Sabbath

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “Sabbath” in English is rendered as “day we rest” in Tzotzil, in Mairasi as “Jew’s Rest Day,” in Quiotepec Chinantec as “day when people of Israel rested,” in Shilluk as “day of God,” in Obolo as Usen Mbuban or “Holy Day,” and in Mandarin Chinese as ānxírì (安息日) or “rest day” (literally: “peace – rest – day”). (Sources: Tzotzil: Marion Cowan in Notes on Translation with Drill, p. 169ff; Mairasi: Enggavoter 2004; Quiotepec Chinantec: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.; Shilluk: Nida 1964, p. 237; Obolo: Enene Enene; Chinese: Jost Zetzsche)

In Matumbi it is translated as Sabato ya Ayahudi or “Sabbath of the Jews,” to distinguish it from the Islamic Sabbath (which is Friday) or the Christian Sabbath (which is Sunday). (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

In the old Khmer version as well as in the first new translation this term was rendered as “day of rest” (Thngai Chhup Somrak / ​ថ្ងៃ​ឈប់​សំរាក). Considered inadequate to convey its religious meaning (not only about cessation of work, but also in honor of Yahweh as the Creator), the committee for the Today’s Khmer Version (publ. 2005) decided to keep the Hebrew word and use its transliterated form Thgnai Sabath (​ថ្ងៃ​សប្ប័ទ). “The Buddhist word Thngai Seil ‘day of merits’ used by some Catholics was once under consideration but was rejected because it did not receive unanimous support.” (Source: Joseph Hong in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 233ff. )

In Spanish, the translation is either día de reposo (“day of rest”) or sábado (usually: “Saturday,” derived from the Greek and Hebrew original). Nida (1947, p. 239f.) explains that problem for Spanish and other languages in its sphere of influence: “In translation ‘Sabbath’ into various aboriginal languages of Latin America, a considerable number of translators have used the Spanish sábado, ‘Saturday,’ because it is derived from the Hebrew sabbath and seems to correspond to English usage as well. The difficulty is that sábado means only ‘Saturday’ for most people. There is no religious significance about this word as the is with ‘Sabbath’ in English. Accordingly the [readers] cannot understand the significance of the persecution of Jesus because he worked on ‘Saturday.’ It has been found quite advantageous to use the translation ‘day of rest,’ for this accurately translated the Hebrew meaning of the term and resolves the problem in connection with the prohibitions placed upon some types of activities.”

In the Nueva traducción viviente translation (2010) it día de descanso al mantenerlo santo (“day of rest to keep it holy”). (Source: Lénart de Regt in The Bible Translator 2017, p. 131ff. )

In French Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts closing of the blinds of a store:


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

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Sabbath .

complete verse (Luke 14:1)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 14:1:

  • Noongar: “One Sabbath Day, Jesus went eating at the house of a Pharisee. He was well known and people were watching Jesus.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “One time on Sabat Day, Yesus went to eat at the house of a leader of the Parisi people. While he was there, they watched him careful to find his wrong.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “On one day of-no-work Isa went to eat to the house of one of the leaders of the Pariseo. When he was there, the people there observed him.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Now on another Sabbath day, Jesus was invited again by one of the rulers of the Pharisees, to eat in his house. And the enemies of Jesus, they were carefully watching him to see if he would break the law.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “On a certain Saturday which was for-resting, Jesus went to go join-in-eating in the house of an important (lit. high) Pharisee, and they carefully-watched him (to see) what he would do,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “On another Day of Rest, Jesus was invited to eat at the house of an important Pariseo. Well, when they were there at the house now, the things Jesus did were-really -being-watched-carefully.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Pharisee

The Greek that is a transliteration of the Hebrew Pərūšīm and is typically transliterated into English as “Pharisee” is transliterated in Mandarin Chinese as Fǎlìsài (法利賽 / 法利赛) (Protestant) or Fǎlìsāi (法利塞) (Catholic). In Chinese, transliterations can typically be done with a great number of different and identical-sounding characters. Often the meaning of the characters are not relevant, unless they are chosen carefully as in these cases. The Protestant Fǎlìsài can mean something like “Competition for the profit of the law” and the Catholic Fǎlìsāi “Stuffed by/with the profit of the law.” (Source: Zetzsche 1996, p. 51)

In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “prayer shawl”. (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Pharisee” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts “pointing out the law.” (Source: Anna Smith)


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

In French Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts the box of the phylacteries attached to the forehead:


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

Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) translates it into English as Observant. He explains (p. 302): “Pharisee has become a public, universal pejorative term for a hypocrite. Pharisees were observant of the interpretation of the Covenant Code called the ‘tradition of the elders.’ They conformed their behaviors to the interpretation. Among the various groups of Jews at the time of Jesus, they were perhaps closest to Jesus in their overall concern to make a radical commitment to the will of God (as they understood it).”

See also Nicodemus.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Pharisees .

Translation commentary on Luke 14:1

Exegesis:

kai egeneto ‘and it happened,’ cf. on 1.8. The connecting clause begins either with kai autoi (cf. Revised Standard Version), or with kai idou, in v. 2 (cf. The Four Gospels – a New Translation), preferably the former.

en tō elthein auton ‘after his going,’ or ‘when he had gone,’ because of the aorist tense of elthein.

eis oikon tinos tōn archontōn [tōn] Pharisaiōn ‘into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees’ (cf. The Four Gospels – a New Translation, Phillips, New English Bible), or ‘into the house of one of the rulers who were Pharisees’ (cf. Revised Standard Version, An American Translation), preferably the former. archontes is to be understood in the more general sense of ‘leaders,’ ‘leading personalities.’ For the Pharisees cf. on 5.17.

sabbatō ‘on a sabbath,’ goes with elthein.

phagein arton lit. ‘in order to eat bread’ (final infinitive), i.e. ‘to take a meal,’ ‘to dine.’

kai autoi ēsan paratēroumenoi auton ‘and they were watching him closely,’ durative imperfect. kai at the beginning of the apodosis is due to Hebrew idiom. autoi refers to those present at the meal as if they had been mentioned already previously. For paratēreō cf. on 6.7.

Translation:

He went to dine …, preferably, ‘he/Jesus had gone into (or, entered) … to dine (there)’; the attention is on the moment when the guests are arriving.

To dine in the house of, cf. 11.37. Since an invitation is implied, one should avoid a rendering suggesting that Jesus went on his own initiative.

A ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, preferably “one of the leading Pharisees” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation, and see Exegesis), ‘a prominent/important (lit. most-in-front) Ph.’ (Bahasa Indonesia RC), ‘one of the notable Pharisees’ (cf. Medumba), ‘one of the big men of the Pharisee group.’

They were watching him. The pronoun refers to the host and his friends. For the verb see 6.7; Sranan Tongo uses here ‘they held him good in the eye.’

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 14:1

Section 14:1–6

Jesus healed a sick man on the Sabbath

In this section Jesus healed a man whose arms and legs were swollen. He performed this miracle on a Sabbath day in the house of a Pharisee. This event did not necessarily happen after the events of the previous section. It occurs only in Luke.

Another possible heading for this section is:

Jesus Heals a Sick Man (Good News Translation)

The next two sections, 14:7–14 and 14:15–24, also occur in the house of the Pharisee. English versions have divided 14:1–24 into sections in different ways. For example:

• The God’s Word has one section for 14:1–24. The section heading is:

Jesus attends a banquet

• The New International Version has two sections. They are:

Jesus at a Pharisee’s House (14:1–14)

The Parable of the Great Banquet (14:15–24)

It is good to read these sections before you decide where to make the section breaks. You should divide the sections in a way that will be appropriate in your language.

Paragraph 14:1–3

14:1a

In the Greek text this section begins with a phrase that often introduces a new event. Many modern English translations do not translate this phrase explicitly (Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). If it is natural in your language, you may translate it with a phrase that introduces a new incident. For example:

Now it happened that (New Jerusalem Bible)

One Sabbath: The phrase One Sabbath gives the time setting for this incident. Use a natural way in your language to introduce this background information. For example:

On a certain rest day

In some languages it may be more natural to use a general expression at the beginning of the sentence and specify later that it was the Sabbath day. This would connect the information that it was the Sabbath more closely to the statement in 14:1b that Jesus was being watched. For example:

On one occasion, when Jesus…to eat a meal on the sabbath (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
One day, Jesus went…. It was the day for resting.

Sabbath: The word Sabbath is the name of the seventh and last day of the week for the Jews. This was the special day in the week when they rested and worshiped God. Some ways to translate Sabbath are:

the ⌊Jewish⌋ rest day
-or-
the day for resting
-or-
the day to rest and worship God

If the word Sabbath is already known in your area, you may write it according to the sounds of your language. You may also want to include a phrase to explain the meaning. For example:

the Sabat, the ⌊Jews’⌋ rest day

The word Sabbath also occurs in 13:10.

Jesus went to eat: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to eat is literally “to eat bread.” Bread was the main food that was eaten at meals in that culture. Another way to translate this is:

to eat a meal (Good News Translation)

The context implies that Jesus was invited to this meal along with other guests. In some languages it may be natural to make this information explicit here. For example:

a leader of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat ⌊with others⌋ at his home

in the home of a leading Pharisee: There are two ways to interpret the Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a leading Pharisee:

(1) It refers to a leader of other Pharisees or an important person among them. For example:

a leader of the Pharisees (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
an important Pharisee (Contemporary English Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, New Living Translation (2004), New International Version, Good News Translation, King James Version, New Century Version, Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, NET Bible, Revised English Bible, New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) It refers to a Pharisee who was a leader of the Jews. For example:

a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees (Revised Standard Version)

(Revised Standard Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with the majority of English versions.

Pharisee: A Pharisee was a member of the Pharisee party, a religious group that emphasized obeying the Law of Moses. Here are some ways to translate this word:

• Transliterate the word Pharisee according to the sounds of your language and indicate that it refers to a person. For example:

Farisi member
-or-
Parise adherent

• Transliterate the word Pharisee and indicate that it refers to a group of people with certain beliefs. For example:

person belonging to the Farise religious sect/group
-or-
member of the religious group called the Farasi

See how you translated Pharisee in 11:37a. The word first occurs in Luke in 5:17b.

14:1b

those in attendance were watching Him closely: In Greek, the phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as those in attendance were watching Him closely is literally “they were watching him closely.” The word “they” is an indefinite pronoun. If your language would not use an indefinite pronoun in this way, you may:

• Translate this as a passive verbal phrase. For example:

he was being carefully watched (New International Version)

• Supply a general subject, as the Berean Standard Bible does: those in attendance. For example:

the other people present closely watched him
-or-

Jesus’ enemies observed him carefully

• Use a specific subject from 14:3a. For example:

the Pharisees and the law experts watched him carefully

In this context, the Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as were watching Him closely implies that the other people who came to the dinner were watching Jesus suspiciously or with hostility. The other people at the dinner included Pharisees and experts in the Jewish religious laws (see 14:3). They wanted to be able to accuse Jesus of breaking one of these laws.

In some languages there may be idioms that suggest a hostile reason for watching someone. One English idiom that expresses this is:

they had their eyes on him

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