7That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he had taken it off, and jumped into the sea.
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.
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 )
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: “Then I said to Peter . . . Then when Simon Peter heard me say to him . . .” The Alekano translation her also uses the first-person: “After that, I, the man Jesus loved, said this to Peter.”
Following are a number of back-translations of John 21:7:
Uma: “From there, the disciple whom Yesus loved said to Petrus: ‘That is the Lord over there!’ When Petrus heard that, he put on his shirt (because he was not wearing a shirt), tied it at his waist, and threw himself into the water, swam to land/shore.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Then the disciple who was loved by Isa said to Petros, ‘That is the Lord hep.’ When Simon Petros heard this he put on his shirt for he had taken it off, and threw himself into the lake going to Isa.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then the disciple who was big in the breath of Jesus, he said to Peter, ‘That’s our Lord!’ And when Peter knew that it was Jesus, he put on his shirt that he had taken off, he jumped in the water, and went to the shore.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “When that was so, Jesus’ disciple whom he very-much-loved, he said to Pedro, ‘That’s indeed the Lord.’ When Simon Pedro heard that, he immediately-wrapped-around-(himself) his outer garment, because he had previously been naked-from-the-waist-up, he hurried and immediately-jumped into the water.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “That disciple whom Jesus held dear said to Pedro, ‘That’s the Lord/Chief! It’s none other than really he!’ When Simon Pedro heard that, he got dressed because he had his clothes off. Then he dived into the water.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “The learner whom Jesus love very much said to Peter, ‘That is our Lord there.’ Peter no sooner heard it said that it was the Lord when he put on his shirt since he was stripped. Having put it on, he jumped into the water to get where Jesus stood in a hurry.” (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®).
The Greek verb translated loved in the phrase the disciple whom Jesus loved, is agapaō. This same verb is used in verse 20, as it is in 13.23 and 19.26. In 20.2 (the other disciple, whom Jesus loved) the Greek verb for loved is phileō. John uses these two verbs synonymously, which is important for the exegesis of verses 15-19. The Living Bible has gone far beyond the bounds of legitimate translation by rendering the disciple whom Jesus loved as “I.” This version maintains the first person pronoun in the earlier part of the chapter, but in verse 20 it introduces the third person (“the disciple Jesus loved”). The use of “I” presupposes a particular view of the authorship of this chapter, a view not substantiated by the evidence. Moreover, the shift from the first person (“I”) to the third person (“the disciple Jesus loved”) is bad English style. The third person reference should be maintained wherever this particular phrase occurs.
It may be necessary in some languages to make specific the antecedent of it in the sentence It is the Lord! A literal translation could be confusing. Accordingly, one may translate “The person on the shore is the Lord” or “The one who spoke to us is the Lord.”
Similarly, in translating the clause When Peter heard that it was the Lord, it may be necessary to say “When Simon Peter heard that the person on the shore was the Lord” or “… that the person who had spoken to them was the Lord.” The expression in the second sentence of this verse must be consistent with that used in the first sentence.
He wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken his clothes off) is translated in various ways. Revised Standard Version has “he put on his clothes, for he was stripped for work”; New English Bible “he wrapped his coat about him (for he had stripped)”; Jerusalem Bible “… who had practically nothing on, wrapped his cloak round him”; Moffatt “Simon Peter threw on his blouse (he was stripped for work)”; Goodspeed “he put on his clothes, for he had taken them off”; Phillips “slipped on his clothes, for he had been naked”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has simply “he put on his outer garment.” Anchor renders “tucked in his outer garment (for he was otherwise naked).”
For he had taken his clothes off is literally “for he was gumnos.” The Greek adjective gumnos usually means “naked,” but it can also mean “lightly clothed.” This second meaning is indicated here, since a Jew would never disrobe completely while fishing. Most commentators and translators suppose that Peter was fishing with only a loincloth on; before leaping into the water he put on his outer garment. However, this interpretation has been challenged on three counts: (1) The Greek verb diazōnnumai means properly not “put on” but “tuck in” or “tie up.” It occurs twice in 13.4-5: he … tied a towel around his waist … and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. The purpose of the action in 21.7 is to give Peter greater freedom of movement. (2) Outer garment (Greek ependutēs) designates a garment worn over the underclothing. In this context it refers to the fisherman’s smock that Peter was wearing to ward off the chill of the morning air. Peter in his fisherman’s smock is described as “lightly clad.” (3) Peter would not have put on an additional garment before jumping into the water, since this would have made swimming more difficult. Rather he tucked in the garment that he already had on.
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 .
The disciples realized that the figure on the shore was Jesus, and they returned to land. Peter jumped into the water and swam to shore ahead of the others.
21:7a
Then the disciple whom Jesus loved: This phrase probably refers to the author John himself. See how you translated this phrase in 13:23 and 19:26. For example:
The disciple who was dear to Jesus
said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”: The clause It is the Lord means “The man talking to us is Jesus.” The loved disciple recognized Jesus by the miracle he did. In some languages it is natural to mark this as something that the disciple concluded when he saw the miracle. For example:
he said to Peter, “That must be the Lord.” -or-
he said to Peter, “Surely that man is the Lord.”
the Lord: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the Lord means “master, one who has authority over others.” It referred to Jesus. See how you translated this phrase in 20:2, 18, 20. In some languages it may be necessary to provide a possessive pronoun here. For example:
⌊our (incl.)⌋ Lord
21:7b
As soon as Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord: This clause introduces what Simon Peter did as a result of what the loved disciple said. The Greek text includes a word meaning “so” or “therefore” that is not explicit in the Berean Standard Bible. You may want to make it explicit. For example:
So Simon Peter, when he heard that it was the Lord…. (NET Bible)
What Simon Peter then did was the result of hearing that the man on the beach was the Lord. In some languages it may not be necessary or natural to repeat what Peter heard. For example:
When Peter heard him say this (New Century Version) -or-
Hearing this (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
Simon Peter: The Greek text uses Peter’s two names here. However, in some languages that may not be natural after the mention of Peter in 21:7a. You may want to use just one name here. For example:
When Peter heard that it was the Lord
the Lord: See how you translated this phrase in 21:7a. In some languages it may again be necessary to provide a possessive pronoun here. For example:
⌊his⌋ Lord -or-
⌊their⌋ Lord
21:7c
he put on his outer garment: This clause refers to Peter putting on his outer garment (piece of clothes). It may be that Peter just tied the garment around himself. See 13:4, 5, where Jesus wrapped and tied a towel around his waist and the same verb is used. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
he wrapped his coat around himself (New Century Version) -or-
Simon Peter tied his outer garment around him (New Jerusalem Bible)
his outer garment: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as outer garment was probably a short fisherman’s coat.
for he had removed it: This clause indicates the reason why Peter put on his outer garment. The word for here means “because.” The reason was that he needed more clothes on before he could greet Jesus in a suitable way. Several English translations put this clause in parentheses to indicate that it is parenthetical information. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
(for he had taken it off) (New International Version) -or-
because he was not wearing much
he had removed it: The word that the Berean Standard Bible has translated as had removed it is more literally “naked.” There are two ways to interpret the word here based on two senses of the word.
(1) It means that he was wearing few clothes. It was not normal for Jewish men to be completely naked in public. Peter likely had nothing on but a long shirt or something around his waist. For example:
he put back on the clothes that he had taken off (God’s Word)
(Berean Standard Bible, NET Bible, New International Version, Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, New American Bible, Revised Edition)
(2) It means that he was not wearing anything. For example:
(for he had nothing on) (New Jerusalem Bible)
(New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New Century Version, King James Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible)
Other translations (English Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, New Living Translation (2004), Revised Standard Version) translate this word in an ambiguous way, saying that he was “stripped for work.” It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) and most Bible experts.
Here are other ways to translate this clause:
(for he had stripped for work) (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
because he did not have many clothes on
21:7d
and jumped into the sea: This clause implies that Peter decided to swim to Jesus. Probably he thought that that was faster than helping the other disciples drag the net to the shore. In some languages it may be natural to make it explicit that Peter swam after jumping in. For example:
jumped into the water ⌊and swam to the shore⌋
jumped: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as jumped is more literally “threw himself.” The verb indicates that Peter moved quickly and suddenly. For example:
threw himself into the sea (English Standard Version) -or-
dived into the lake
the sea: This phrase refers to the Lake of Galilee or Tiberias. The word in Greek can mean either “sea” or “lake.” This was a freshwater (not salty) body of water. See whether you referred to a sea or lake in 21:1 and use the same word here and there.
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