saw that it was good.

1:19 Evening passed and morning came and that was day four.

1:20 God spoke to the waters below and the heavens above, “Let the seas be filled with living creatures and let birds fly above in the heavens.”

1:21 God created huge sea creatures and many different animals swarmed the waters [shrimp, lobster, octopus, turtles, crocodile, whales] the sky was filled with different winged animals of its own kind [great and small- dove, crow, eagle, parrot, hummingbird]. God looked at this and saw that it was good.

1:22 God looked at the heavens and the earth and blessed them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the seas, let the birds multiply across the earth.”

1:23 Evening passed and morning came and that was day five.

1:24 God spoke to the earth “Let there be living creatures of different kinds: farm animals [cows, sheep, goat], crawling insects [bugs, worms, snakes], and wild animals of different kind [lion, leopard, elephant, ostrich, kangaroo, alligator]

1:25 So God created all these different types of animals. God looked at this and saw that it was good.

1:26 Then God thought of creating man [human]. Why? To be stewards [responsible] for the earth. To take care of birds in the sky, the animals in the sea and the creatures all over the earth.

1:27 God created man and woman in His own image and likeness.

1:28 God blessed them saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth. Let man and woman rule over the earth, over the fishes in the sea and the birds in the sky, and the animals on the land. Be stewards of the earth.”

1:29 God said to the man and the woman, “Look at all the plants and trees, I give you all the plants that bear fruits and grains to eat freely.

1:30 All green grass, grains and fruit trees I give to all the animals, every bird and crawling insect, to eat from freely. Every plant is theirs because they have the breath of life which I have given them.” And they all went ahead and ate freely.

1:31 God looked at all He created and saw that it was good. Evening passed and morning came and that was day six.

Back-translation by Amakedia Wallen, coordinated by Tashi Widmer

let there be light

The Hebrew and Ge’ez that is translated as “(let there be) light” is translated in Sango as “let the weather become clear.” “Sango has no equivalent for ‘light.’ Light is indicated by its source (lamp, sun, fire), or by its effect: ‘everything becomes clear’ or ‘that which allows one to see clearly.'”

See also greater light / lesser light and light (metaphorical).

light

The Hebrew and Ge’ez that is translated in English as “light” is translated in Newari as “white light.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)

In Tenharim the translation is mytuêa or “open/clear space.” LaVera Betts (in: Notes on Translation, September 1971, p. 16ff.) explains: “According to Catarina, the chief’s wife, the moon is a woman and the stars, also considered snails, are her children. In Gen 1:14, therefore, ‘the lights in the firmament of heaven’ is translated literally ‘the lamps/illuminating things on the heaven’ to eliminate the idea of the moon, etc. being animate. To express the idea of light (Gen. 1:3), then, without the presence yet of the sun, moon, or stars, the term open/clear space: mytuêa, was used. Neither the heavenly bodies nor artificial lights nor their obvious rays have to be seen in order for this term to be appropriate. It is a term indicating merely the opposite of no light, that is, the opposite of darkness; and since there were no objects to fill in the space, it still is true in the other sense of the term. Other terms meaning light involved the presence of the sun, moon, stars, or artificial lighting.”

In Idoma, the normal word for “light” is “fire,” so ofíajɛ or “shining” was used instead (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).

See also John Roberts’ Biblical Cosmology: The Implications for Bible Translation in Journal of Translation 2013/2, p. 1ff .

See also let there be light.

and God said (image)

Image taken from the Wiedmann Bible. For more information about the images and ways to adopt them, see here .

For other images of Willy Wiedmann paintings in TIPs, see here.

Creation Story Overview in Israeli Sign Language

The following is an overview of the creation story in Israeli Sign Language and its back-translation into English.

Genesis chapter 1 tells us how God created the world in the beginning.

In the beginning of all things there was deep water without boundaries. Darkness was everywhere. The Spirit of God moved over the waters.

On the first day God made light. God saw the light: it was good! God divided the light from the darkness.

The second day.

On the second day there was endless water everywhere. What did God do? He divided the waters up and down and put a strong arch in the middle. What did God call this arch? The sky. The waters are deep below, under the arch, and the waters are deep above, above the arch.

The third day.

What was the world like on the third day? Here is the firmament. Below it is the great expanse of water. What did God do? He gathered the waters together in one place. The place without water was dry land. God called the dry land ‘earth’. In sign language we make the gesture ‘EARTH’. God called the collection of water ‘seas’. In sign language we make the gesture ‘sea’.

And God made different plants grow from the dry land — herbs, flowers, fruit trees.

The fourth day.

On the fourth day, God made the sun, the moon and the stars. God put the sun and the moon on the firmament. And he put the stars all around the firmament. What are the sun, moon and stars for? They shine down on the earth. Because of the sun, moon and stars, we know when the days and nights are; the months and seasons change.

The fifth day.

On the fifth day, in the depths of the water, God made various sea creatures, large and small, and various fish. And on the earth God made all kinds of birds. The birds fly between the earth and the sky. God blessed the birds and the sea creatures and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply”.

The sixth day.

On the sixth day, God made various land animals on the earth — large animals, small animals, domestic animals, wild animals, reptiles and insects.

And on the sixth day God made man — male and female. God gave them His face. God blessed man and woman equally. God gave all animals to man. Man is God’s last and most important creation.

Video by Whole Word Institute , originally posted here . Back-translation by Luke Manevich.