worship

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The Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek terms that are often translated as “worship” (also, “kneel down” or “bow down”) are likewise translated in other languages in certain categories, including those based on physical activity, those which incorporate some element of “speaking” or “declaring,” and those which specify some type of mental activity.

Following is a list of (back-) translations (click or tap for details):

  • Javanese: “prostrate oneself before”
  • Malay: “kneel and bow the head”
  • Kaqchikel: “kneel before”
  • Loma (Liberia): “drop oneself beneath God’s foot”
  • Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “wag the tail before God” (using a verb which with an animal subject means “to wag the tail,” but with a human subject)
  • Tzotzil: “join to”
  • Kpelle: “raise up a blessing to God”
  • Kekchí: “praise as your God”
  • Cashibo-Cacataibo: “say one is important”
  • San Blas Kuna: “think of God with the heart”
  • Rincón Zapotec: “have one’s heart go out to God”
  • Tabasco Chontal: “holy-remember” (source of this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Bariai: “lift up God’s name” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Q’anjob’al: “humble oneself before” (source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. )
  • Alur: rwo: “complete submission, adoration, consecration” (source: F. G. Lasse in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 22ff. )
  • Obolo: itọtọbọ ebum: “express reverence and devotion” (source: Enene Enene)
  • Ngäbere: “cut oneself down before” (“This figure of speech comes from the picture of towering mahoganies in the forest which, under the woodman’s ax, quiver, waver, and then in solemn, thunderous crashing bury their lofty heads in the upstretched arms of the surrounding forest. This is the experience of every true worshiper who sees ‘the Lord, high and lifted up.’ Our own unworthiness brings us low. As the Valientes say, ‘we cut ourselves down before’ His presence. Our heads, which have been carried high in self-confidence, sink lower and lower in worship.)
  • Tzeltal: “end oneself before God.” (“Only by coming to the end of oneself can one truly worship. The animist worships his deities in the hope of receiving corresponding benefits, and some pagans in Christendom think that church attendance is a guarantee of success in this life and good luck in the future. But God has never set a price on worship except the price that we must pay, namely, ‘coming to the end of ourselves.'”) (Source of this and the one above: Nida 1952, p. 163)
  • Folopa: “die under God” (“an idiom that roughly back-translates “dying under God” which means lifting up his name and praising him and to acknowledge by everything one does and thanks that God is superior.”) (Source: Anderson / Moore, p. 202)
  • Chokwe: kuivayila — “rub something on” (“When anyone goes into the presence of a king or other superior, according to native law and custom the inferior gets down on the ground, takes a little earth in the fingers of his right hand, rubs it on his own body, and then claps his hands in homage and the greeting of friendship. It is a token of veneration, of homage, of extreme gratitude for some favor received. It is also a recognition of kingship, lordship, and a prostrating of oneself in its presence. Yet it simply is the applicative form of ‘to rub something on oneself’, this form of the verb giving the value of ‘because of.’ Thus in God’s presence as king and Lord we metaphorically rub dirt on ourselves, thus acknowledging Him for what He really is and what He has done for us.”) (Source: D. B. Long in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 87ff. )
  • In the German New Testament translation Fridolin Stier (1989) it is consistently translated as “bow (to someone) deeply” (tief verneigen)

In Luang it is translated with different shades of meaning:

Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.

complete verse (John 12:20)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 12:20:

  • Uma: “Among the many people who went to Yerusalem to worship at the time of Paskah Day, there were also several Yunani people.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “There were people from the Girik tribe who came together with the people to worship in Awrusalam at the time of that festival.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And there were some Greek people who had come also to attend the feast because they will worship God there in Jerusalem.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “There were also Jews who were Griego who went to attend-the-fiesta in Jerusalem in order to worship God.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well included in the crowd who had come to Jerusalem to join in that fiesta and to worship God, were some people who were Griego.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Of those people who went to Jerusalem in order to worship God during the celebration were some natives of Greece.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 12:20

It should be noted that the mention of the festival in this verse ties this theme closely to the overall context of Passover, which has been the background since 11.55. The term Greeks (see also 7.35) is not used in the nationalistic sense; it refers rather to “non-Jews” or “Gentiles.” In this instance the reference is to Gentiles who have become proselytes to Judaism and so have come up to Jerusalem to worship during the festival. They are mentioned only in this verse and those that follow. It is not sufficient to translate Greeks merely as “Greek-speaking people,” since this term could refer to many Jews who spoke only Greek. The term Greeks may be expressed in some languages as “people known as Greeks” or “Greek people” or “people who were not Jews.”

It may be essential in some languages to introduce an object of worship, for example, “to worship God.” During the festival may be rendered “during the time of the celebration” or even “during the time that people were celebrating the Passover.”

In the Greek text Jerusalem is not explicitly mentioned and the verb had gone is literally “went up”; but this verb is normally used for describing a journey to Jerusalem (see 2.13; 5.1; 7.8; and 11.55).

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on John 12:20

Section 12:20–26

Some Greeks wanted to meet Jesus

Some Greek people went to Philip to ask to meet Jesus. Jesus responded to the Greeks’ request by giving the illustration of a seed that must die to produce fruit.

Here are some other possible titles for this section:

Some Greek people asked to see Jesus
-or-
Some Greeks sought Jesus

Paragraph 12:20–22

12:20

Now: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Now here introduces a new event in the story. In this context it is not a time word. Many English translations do not translate this word. Introduce this new event in a natural way in your language.

there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the feast: It was not only Jewish people who went to Jerusalem at this time. Some Greeks (Gentiles) went also. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

Some Greeks were among those who came to worship during the Passover festival. (God’s Word)
-or-
Some Greeks had gone to Jerusalem to worship during Passover. (Contemporary English Version)

some Greeks: The word Greeks refers to people who were not Jews by birth. They were Gentiles, speakers of the Greek language. The word Greeks in the New Testament does not refer to people from the country of Greece. (It did not exist yet.) See the notes on Greeks in 7:35. Here is another way to translate this phrase:

some Gentiles (Revised English Bible)

went up: This phrase is a Jewish idiom meaning “went to Jerusalem.” They used this idiom because Jerusalem was built on a hill. You may want to make it explicit that they went up to Jerusalem. For example:

had gone to Jerusalem (Good News Translation)

to worship: The Greeks went to worship God. In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:

to worship ⌊God⌋

the feast: This phrase here refers to the Passover festival, when the Jews celebrated their freedom from being slaves to the Egyptians. See the note on 2:13.You may want to make it clear which festival it was. For example:

the Passover Feast (New Century Version)

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