Peter

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

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 .

See also Peter – rock.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Peter .

John as a first-person evangelist (John 21:2)

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: “We were together, Simon Peter and Thomas and Nathanael and I and my brother, and two other disciples.”

Note that the English Living Bible (publ. 1971) translates the same way.

complete verse (John 21:2)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 21:2:

  • Uma: “Several of his disciples gathered there. Simon Petrus, Tomas who is nicknamed the Twin, Natanael from Kana in Galilea, the two sons of Zebedeus, and two other disciples.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Simon Petros was there together with Tomas, whom they call Twin and Natanael, the man from Kana there in Jalil. There were also together with them the children of Sebede and still two other disciples of Isa.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Simon Peter was there and Thomas the one called Twin, Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee, and the two sons of Zebedee were also there, and there were also two other disciples of Jesus there.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Simon Pedro, Tomas who was nicknamed Twin, Nataniel from-Cana in Galilea, the children of Zebedeo, and two other disciples of Jesus were accompanying-each-other.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Once when Simon Pedro, Tomas who was called Twin, Natanael who was from Cana in the district of Galilea, the sons of Zebedeo and two other disciples were all together,” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “These are the names of those who were together: Peter, Thomas, who is called the twin, Nathanael, a native of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee and two other learners of Jesus.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Sung version of John 21

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®).

For more information, see here .

Translation commentary on John 21:2

The words were all together (literally “were together”) occur at the beginning of the Greek sentence, with the names following, but most English translators restructure in a way similar to Good News Translation to meet the demands of English style. The use of the full name Simon Peter is typically Johannine.

Thomas was first mentioned in 11.16. Nathanael is mentioned in the episode in 1.43-51; otherwise he appears in John’s Gospel only in this verse. In the earlier account no mention is made of his coming from Cana in Galilee. The sons of Zebedee are James and John. They are not mentioned by name anywhere in the Gospel and only here as the sons of Zebedee. In this Gospel the name “John” always refers to John the Baptist, unless specifically marked otherwise, as at 21.15, Simon son of John.

Along with this group of five disciples mentioned by name are two other disciples of Jesus whose identity is not given.

In some languages, rather than beginning with a list of names, followed by a statement that all these persons were together, it is necessary to say “The disciples who were together included Simon Peter, Thomas…” or “The following disciples were all together: Simon Peter, Thomas….”

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 21:2

21:2

Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together: This list introduces the disciples who will be in the next events. In some languages it may be natural to introduce the list by indicating that these men were all disciples. For example:

Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Some disciples gathered there. They were Simon Peter, Thomas (also called the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others.

In other languages it may be natural for the names to precede the verb phrase: For example:

Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael (the one from Cana in Galilee), the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples of Jesus were all together. (Good News Translation)

Simon Peter: Simon Peter was the full name of the disciple who is often referred to as just Peter. See how you translated this name in 1:40 and 6:68. Simon Peter is the most important disciple in the next events. So it may be natural to emphasize his name by making him the subject of the sentence. For example:

Simon Peter was with Thomas the Twin, Nathanael from Cana-in-Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. (Revised English Bible)

Thomas called Didymus: The name Didymus was a Greek transliteration of the Jewish name of Thomas. He was probably called that because he was a twin, which is what the word means. See how you translated this phrase in 11:16 and 20:24.

Nathanael from Cana in Galilee: The disciple Nathanael came from the village of Cana in the province of Galilee. See the note on John 2:1, where this village is first mentioned. Nathanael is also mentioned in 1:45–51. He was possibly the same man as the disciple named Bartholomew (Matthew 10:3), but this is not certain.

the sons of Zebedee: The phrase the sons of Zebedee refers to the two brothers James and John. See how you translated this phrase in Matthew 10:35 and Luke 5:10.

disciples: See the note and how you translated this term in 21:1a.

were together: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as were together indicates that a group of Jesus’ followers had come to the same place, probably meeting to discuss what had happened. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

Some of the followers were together (New Century Version)
-or-
Several of the disciples were there (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Present there together were…

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