John 13:24 – TIPs

motion to

In Afar the term in John 13:24 that is translated into English as “motion to” is translated as minin cassa heeh: “signal with eyebrow.”

Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking (image)

Illustration by Annie Vallotton, copyright by Donald and Patricia Griggs of Griggs Educational Service. More images can be viewed at rotation.org .

For other images by Annie Vallotton on Translation Insights & Perspectives, see here.

Peter

Following is a Armenian Orthodox icon of Peter (found in the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shusha, Azerbaijan).

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 )

Following is a hand colored stencil print on momigami of Peter by Sadao Watanabe (1970):

Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe. For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.

In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “key” (referring to Matthew 16:19). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)

“Peter” or “Cephas” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

In Swiss-German Sign Language it is translated with the sign for “rock,” referring to the meaning of the Greek word for “Peter.”

“Peter” in Swiss-German Sign Language, source: DSGS-Lexikon biblischer Begriffe , © CGG Schweiz

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

John as a first-person evangelist (John 13:24)

In the Yatzachi Zapotec translation of the Gospel of John, any reference to the evangelist and presumed narrator is done in the first person.

The translator Inez Butler explains (in: Notes on Translation, September 1967, pp. 10ff.):

“In revising the Gospel of John in Yatzachi Zapotec we realized from the start that the third person references of Jesus to himself as Son of Man had to be converted into first person references, but only more recently have we decided that similar change is necessary in John’s references to himself as ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved.’ As I worked on those changes and questioned the informant about his understanding of other passages in the Gospel, I discovered that the reader misses the whole focus of the book as an eyewitness account unless every reference to the disciples indicates the writer’s membership in the group. In view of that we went back through the entire book looking for ways to cue in the reader to the fact that John was an eyewitness and a participant in a many of the events, as well as the historian.

“When the disciples were participants in events along with Jesus, it was necessary to make explicit the fact that they accompanied him, although in the source language that is left implicit, since otherwise our rendering would imply that they were not present.”

In this verse, the Yatzachi Zapotec says: “And Peter made a sign to me for me to ask Jesus . . .”

complete verse (John 13:24)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 13:24:

Uma: “Simon Petrus eye-signaled that disciple, he said to him: ‘Ee, try asking the Teacher who he means.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Simon Petros made signs to him and said to him, ‘Ask Isa as to whom he is speaking of.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And as for this disciple, Simon the titled Peter motioned to him. Peter said, ‘Ask him who he is talking about.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Simon Pedro signaled to him to inquire of Jesus as to which of them he was talking-about.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “He was beckoned to by Simon Pedro that he would ask which of them Jesus meant by that which he’d said.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Peter made a signal to that one who was seated with Jesus to ask him whom he spoke of.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

The Last Supper

Click here to see the image in higher resolution.

Willy Wiedmann, the artist, commented on this picture: “In spite of some difficulty, and unlike Leonardo da Vinci [see here ] I did not set my last supper in a theatrical scene with Jesus in the center behind an elongated table with all the disciples, with two at each end so that that there are 11 seated behind the table. And not like the panel by Juan de Juanes (1623-79) [see here ] in which the six disciples left and right are very dynamic figures. And also not like Martin Schongauer’s Last Supper [see here ] with a slightly shorter table (also incidentally very similar to Juanes in the attitudes of the figures) and two figures seen from the back in the foreground of the panel. Instead I have given the Master the middle place to the foreground, with his back to us to finally leave the controversial Jesus-existential questions unanswered. Slightly symbolically it means that he is leaving his world. The iris color is meant to transfer the rainbow to Jesus, that God once linked to Noah (my kingdom is not of this world). I attempted to present answers that correspond to the characters of each individual.”

Image and text 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.

Following is a painting by Wang Suda 王肅達 (1910-1963):

Text under painting translated from Literary Chinese into English:

Beginning of the Holy Communion
You have this as food and this is my body.

Image taken from Chinese Christian Posters . For more information on the “Ars Sacra Pekinensis” school of art, see this article , for other artworks of that school in TIPs, see here.

Following is an acrylic on canvas painting by Hanna-Cheriyan Varghese:

Used with permission by the Overseas Ministries Study Center (OMSC) at Princeton Theological Seminary. You can purchase this and many other artworks by artists in residence at the OSMC in high resolution and without a watermark via the OSMC website .

“Hanna-Cheriyan Varghese (1938 – 2009) of Selangor, Malaysia, was the artist in residence at OMSC for the 2006–2007 academic year. She was born to Christian parents, and she remembered her mother taking her to a different worship service every week: ‘My parents encouraged me to attend different churches so that my siblings and I would appreciate the liturgy and traditions of the Christian believers of different denominations. Christians are a minority in Malaysia so we continue to struggle for our identity in a Muslim society. There is no open conflict as such.’

“She always had a passion for painting and drawing. She worked in the mediums of acrylic paint and Batik dye.

“‘All creative work, be it the spoken word, the written word or the sung word, are essentials in praise and worship, meditation, education, inculturation and evangelism. This also includes art and pictures, which is universal seeing.’ Hanna Varghese.” (Source )

the last supper (icon)

Following is a contemporary Ukrainian Orthodox icon of the last supper by Ulyana Tomkevych.

source: Sacred Art Pilgrim

Simon (Peter𖺗 son of Jonah / John)

The name that is transliterated as “Simon (Peter)” in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with a sign that combines a reference to “Peter” (see here for the Libras translation of “Peter”) and “son” (of Jonah / John). (Source: Missão Kophós )

“Simon” in Libras (source )

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Verse: John 13:24