the sun’s light failed

The Greek that is usually translated as “the sun’s light failed (or: darkened)” in English is translated by the predominant US Catholic English New American Bible (1970, 1986) as eclipse of the sun. (Source: Jost Zetzsche)

In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated idiomatically with die Sonne versagte ihren Dienst or “the sun refused to be of service.”

curtain

The Greek that is translated as “curtain” in English is translated in Shuar as “divider” (aource: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.) and in Copainalá Zoque as “cloth closure” (source: Bratcher / Nida).

synagogue, temple (inner), temple (outer)

In many English translations the Greek terms “hieron” (the whole “temple” in Jerusalem or specifically the outer courts open to worshippers) and “naos” (the inner “shrine” or “sanctuary”) are translated with only one word: “temple” (see also for instance “Tempel” in German [for exception see below] and “tempel” in Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans).

Other languages make a distinction: (Click or tap here to see more)

  • Navajo (Dinė): “house in which worship is carried out” (for naos)
  • Balinese: “inner part of the Great Temple” (“the term ‘inner part’ denoting the hindmost and holiest of the two or three courts that temples on Bali usually possess”) vs. “Great Temple”
  • Telugu: “womb (i.e. interior)-of-the-abode” vs. “abode”
  • Thai: a term denoting the main audience hall of a Buddhist temple compound vs. “environs-of-the-main-audience-hall”
  • Kituba: “place of holiness of house-God Lord” vs. “house-God Lord”
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “deep in God’s house” vs. “God’s house” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “inner court of the temple” (Tempelinnenhof) vs. “temple”

Languages that, like English, German, Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans, don’t make that distinction include:

  • Mandarin Chinese: “聖殿 Shèng diàn” (“holy palace”)
  • Loma: “the holy place”
  • Pular: “the sacred house” (source for this and the one above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Zarma: “God’s compound”
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “big church of the Jews”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “big house on top (i.e. most important)”
  • Toraja-Sa’dan: “house that is looked upon as holy, that is sacred, that is taboo and where one may not set foot” (lit. “house where-the-belly-gets-swollen” — because taboo is violated — using a term that is also applied to a Muslim mosque) (source for this and the three above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Mairasi: Janav Enggwarjer Weso: “Great Above One’s (God’s) House” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Noongar: Maya-maya-Kooranyi: “Sacred House” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “the big church of the Israelites”
  • Aguaruna: “the house for talking to God” (source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
  • Guhu-Samane: “festival longhouse of God” (“The biiri, ‘festival longhouse’, being the religious and social center of the community, is a possible term for ‘temple’. It is not the ‘poro house’ as such. That would be too closely identified with the cult of poro. The physical features of the building, huge and sub-divided, lend it further favor for this consideration. By qualifying it as ‘God’s biiri’ the term has become meaningful and appropriate in the context of the Scriptures.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. )
  • Enga: “God’s restricted access house” (source: Adam Boyd on his blog )

Another distinction that tends to be overlooked in translations is that between hieron (“temple” in English) and sunagógé (“synagogue” in English). Euan Fry (in The Bible Translator 1987, p. 213ff. ) reports on this:

“Many older translations have simply used transliterations of ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ rather than trying to find equivalent terms or meaningful expressions in their own languages. This approach does keep the two terms separate; but it makes the readers depend on explanations given by pastors or teachers for their understanding of the text.

“Translators who have tried to find meaningful equivalents, for the two terms ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ have usually made a distinction between them in one of two ways (which focus on the contrasting components of meaning). One way takes the size and importance of the Temple to make a contrast, so that expressions such as ‘sacred meeting/ worship house of the Jews’ and ‘big sacred meeting/worship house of the Jews’ are used. The other way focuses on the different nature of the religious activity at each of the places, so that expressions such as ‘meeting/worship house of the Jews’ and ‘sacrifice/ceremony place of the Jews’ are used.

“It is not my purpose in this article to discuss how to arrive at the most precise equivalent to cover all the components of meaning of ‘temple’. That is something that each translator really has to work through for himself in the light of the present usage and possibilities in his own language. My chief concern here is that the basic term or terms chosen for ‘temple’ should give the reader of a translation a clear and correct picture of the location referred to in each passage. And I am afraid that in many cases where an equivalent like ‘house of God’ or ‘worship house’ has been chosen, the readers have quite the wrong picture of what going to the Temple or being in the Temple means. (This may be the case for the word ‘temple’ in English too, for many readers.)”

Here are some examples:

  • Bambara: “house of God” (or: “big house of worship”) vs. “worship house” (or: “small houses of worship”)
  • Toraja-Sa’dan: “house where-the-belly-gets-swollen” (see above) vs. “meeting house for discussing matters concerning religious customs” (and “church” is “house where one meets on Sunday”)
  • Navajo (Dinė): “house in which worship is carried out” vs. “house of gathering” (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida)

    • Bangandu: “the great house of God” vs. “house of prayer” (Source: Ervais Fotso Noumsi in Le Sycomore, 16/1, 2022 )

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Herod’s temple (source: Bible Lands 2012)

Click or tap here to see a short video clip showing synagogues in New Testament times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

See also this devotion on YouVersion .

complete verse (Luke 23:45)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 23:45:

  • Noongar: “and the big cloth, hanging inside the Temple, it was torn into two pieces.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “The middle-wall cloth that was hung in the House of God tore in half becoming two pieces.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “And the thick cloth that makes/acts-as a wall in the temple also tore into two.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And at that same time, the very thick cloth which was used as a curtain in the church, the house of God, it suddenly was torn in half.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Right then the curtain of the Temple ripped and divided-in-two.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “During those hours, there really was no sunlight. And then suddenly/unexpectedly the thick curtain which hides-from-view the Very Far From Ordinary Room of the Templo was torn in-a-long-rip.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Luke 23:44-49)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Luke 23:44-49:

The sun stopped shining and shadowy darkness
       spread like a shroud from noon to mid afternoon.
The temple curtain split down the middle,
as the final words of Jesus thundered,
       “Father, I trust myself to you!”

A Roman soldier witnessed the events and exclaimed,
       “Today I’ve seen a truly good man!”

The crowd that had gathered to gape at the gruesome sight,
       dispersed and disappeared with broken hearts.
But the close friends of Jesus — especially the women
who had accompanied him from Galilee —
       stood at a distance as solemn witnesses.

Translation commentary on Luke 23:44 – 23:45

Exegesis:

kai ēn ēdē hōsei hōra hektē ‘by now it was about the sixth hour,’ i.e. ‘noon.’

skotos egeneto eph’ hōlēn tēn gēn ‘darkness came over the whole land.’ gē may denote the earth, or the country of Palestine, preferably the latter.

heōs hōras enatēs ‘(lasting) till the ninth hour,’ i.e. three o’clock in the afternoon.

(V. 45) tou hēliou eklipontos ‘after the sun had failed,’ i.e. ‘grown dark.’ It is possible, though less probable to render, ‘after the sun had been eclipsed,’ cf. Plummer.

eschisthē de to katapetasma tou naou meson ‘and the veil of the temple was rent down the middle.’ No material or chronological connexion with what precedes is indicated. It may have taken place during, or after the three hour period of darkness, presumably after. For schizō cf. on 5.36; for naos cf. on 1.9. meson lit. ‘(in the) middle,’ goes with katapetasma and indicates where the rending took place.

Translation:

The sixth hour … the ninth hour. Where the Jewish way of indicating the hours of the day is unknown one may use a literal rendering and add the explanatory phrase ‘after sunrise,’ or shift to the equivalent receptor language idiom. In Bali the period of daylight was traditionally divided into eight parts (dauh); hence, ‘dauh four … dauh six’; nowadays, however, a rendering in accordance with modern Western terminology is probably preferable, ‘twelve (at noon) … three o’clock (in the afternoon).’

There was darkness over the whole land or, ‘the whole country became dark, or, was darkened.’

(V. 45) While the sun’s light failed (or, ‘was lost,’ Ekari). The phrase is sometimes better placed before the reference to ‘darkness over the whole land,’ cf. Good News Translation. Possible rewordings are, “the sun stopped shining” (Good News Translation), ‘the sun/day became-dark’ (Toraja-Sa’dan).

For the curtain of the temple (preferably “before the sanctuary”, An American Translation) was torn in two.

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.