The Greek that is translated as “Woman” in English was not translated in Elhomwe to avoid appearing rude. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
complete verse (John 20:13)
Following are a number of back-translations of John 20:13:
- Uma: “Those angels asked Maria, they said: ‘Why are you (sing.) crying?’ Maria said: ‘Because they have taken my Lord from here, and I do not know where they put him.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “The angels said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ Mariyam answered, she said, ‘Because they have taken the body of my Lord away and I don’t know where they have taken him to.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And they asked Mary saying, ‘Woman, what are you crying about?’ And Mary said, ‘Somebody took away the body of the Lord, and I don’t know where they have taken him.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “They said to her, ‘Oh younger-sibling, what are you (sing.) crying-about?’ ‘Because they have taken the corpse of my Lord, and I don’t know where-they -have-taken-it,’ she answered.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “They spoke questioning Maria, saying, ‘Daughter, what are you crying about?’ Maria replied, saying, ‘They have emphatic taken my Lord/Chief. I don’t know where they have taken him.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “The angels asked, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’ The woman said, ‘I am crying because they have taken away my Lord. And I don’t know where he has been placed.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Christ Appears to Mary
Following is a 1973 painting of the JESUS MAFA project, a response to New Testament readings from the Lectionary by a Christian community in Cameroon, Africa. Each of the readings was selected and adapted to dramatic interpretation by the community members. Photographs of their interpretations were made, and these were then transcribed to paintings:

Dramatically picturesque, this painting of John’s resurrection narrative captures the moment when Mary recognizes Jesus outside the tomb where he was meant to be lying. She has fallen to her knees in joy and worship as she reaches out to touch him. Jesus holds his arm to himself as he commands her not to hold onto him for he “has not yet ascended to the father.” Mary’s happiness is infectious and stirs in the viewer a similar delight in believing that death does not have the final word.
From Art in the Christian Tradition , a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. Image retrieved March 23, 2026. Original source: librairie-emmanuel.fr.
Lord
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:
- referring to “God,” especially in Old Testament quotations,
- meaning “master” or “owner,” especially in parables, etc.,
- as a form of address (see for instance John 4:11: “Sir, you have no bucket”),
- or, most often, referring to Jesus
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).
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight
Following are some of the solutions that don’t rely on a different typographical display (see above):
- Navajo (Dinė): “the one who has charge”
- Mossi: “the one who has the head” (the leader)
- Uduk: “chief”
- Guerrero Amuzgo: “the one who commands”
- Kpelle: “person-owner” (a term which may be applied to a chief)
- Central Pame: “the one who owns us” (or “commands us”)
- Piro: “the big one” (used commonly of one in authority)
- San Blas Kuna: “the great one over all” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
- Guhu-Samane: Soopara (“our Supervisor”) (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.)
- Balinese: “Venerated-one” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
- Yanesha’: “the one who carries us” (source: Nida 1952, p. 159)
- Northern Emberá: Dadjirã Boro (“our Head”)
- Rarotongan: Atu (“master or owner of a property”)
- Gilbertese: Uea (“a person of high status invested with authority to rule the people”)
- Rotuman: Gagaja (“village chief”)
- Samoan: Ali’i (“an important word in the native culture, it derives from the Samoan understanding of lordship based on the local traditions”)
- Tahitian: Fatu (“owner,” “master”)
- Tuvalu: Te Aliki (“chief”)
- Fijian: Liuliu (“leader”) (source for this and six above: Joseph Hong in The Bible Translator 1994, p. 329ff. )
- Bacama: Həmə miye: “owner of people” (source: David Frank in this blog post )
- Hopi: “Controller” (source: Walls 2000, p. 139)
- Iyansi: Mwol. Mwol is traditionally used for the “chief of a group of communities and villages” with legal, temporal, and spiritual authority (versus the “mfum [the term used in other Bantu languages] which is used for the chief of one community of people in one village”). Mwol is also used for twins who are “treated as special children, highly honored, and taken care of like kings and queens.” (Source: Kividi Kikama in Greed / Kruger, p. 396ff.)
- Ghomala’: Cyəpɔ (“he who is above everyone,” consisting of the verb cyə — to surpass or go beyond — and pɔ — referring to people. No human can claim this attribute, no matter what his or her social status or prestige.” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn )
- Binumarien: Karaambaia: “fight-leader” (Source: Oates 1995, p. 255)
-
Warlpiri: Warlaljamarri (owner or possessor of something — for more information tap or click here)
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. )
- Mairasi: Onggoao Nem (“Throated One” — “Leader,” “Elder”) or Enggavot Nan (“Above-One”) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
- Obolo: Okaan̄-ene (“Owner of person(s)”) (source: Enene Enene)
- Angami Naga: Niepu (“master,” “owner”)
- Lotha Naga: Opvui (“owner of house / field / cattle”) — since both “Lord” and YHWH are translated as Opvui there is an understanding that “Opvui Jesus is the same as the Opvui of the Old Testament”
- Ao Naga: Kibuba (“human master,” “teacher,” “owner of property,” etc.) (source for this and two above: Nitoy Achumi in The Bible Translator 1992 p. 438ff. )
- Seediq: Tholang, loan word from Min Nan Chinese (the majority language in Taiwan) thâu-lâng (頭儂): “Master” (source: Covell 1998, p. 248)
- Thai: phra’ phu pen cao (พระผู้เป็นเจ้า) (divine person who is lord) or ong(kh) cao nay (องค์เจ้านาย) (<divine classifier>-lord-boss) (source: Stephen Pattemore)
- Arabic often uses different terms for adonai or kurios referring to God (al-rabb الرب) and kurios referring to Jesus (al-sayyid الـسـيـد). Al-rabb is also the term traditionally used in Arabic Christian-idiom translations for YHWH, and al-sayyid is an honorary term, similar to English “lord” or “sir” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
- Tamil also uses different terms for adonai/kurios when referring to God and kurios when referring to Jesus. The former is Karttar கர்த்தர், a Sanskrit-derived term with the original meaning of “creator,” and the latter in Āṇṭavar ஆண்டவர், a Tamil term originally meaning “govern” or “reign” (source: Natarajan Subramani).
- Burunge: Looimoo: “owner who owns everything” (in the Burunge Bible translation, this term is only used as a reference to Jesus and was originally used to refer to the traditional highest deity — source: Michael Endl in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 48)
- Yagaria: Souve, originally “war lord” (source: Renck, p. 94)
- Aguacateco: Ajcaw ske’j: “the one to whom we belong and who is above us” (source: Rita Peterson in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 49)
- Konkomba: Tidindaan: “He who is the owner of the land and reigns over the people” (source: Lidorio 2007, p. 66)
- Chichewa: Ambuye Ambuye comes from the singular form Mbuye which is used to refer to: (1) someone who is a guardian or protector of someone or group of people — a grandparent who has founded a community or village; (2) someone who is a boss or master over a group of people or servants and has absolute control over them; (3) owner of something, be it a property, animals and people who are bound under his/her rule — for people this was mostly commonly used in the context of slaves and their owner. In short, Mbuye is someone who has some authorities over those who call him/her their “Mbuye.” Now, when the form Ambuye is used it will either be for honorific when used for singular or plural when referring to more than one person. When this term is used in reference to God, it is for respect to God as he is acknowledged as a guardian, protector, and ruler of everything. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation).
- Hdi uses rveri (“lion”) as a title of respect and as such it regularly translates adon in the Old Testament. As an address, it’s most often with a possessive pronoun as in rvera ɗa (“my lion” = “my lord” or “sir”). So, for example, Genesis 15:2 (“O Lord God”) is Rvera ɗa Yawe (“My lion Yahweh”) or Ruth to Boaz in Ruth 2:13: “May I find your grace [lit. good-stomach] my lion.” This ties in nicely with the imagery of the Lord roaring like a lion (Hosea 11:10; Amos 3:8; Joel 3:16). Better still, this makes passages like Revelation 5:5 even richer when we read about rveri ma taba məndəra la Yuda, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah”. In Revelation 19:16, Jesus is rveri ta ghəŋa rveriha “the lion above lions” (“lord of lords”). (Source: Drew Maust)
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.
Sung version of John 20
Translation commentary on John 20:13
“Woman, why are you crying?” they asked her is literally “and they say to her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’ ” The conjunction “and” at the beginning of a sentence suggests Semitic Greek. “They say” is rendered they asked by Good News Translation and most other translations, since a question follows. They asked her is placed after the angels’ words, in order to achieve a more dramatic effect.
Woman is the same noun of address used in 2.4 and 19.26. As indicated previously, it is a term of respect. In languages in which there is no appropriate polite form of address which would be suitable in this context, it may be better simply to omit entirely a noun of address. The question why are you crying? should be sufficient.
She answered is literally “she says to them.”
The last part of verse 13 repeats essentially the words of the last part of verse 2. The differences are my Lord instead of the Lord, I do not know instead of we don’t know, and the omission of from the tomb (verse 2).
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 20:13
20:13a
Woman: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Woman is a polite way to address a woman. See how you translated this word in 2:4, 4:21, and 19:26. Use a term of address that is polite and natural in your language. For example:
Dear woman (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Miss/Ma’am
If there is no suitable polite term of address for a woman, it may be natural to just leave it out. It may be best to avoid words such as “sister,” because the speakers were angels, not humans. Consider if there is a polite term of address that a non-human might use to address a human woman. Or you may want to leave out the term of address. For example:
Why are you crying? (Contemporary English Version)
Another way to avoid using a term of address is to use an indirect quotation. For example:
The angels asked her why she was crying. (God’s Word)
why are you weeping?: The angels asked Mary to tell them the reason why she was crying. They knew why Mary was crying and that she did not need to cry (because Jesus was alive). They knew why the tomb was empty. Translate this question in a kind, natural way to ask why someone is doing something that is not necessary. For example:
Tell us why you are weeping.
-or-
What is the reason for your tears?
you: This pronoun is feminine singular and refers to Mary.
they asked: The pronoun they refers to the two angels. Because the angels appeared to people in the form of human men, you should probably use a masculine plural (or dual) pronoun. Because what the angels said was a question, you may want to indicate that here. And it may be more natural to identify one or both pronouns. For example:
they asked her (Good News Translation)
-or-
The angels asked Mary (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
The angels asked her (God’s Word)
20:13b
Because they have taken my Lord away: This clause is Mary’s answer to the angel’s question. It gives the reason why Mary was weeping. Translate this clause in a way that is natural for an answer to a question that asks why. See how you translated the similar clause “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb” in 20:2. For example:
Because they have taken away my Lord (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
⌊I am crying because⌋ they took away my Lord.
they: This pronoun is indefinite. Mary did not know who did this. It is more natural in some languages to use an indefinite pronoun or a passive sentence. For example:
someone has taken my Lord away
-or-
my Lord has been taken away
have taken my Lord away: Mary meant that someone must have removed Jesus’ body and taken it somewhere else. Mary did not think that Jesus was living. Use an expression that is natural for lifting up and moving a dead body. For example:
have taken away my Lord’s body (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
have removed ⌊the body of⌋ my Lord
my Lord: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Lord means “master” or “one who has authority over others.” People used this word as a polite title when they spoke to an elder or someone in authority. Mary indicated that Jesus was in authority over her in some way. The Jews also used this same title to refer to God.
See how you translated the word Lord in 20:2. It is good to use the same word here. However, here Mary says my Lord rather than “the Lord.” For example:
my Master
-or-
the one I obey/serve
she said: The Berean Standard Bible has this quote introducer after the quotation. The Greek has placed the quote introducer before the quotation, as is sometimes more natural in English. Place this quote introducer where it is most natural in your language.
20:13c
and: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as and here introduces another part of the reason why Mary was crying. In some languages it may be natural to leave this conjunction untranslated and to begin a new sentence. For example:
They have taken away my Lord’s body! I don’t know where they have put him (Contemporary English Version)
I do not know where they have put Him: Mary did not understand that Jesus had risen. See how you translated the similar clause in 20:2. However, there Mary used the plural pronoun “we” rather than the singular pronoun I as she does here. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
I do not know where they have taken his body to.
where they have put Him: The pronoun they is indefinite. Mary did not have any particular person in mind. She thought that someone took his body, but did not know who. In some languages it may be more natural to translate this idea using a passive verb. For example:
where he has been put
-or-
where his body has been laid
Him: This pronoun refers to Jesus’ body. See how you translated “my Lord” in 20:13a and use the pronoun that is natural in this context. For example:
Because they removed the body/corpse of my Lord and I do not know where they put it.
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