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 are a number of back-translations of Luke 24:17:
Noongar: “Jesus said to the two, ‘What are you talking about, walking together?’ They stopped walking and their faces were sad.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “Yesus said to them: ‘What is it that you are continually talking about as you walk?’ They stopped with a glum appearance.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “He said to them, ‘What are you talking about while you are walking?’ They stopped and it could be seen in the faces of the two that they were sad.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus said to them, ‘What are you talking about as you walk?’ And they stopped there, and it could be seen by their faces that they were very sad.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Jesus said to them, ‘What are you talking about while you are walking?’ They stopped and it could be seen in their faces/eyes that they were sad.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Jesus questioned them, saying, ‘What is that which you are discussing as you walk?’ They stopped-walking and looked at Jesus, their faces really being sad (lit. overcast/in shade).” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
English translation by Lattimore 1996: “And he said to them: What is this you are talking about, tossing it back and forth as you go? And they stopped, frowning.”
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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 are (され) 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, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.
Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.
As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.
Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.
In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.
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®).
tines hoi logoi houtoi hous antiballete pros allēlous ‘what are these words which you cast at each other?’
antiballō lit. ‘to cast against,’ here of words, hence ‘to exchange.’
peripatountes ‘walking,’ hence ‘as you walk along.’
kai estathēsan “they came to a halt” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation), ‘they stood still,’ ingressive aorist.
skuthrōpoi ‘gloomy,’ ‘downcast.’
Translation:
What is this conversation which you are holding with each other, or simply, ‘what affair are you talking about’ (Ekari), ‘what are you discussing’ (cf. An American Translation).
Looking sad, or, “with sad faces” (Good News Translation), ‘(their) faces clouded’ (Ekari). For sad see references on 18.23.
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.
He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently…?”: In Greek this question is more literally, “What words are these that you are exchanging with each other…?” Jesus was asking them to explain the topic that they were discussing. He already knew the answer to his question. The question was a way for him to join the discussion. The context shows that the two disciples also knew that Jesus had heard some of their discussion.
Some other ways to translate this question are:
Then he said to them, “What are these matters you are discussing so intently…?” (NET Bible) -or-
He asked them, “What is it you are debating…?” (Revised English Bible)
discussing so intently as you walk along: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as discussing literally means “throwing back and forth.” This is a figurative way to indicate that the discussion was excited, and both disciples were saying things and asking each other questions. They were having this conversation as they walked on the road, and Jesus had heard at least part of their discussion. Describe this type of conversation on the road in a natural way in your language.
24:17c
They stood still: The two disciples had been walking along, but when Jesus asked this question, they stopped walking for a little while. Some other ways to translate They stood still are:
They stopped walking -or-
Then they stood there
with sadness on their faces: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as with sadness on their faces indicates that the two men looked sad. Use a natural way in your language to describe a person who is very sad. The two disciples were looking sad because they were thinking about how Jesus had been crucified and buried. Some other ways to translate it in English are:
and looked very sad (God’s Word) -or-
it was obvious from their faces/eyes that they were sad -or-
looking sad and gloomy (Contemporary English Version)
In some languages there is an idiom to describe this. For example:
sadness written across their faces (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
their faces drawn with misery (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
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