The name that is transliterated as “Arphaxad” or “Arpachshad” in English means “one that releases,” “a jar pouring forth,” “I shall fail at the breast.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
In Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) it is translated with a sign that suggests “expansion of people.” Arphaxad is the grandson of Noah and is known for being a pioneer in the expansion of people. (Source: Missão Kophós )
The name that is transliterated as “Cainan” in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with a sign that combines “possession” (the name means “possessor”) and “descend from the father.” (Source: Missão Kophós )
Note: The reading Cainan goes back to the Ancient Greek Septuagint translation which inserted a generation between Arphaxad and Cainan (see Genesis 10:24 et al.)
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Shem” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that signifies “Arab,” referring to the fact that Shem traditionally is seen as the forefather of Semitic people, including Abraham and his descendants (see Genesis 11:26 et al.)(Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Note that the terms “Semite” and “Semitic” are derived from “Shem.”
The Hebrew, Latin; Ge’ez and Greek that is transliterated as “Noah” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that combines the letter N + “boat.” (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
The following is a stained glass window depicting Noah by Endre Odon Hevezi and Gyula Bajo from 1965 for the Debre Libanos Monastery, Oromia, Ethiopia:
Photo by Timothy A. Gonsalves, hosted by Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license
Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 3:36:
Uma: “Salmon the child of Kenan, Kenan the child of Arpakhsad, Arpakhsad the child of Sem, Sem the child of Nuh, Nuh the child of Lamekh,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Sela was a son of Kainan, Kainan was a son of Arpaksad, Arpaksad was a son of Sem, Sem was a son of prophet Nu, Nu was a son of Lamek,” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “and Shelah was the son of Cainan, and Cainan was the son of Arphaxad, and Arphaxad was the son of Shem, and Shem was the son of Noah, and Noah was the son of Lamech, and” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Sela also, he was the child of Cainan who was the child of Arfaxad who was the child of Sem who was the child of Noe who was the child of Lamek.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “As for Sala, he was the son of Cainan who was the son of Arfaxad, who in turn was the son of Sem. As for Sem, he was the son of Noe who was the son of Lamec,” (Source: Tagbanwa 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®).
archomenos ‘when beginning.’ No object stated but to be supplied from what follows in Ch. 4, i.e. his service.
ēn … hōsei etōn triakonta ‘was about thirty years (old).’ The main clause, to which is attached the long genealogy in the form of a participial clause, cf. next note.
hōsei with numbers ‘about,’ ‘approximately.’
ōn huios, hōs enomizeto, Iōsēph ‘being the son, as was supposed, of Joseph.’ The participial clause introduces the subsequent genealogy. hōs enomizeto has no logical subject but a subject like ‘people’ may be supplied if necessary. nomizō, cf. on 2.44.
Vv. 23b-38 present a genealogy of Jesus in the form of a series of genitives successively dependent upon one another. For a discussion of the theological and historical problems involved in these names the reader is referred to the commentaries. For translational purposes it will be sufficient to list the names in their Greek and Hebrew form. For the Greek form the text of GOOD NEWS BIBLE is followed. Variant spellings in the Greek are mentioned only when they have influenced the transliteration in English. Latin transliterations are given only when they have influenced the transliteration in modern languages. Column 5 lists (a) the passages where the persons named in Luke are first mentioned in the Old Testament., and (b) the passages containing the name in question but referring to another person than the one meant in Lk. 3; category (b) is given in brackets.
Translation:
Jesus, when he began … was…, or, ‘When Jesus began … he was…,’ or, ‘Jesus was … when he began….’
When he began his ministry, or, ‘his work,’ ‘his teaching,’ ‘to preach (lit. to transmit the way, Chinese Union Version, L),’ ‘to act-as-guru’ (Tae’). Some languages possess an expression for a person’s (first) appearance in a certain role, which requires no further qualification, e.g. ‘raised his head’ (Chinese BT), ‘made-his-appearance’ (Dutch, Zürcher Bibel), cf. also lors de ses débuts (Bible de Jérusalem).
Jesus … was about thirty years of age, or, ‘Jesus’/his age was about thirty (years),’ ‘Jesus/he was about thirty years old.’ See also 2.42.
The position of as was supposed, or, ‘as people saw it (i.e. according to people)’ (Chinese Union Version), must be such that it qualifies the relationship between Jesus and Joseph only, and does not suggest a supposed son, or even a supposed Joseph (as has been the case in one older version); in many cases the phrase is better placed at the head of the sentence, e.g. ‘people thought he was the child of Joseph’ (Manobo). For the verb to suppose see on 2.44. — Several versions make some kind of incision after Joseph, e.g. ‘people regarded him as the son of Joseph. Joseph (was) Heli’s, he (was) Matthat’s … Adam’s, he (was) God’s son’ (Marathi), cf. also Javanese, quoted below.
The long series of proper names in vv. 23-38, connected with each other by the simple device of the genitive case, may have to be rendered less concisely, e.g. by appositional phrases, or relative clauses, of the type of, ‘(who was) the son/child of,’ in some cases even duplicating the names, e.g. ‘Joseph, he the son of Heli, Heli, he the son of…’ (Manobo). In honorific languages a high level honorific equivalent of ‘son’ may have to be used in the very last phrase, ‘son of God’ (e.g. in Balinese). Some versions have made a successful attempt to express the structure of the original by other means than genitives, cf. e.g. “Joseph whose line went back through Eli, Matthat, … to Adam, the son of God” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation), .’.. was reckoned the son of Joseph, whose coming-forth (was) from H., from M., …, from Adam, from Allah’ (Javanese).
For general remarks on transliteration of proper names see above on the name “Luke” (pp. 3f), and references. The proper names in these verses present an additional problem in that most of them are themselves transliterations of Hebrew originals, cf. categories (a) and (b), as given in Exegesis. In the case of the names in category (a) it is clear that Luke wants to refer his readers to persons known from the Old Testament; hence it may be supposed that he intended to reproduce their Hebrew names as faithfully as the Greek permitted him to do. Consequently one should not transliterate the Greek forms of the names in question (as several older and some new versions do), but their Hebrew models. (For a comparable case see above on Gr. Kurēnios—Latin ‘Quirinius’ in 2.2.) In practice this means that the translator, by treating these names as they are treated in the Old Testament (or will presumably be treated when a translation of the O.T. passages concerned is made in the future) best fulfils Luke’s purpose, i.e. to help his readers to identify the Old Testament persons referred to. Names of category (b) can best be treated in analogy with (a). The remaining 14 names (probably transliterations also, but without known O.T. origin) should be treated as other New Testament names.
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.
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