καὶ εἰσήκουσεν κύριος τῆς φωνῆς αὐτῶν καὶ εἰσεῖδεν τὴν θλῖψιν αὐτῶν· καὶ ἦν ὁ λαὸς νηστεύων ἡμέρας πλείους ἐν πάσῃ τῇ Ιουδαίᾳ καὶ Ιερουσαλημ κατὰ πρόσωπον τῶν ἁγίων κυρίου παντοκράτορος.
13The Lord heard their prayers and had regard for their distress, for the people fasted many days throughout Judea and in Jerusalem before the sanctuary of the Lord Almighty.
The Aramaic, Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “fast” in English is translated in Isthmus Mixe as “going without food to worship God,” in Lacandon as “leaving eating in order to talk to God” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.), in Vidunda as “resting to eat” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext), and in Kankanaey as “endure hunger” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation).
See also fast (Luke 5:33).
The Greek and Latin that is translated as “Lord Almighty” in English is translated in Central Subanen as Kaunutan, su Tampusan Ginuungan Megbebayaꞌ or “Lord, the ultimate powerful God.” (Source: Robert Brichoux in OPTAT 1988/2, p. 80ff. )
In Yagaria, “Almighty” is translated as hiko aepa, literally “origin of strength.” (Source: Renck, p. 103)
See also LORD of hosts.
The Ancient Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible used the word pantokrator (παντοκράτωρ) or “Ruler of All” as a translation of the second part of the Hebrew term YHWH Tz’vaót (יְהוָ֨ה צְבָא֜וֹת) or “Lord of hosts” (see here) and occasionally ʼĒl Šadạy (אֵל שַׁדַּי), translated in English commonly as “God Almighty.” In the deuterocanonical/apocryphal books, pantokrator might have also been used in the original writing. The New Testament uses it one time in the writings of Paul (2 Cor. 6:18) and several times in the book of Revelation (see esp. Rev. 1:8).
One of the most influential icon styles of the Orthodox church has developed from this concept: Christ Pantocrator. In this icon style, Christ is looking straight at the viewer, his right hand is typically spelling a short form of “Jesus Christ” (see the bottom of the entry on Jesus and icons for an explanation), and his left hand holds a New Testament. His head is often surrounded by a halo.
The earliest preserved icon is found in the Greek Orthodox Saint Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai from the 6th century:
In order to express the two natures of Christ, the two sides of the face are not symmetrical. The right side might represent the qualities of his divinity, while his left side represents human nature. (Source )
Orthodox icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )
See also LORD of hosts.
The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)
“Judah” and “Judea” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España
For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .
See also Judah, Judah (son of Jacob) , and Tribe of Judah .
The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
“Jerusalem” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jerusalem .
The Hebrew, Greek 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)
The Hebrew adonai in the Old Testament typically refers to God. The shorter adon (and in two cases in the book of Daniel the Aramaic mare [מָרֵא]) is also used to refer to God but more often for concepts like “master,” “owner,” etc. In English Bible translations all of those are translated with “Lord” if they refer to God.
In English Old Testament translations, as in Old Testament translations in many other languages, the use of Lord (or an equivalent term in other languages) is not to be confused with Lord (or the equivalent term with a different typographical display for other languages). While the former translates adonai, adon and mare, the latter is a translation for the tetragrammaton (YHWH) or the Name of God. See tetragrammaton (YHWH) and the article by Andy Warren-Rothlin in Noss / Houser, p. 618ff. for more information.
In the New Testament, the Greek term kurios has at least four different kinds of use:
In the first and fourth case, it is also translated as “Lord” in English.
Most languages naturally don’t have one word that covers all these meanings. According to Bratcher / Nida, “the alternatives are usually (1) a term which is an honorific title of respect for a high-ranking person and (2) a word meaning ‘boss’, ‘master’, or ‘chief.’ (…) and on the whole it has generally seemed better to employ a word of the second category, in order to emphasize the immediate personal relationship, and then by context to build into the word the prestigeful character, since its very association with Jesus Christ will tend to accomplish this purpose.”
When looking at the following list of back-translations of the terms that translators in the different languages have used for both kurios and adonai to refer to God and Jesus respectively, it might be helpful for English readers to recall the etymology of the English “Lord.” While this term might have gained an exalted meaning in the understanding of many, it actually comes from hlaford or “loaf-ward,” referring to the lord of the castle who was the keeper of the bread (source: Rosin 1956, p. 121).
Following are some of the solutions that don’t rely on a different typographical display (see above):
We have come to rely on another term which emphasizes God’s essential nature as YHWH, namely jukurrarnu (see tetragrammaton (YHWH)). This word is built on the same root jukurr– as is jukurrpa, ‘dreaming.’ Its basic meaning is ‘timelessness’ and it is used to describe physical features of the land which are viewed as always being there. Some speakers view jukurrarnu in terms of ‘history.’ In all Genesis references to YHWH we have used Kaatu Jukurrarnu. In all Mark passages where kurios refers to God and not specifically to Christ we have also used Kaatu Jukurrarnu.
New Testament references to Christ as kurios are handled differently. At one stage we experimented with the term Watirirririrri which refers to a ceremonial boss of highest rank who has the authority to instigate ceremonies. While adequately conveying the sense of Christ’s authority, there remained potential negative connotations relating to Warlpiri ceremonial life of which we might be unaware.
Here it is that the Holy Spirit led us to make a chance discovery. Transcribing the personal testimony of the local Warlpiri pastor, I noticed that he described how ‘my Warlaljamarri called and embraced me (to the faith)’. Warlaljamarri is based on the root warlalja which means variously ‘family, possessions, belongingness’. A warlaljamarri is the ‘owner’ or ‘possessor’ of something. While previously being aware of the ‘ownership’ aspect of warlaljamarri, this was the first time I had heard it applied spontaneously and naturally in a fashion which did justice to the entire concept of ‘Lordship’. Thus references to Christ as kurios are now being handled by Warlaljamarri.” (Source: Stephen Swartz, The Bible Translator 1985, p. 415ff. )
Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient Greek Septuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew adonai was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments: “Another case is the use of kurios referring to Jesus. For Yahweh (in English Bibles: ‘the Lord‘), the Septuagint uses kurios. Although the term kurios usually has to do with one’s authority over others, when the New Testament authors use this word from the Septuagint to refer to Jesus, they are making an extraordinary claim: Jesus of Nazareth is to be identified with Yahweh.”
See also Father / Lord.
So the Lord heard their prayers and looked upon their afflictions: If this sentence were not here, we would never miss it. The rest of this verse through the end of the chapter continues the theme of verses 9-12, repeating much of it. The sentence stands out so starkly against its context that it must be intentional on our author’s part. We are suddenly removed from the noisy, smelly, frantic scene in Jerusalem and lifted to God’s calm abode, where we are told that God has taken notice. We may assume that God is going to act, but we aren’t told that. We are immediately put right back down to earth, where we must wait for God’s action, and for the narrator’s pleasure in telling us of it. Translations show their discomfort with this sentence by the paragraphing. Some make it the concluding sentence of the preceding paragraph (Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible). Others make it the opening sentence of a new paragraph (New American Bible, New Revised Standard Version). Neither Good News Translation nor Revised Standard Version break at all. It would not be too much to make a separate paragraph of this one sentence. This Handbook advises translators to do so. This is the only sentence in the book in which the narrator, rather than a character, uses the Lord as the acting subject of a sentence. Contemporary English Version translates “The Lord heard their prayers and saw how much they were suffering.”
For the people fasted many days: The conjunction for (also in Contemporary English Version and New American Bible) does not appear in Greek, and has no important function. It is better to let the previous statement about God’s hearing the people stand alone. This will support how the author handles the verb fasted. Fasted is a special construction with two verbs used in Greek. Good News Translation expresses it well with “continued their fast,” but Moore is even better with “kept on fasting.” The point is that we, the readers, know that God has taken notice of all this concern, but the people on the scene do not know. So they continue their praying and fasting. Fasted may also be expressed as “went without eating” (Contemporary English Version). Another possible model is “went without eating for a designated period of time.”
Before the sanctuary of the Lord Almighty: The sanctuary means “the Temple” (Good News Translation) or “the place where they worshiped the Lord.” Lord Almighty is used in the Greek Old Testament to translate both “God Almighty” and “Lord of hosts.” One cannot know which one the author is translating here. Another way to express this is “Lord who is all-powerful.” However, in languages that translate Lord as “Master” or “Ruler,” one may say “the Ruler who is all-powerful” or “the Ruler who is greater than all other rulers,” or even “God who is greater than all other rulers/chiefs.”
Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Judith. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.
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