Batik dye artwork 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, the latter medium being an ancient decorative craft that has come into use as a high art medium in the last 50 or 60 years. A Batik image is created as a pattern or picture dyed in fabric. Certain parts of the fabric are covered with a wax, which acts as a “resist” to the colorful dyes. Hanna Varghese mastered the medium, and the sacred art images she created with it are original, bold and graphic.
“‘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 )
Following are a number of back-translations of John 21:1:
Uma: “After that, Yesus appeared [lit., showed himself] one more time to his disciples, on the shore of Lake Tiberias. Like this its story:” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “When a number of days (lit. how many days) had passed, Isa appeared again to his disciples there at the edge of lake Tiberi. This is how he showed himself to them.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “A few days after that, Jesus appeared again to his disciples on the shore of the Lake of Tiberias. His appearing to them happened like this.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “When how-many days had-gone, Jesus again appeared to his disciples at the edge of the lake Tiberias. This is how it happened.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Again it wasn’t long until Jesus again went-to-see/meet his disciples, there on the shore of the Lake of Tiberias, like this being how he went-to-see/meet (them) this time.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “On another day Jesus spoke again with his learners on the shore of the lake Tiberias. This is how he did it.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
The various Greek, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
After this is the same transitional formula used in 3.22. If a receptor language requires a more definite indication of time, one may say “a few days later.”
The verb translated appeared (New American Bible, Goodspeed, Phillips, New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible “showed himself”) is frequently used in John’s Gospel (1.31; 2.11; 3.21; 7.4; 9.3; 17.6), but it is used of a resurrection appearance only in this verse (twice) and in verse 14.
The adverbial phrase once more should not be so rendered as to suggest that this was the final appearance of Jesus to his disciples. Instead of once more, one may translate “again.”
His disciples (so also New English Bible) is literally “the disciples” (so most translations). In the following verse seven disciples are mentioned.
In this verse Lake Galilee is referred to as Lake Tiberias. In 6.1 it is referred to as “Lake Galilee,” followed by a parenthetical explanation that it was also known as “Lake Tiberias.”
This is how it happened is literally “but he showed (himself) in this way.” Moffatt translates “it was in this way,” while Goodspeed renders “and he did so in this way.”
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 .
This chapter is a second ending to the Gospel of John. It gives some information about another time that Jesus appeared to his disciples after he rose from the dead. This time Jesus came to seven of his followers while they were fishing on the lake in Galilee. He did a miracle of providing many fish for them to catch, and then he gave them breakfast.
Here are other possible section headings:
Jesus went to seven of his disciples beside Lake Galilee -or-
Seven disciples saw a miracle when they caught many fish -or-
Jesus did a miracle to give some of his followers many fish
Paragraph 21:1–3
After Jesus’ resurrection, seven of Jesus’ followers met by the Sea of Tiberias (also called the Sea of Galilee). They decided to go fishing together, but they caught nothing.
21:1a–b
This is a summary statement introducing the next story. See the General Comment on ways to combine 21:1a and b.
21:1a
Later, by the Sea of Tiberias, Jesus again revealed Himself to the disciples: This clause introduces the final events in the gospel and indicates where they happened.
Later: This phrase refers to a time after Jesus appeared to Thomas and the other disciples in Jerusalem, as described in 20:19–29. It may have been a week or two later. We do not know exactly how much later it was. Use a general expression that can refer to a few days or a couple of weeks. For example:
Some time later (Revised English Bible) -or-
Days later
by the Sea of Tiberias: The Sea of Tiberias was the Roman name for the lake that the Jews called Sea of Galilee or Lake Galilee. It was a freshwater (not salty) lake. See the note and how you translated this name in 6:1, where both terms are used. If this lake is known as Lake Galilee in your community, you may want to use that term here. For example:
at Lake Galilee (New Century Version) -or-
Lake Tiberias (Good News Translation)
If you do that, you will probably want to include a footnote. For example:
The Greek text uses the name “Sea of Tiberias” to refer to the same lake.
Jesus again revealed Himself to the disciples: This clause indicates that Jesus came to some of his followers and allowed them to see him. The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as revealed Himself also appears in 7:4. See how you translated the word there. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
Jesus appeared once more to his disciples (Good News Translation) -or-
Jesus again caused/allowed his followers to see him
again: Jesus showed himself to the disciples twice previously, both times in the room in Jerusalem (20:19–29). This time, he showed himself to the disciples while they were by the sea or lake called Tiberias. This was the first time that Jesus met the disciples there after his resurrection. To avoid the wrong meaning that Jesus appeared there before, you can mention the Sea of Tiberias separately. For example:
Jesus showed himself to his followers again—this time at Lake Galilee. (New Century Version) -or-
Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples. It was by the Sea of Tiberias…. (New Jerusalem Bible)
the disciples: This phrase refers to seven of Jesus’ 12 closest disciples. The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as disciples means “learners” who are in a special relationship with a teacher. The learners committed themselves to their teacher in order to learn from him and follow his teaching and example. Disciples often lived with their teacher and followed him wherever he went. See how you translated this word in 20:2. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
his disciples (New International Version) -or-
his followers (New Century Version)
21:1b
He made Himself known in this way: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as He made Himself known in this way uses the same verb as in 21:1a. Here is another way to translate this clause:
He appeared in this way
This clause introduces the next event in the story. In some languages it may be more natural to use a different verb rather than repeating the verb from 21:1. For example:
it happened like this: (New Jerusalem Bible) -or-
Now this is how he did so. (NET Bible)
General Comment on 21:1
In some languages it may be natural to combine 21:1a–b. For example:
Jesus later appeared to his disciples along the shore of Lake Tiberias. (Contemporary English Version)
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