As she wept she bent over to look into the tomb

The Greek that is translated as “As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as (Maria) weinte bitterlich, von Kummer und Schmerz gebeugt or “(Mary) cried bitterly, bent over with grief and pain.”

Berger/Nord (p. 24) explain: “The open question with [the traditional] translations is why a woman who cries suddenly bends over so that she can see through the low-set opening of the tomb, deep into the interior of the tomb where the two angels sit. We know that the bent back was part of the mourning ritual of antique Judaism and therefore [the translation above] makes the connection between the mourning and seeing the angels anatomically understandable.”

Mary Magdalene (icon)

Following is a contemporary Ukrainian Orthodox icon of Mary Magdalene by Kateryna Shadrina.

 

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 )

For purchasing artworks by Kateryna Shadrina go to IconArt Gallery .

complete verse (John 20:11)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 20:11:

  • Uma: “But Maria Magdalena stood outside the grave, continually crying. While she was crying, she stooped down to peer into the grave.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But Mariyam kept standing there beside the grave weeping. While she was weeping she bent down and peeped into the grave.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But as for Mary, by contrast, she was still outside the cave crying. And as she cried, she squatted down peeking into the cave.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But Maria however, she was still standing by the cave crying. She was crying bending-face-down to peer-inside the cave.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But as for Maria, who had returned to the grave, she was still there standing at the outside of that place-buried-in, keeping on crying. She bent still crying and looked inside the grave.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But Mary stood outside the cave crying. While she was crying, she stooped to look inside of the cave.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 20:11

In some languages such an expression as Mary stood crying must be expressed by paratactically combined verbs, for example, “Mary stood there; she was crying.” The phrase outside the tomb must be combined with standing rather than with crying. Accordingly one may translate “Mary was standing there just outside the tomb; she was crying.”

Outside the tomb is more literally “at/by/near the tomb outside,” which Jerusalem Bible renders “outside near the tomb;” New English Bible “at the tomb outside;” and Goodspeed and Phillips “just outside the tomb.” Barclay has “beside the tomb outside it.” The Greek preposition indicates proximity. This force is implicit in Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version, Moffatt, and others by the rendering “outside.” New American Bible has “beside the tomb.”

She bent over and looked in the tomb is more literally “she bent over into the tomb.” The verb “to look” is definitely implied, and a number of other translations make this information explicit (Revised Standard Version “she stooped to look into the tomb”; Jerusalem Bible “she stooped to look inside”).

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 .