Jerusalem

The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:


“Jerusalem” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)


“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jerusalem .

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("ascend")

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, nobo-rare-ru (上られる) or “ascend” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

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 21:3

Said to the others is literally “says to them” (most translations have “said to them”). Jerusalem Bible and New English Bible have simply “said.”

I am going fishing is literally “I am going to fish.” The verb “to fish” is used only here in the New Testament; it appears in Jeremiah 16.16 of the Septuagint, but nowhere else in the Greek Bible. Some argue that the present tense of the verb “to go” suggests that Peter is going back to fishing as a trade. This could have been the meaning of I am going fishing if 21.1-14 circulated independently as a story of Jesus’ first appearance to his disciples. But in this episode’s present context, following Jesus’ two appearances to the disciples in Jerusalem (Chapter 20), such an intention on Peter’s part is excluded. The words I am going fishing serve rather to get the disciples from Jerusalem to Lake Tiberias. In some languages it is necessary to use a more specific verb which indicates the manner of fishing (with spears, hook and line, or nets). Here a term for fishing with nets should be used (see verse 6).

In the statement we will come with you the pronoun we is emphatic. The decision of the other disciples to accompany Peter meant that they would help him fish, not that they were just going along for the ride. In some languages this must be rendered “we will go along to help you fish.”

As in Chapter 6, two different Greek nouns are used for boat: ploion (verses 3 and 6) and ploiarion (verse 8). The second noun is a diminutive in form, but since it refers to the same boat, no shift in meaning can have been intended. In translation it is essential to employ a term which means a boat large enough to hold seven men with their nets.

All that night is literally “in that night.” Revised Standard Version has “that night” (so most translations), but New American Bible renders “All through the night.”

As with fishing, so too with catch it may be necessary to use a specific term, for example, “they caught no fish in their nets” or “they netted no fish.”

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 21:3

21:3a

Simon Peter told them, “I am going fishing.”: Peter told the other disciples that he was leaving to catch fish from his boat. This was the job of at least several of them before they began to follow Jesus. See Mark 1:16–20.

Simon Peter told them: The pronoun them here refers to the other six disciples who were present. Refer back to the people who were introduced in 21:2 in a way that is natural in your language. For example:

Simon Peter said to the others (Good News Translation)
-or-
Simon Peter said to the other men/disciples

In some languages it may be natural to leave implied the people to whom Simon spoke. For example:

Simon Peter said (New Century Version)

I am going fishing: This clause indicates that Peter would soon leave to go out onto the lake to catch fish with a net. The verb tense refers to something he was planning to do very soon. Use the verb tense that is suitable in your language. For example:

I am going out to fish. (New Century Version)
-or-
I am going ⌊to the lake/sea⌋ to fish.
-or-
I will now go fishing.

fishing: Peter and the other disciples planned to throw a net into the water from their boat. They did that to trap fish in the net. Refer to this method of catching fish in a way that is natural in your language. For example:

trap/catch fish in the net

21:3b

We will go with you: This clause indicates that the other six disciples wanted to go with Peter and help him fish. The Greek text emphasizes the pronoun We. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

We will come with you. (Good News Translation)
-or-
We (excl.) will come too.
-or-
Let us (incl.) all go together.

they said: This expression introduces the reply of the other six disciples to Peter and in Greek occurs before their reply.

21:3c

So they went out and got into the boat: There are at least two ways to interpret this clause:

(1) It indicates that the disciples left the place where they were and went toward the lake and their boat. For example, see the Berean Standard Bible.

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, New Century Version, English Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, NET Bible)

(2) It indicates that the disciples went out in their boats onto the lake. For example:

so they went out in a boat (Good News Translation)

(Good News Translation, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004), Contemporary English Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) with most English translations and the natural reading of the Greek text.

So they went out: Following the interpretation in the above note, this expression indicates that the disciples left the place where they were. They had perhaps been in someone’s home by the lake, or in a hut there. Now they began to go to the lake to fish. Use the expression that is natural in your language for beginning a short journey. For example:

They set out
-or-
They started to go

and got into the boat: The disciples got into their fishing boat. Use the expression that is natural in your language for entering such a boat.

the boat: This phrase refers to a boat large enough to hold seven disciples and their fishing equipment.

21:3d

but caught nothing that night: This clause indicates that although the disciples fished all night, they did not catch any fish. The information that they began fishing and fished all night is implied but not explicitly stated. In some languages it may be natural to make it explicit. For example:

They fished that night but caught nothing. (New Century Version)

Here are other ways to translate this clause:

but they caught nothing all night (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
and during the night caught nothing at all (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-

⌊They tried to catch fish in their net⌋ , but they caught no ⌊fish⌋ that night

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.