3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
Hand colored stencil print on momigami by Sadao Watanabe (1965).
Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe. For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.
Following is a painting by Xu Jihua 徐濟華 (1912-1937) (housed in the Société des Auxiliaires des Missions Collection – Whitworth University):
Image taken from Chinese Christian Posters . For more information on the “Ars Sacra Pekinensis” school of art, see this article , for other artworks of that school in TIPs, see here.
The Greek that is translated as a form of “teach” is translated with some figurative phrases such as “to engrave the mind” (Ngäbere) or “to cause others to imitate” (Huichol). (Source: Bratcher / Nida)
In Noongar it is translated as karni-waangki or “truth saying” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated “boat” or “ship” in English is translated in Chichimeca-Jonaz as “that with which we can walk on water” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.), in Chitonga as a term in combination with bwato or “dugout canoe” (source: Wendland 1987, p. 72), and in Tangale as inj am or “canoe-of water” (inj — “canoe” — on its own typically refers to a traditional type of carved-out log for sleeping) (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
In Kouya it is translated as ‘glʋ ‘kadʋ — “big canoe.”
Philip Saunders (p. 231) explains how the Kouya team arrived at that conclusion:
“Acts chapter 27 was a challenge! It describes Paul’s sea voyage to Italy, and finally Rome. There is a storm at sea and a shipwreck on Malta, and the chapter includes much detailed nautical vocabulary. How do you translate this for a landlocked people group, most of whom have never seen the ocean? All they know are small rivers and dugout canoes.
“We knew that we could later insert some illustrations during the final paging process which would help the Kouya readers to picture what was happening, but meanwhile we struggled to find or invent meaningful terms. The ‘ship’ was a ‘big canoe’ and the ‘passengers’ were ‘the people in the big canoe’; the ‘crew’ were the ‘workers in the big canoe’; the ‘pilot’ was the ‘driver of the big canoe’; the ‘big canoe stopping place’ was the ‘harbour’, and the ‘big canoe stopping metal’ was the ‘anchor’!”
In Lokạạ it is translated as ukalangkwaa, lit. “English canoe.” “The term was not coined for the Bible translation, but rather originated in colonial times when the English arrived in Nigeria on ships. The indigenous term for a canoe was modified to represent the large, ocean-going ship of the English.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
The Greek that is translated as “ask” in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-tanomi (お頼み), combining “request” (tanomi) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 5:3:
Noongar: “Jesus stepped into Simon’s boat and said to Simon, ‘Shove away near the shore.’ Jesus sat inside the boat and taught all the people.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “Yesus went to climb/ride one boat, Simon’s boat and he asked that Simon shove/row the boat a little from the edge of the lake. After that, and he sat in the boat teaching the people.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “One was the boat of Simon. Isa got into it and told Simon to push it out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and he preached to the people from inside the boat.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus got into one of the boats that belonged to Simon, and he had Simon move the boat out just a little way from the shore. And Jesus sat down there in the boat and he taught the very many people.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “So Jesus got-into (lit. rode) one that belonged to Simon and said to him that they should distance-it a little from the shore. Then he sat down to teach and he taught the many-people.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Jesus got into one of the boats, that one being Simon’s. And then he said to Simon to shove off a bit, so as to go a little way from the edge. Well, he sat down in that boat and taught the people again.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The name that is transliterated as “Simon (Peter)” in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with a sign that combines a reference to “Peter” (see here for the Libras translation of “Peter”) and “son” (of Jonah / John). (Source: Missão Kophós )
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 show different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morphemes rare (られ) or are (され) are 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, hajime-rare-ru (始められる) or “start” is used.
embas de eis hen tōn ploiōn, ho ēn Simōnos ‘after stepping in one of the boats which was Simon’s’; the genitive is possessive.
embainō ‘to go in,’ ‘to step in,’ in Luke always of going into a boat.
apo tēs gēs epanagagein oligon ‘to put out a little from the shore,’ dependent upon ērōtēsen auton ‘he asked him.’ gē ‘land’ as opposed to sea.
epanagō ‘to put out to sea.’
kathisas de ‘and after sitting down,’ going with edidasken ‘he taught.’ As 4.20 shows the usual way of teaching was sitting.
ek tou ploiou edidasken ‘he taught from the boat.’ The imperfect tense is continuative, cf. “he went on teaching” (New English Bible).
Translation:
Shifting to co-ordination one may say, ‘one of them was S.’s boat (or, one of the boats belonged to S.). He got into it and asked….’
To get into a boat, or synthetically, ‘to embark,’ is variously expressed, e.g. ‘to mount a boat’ (Tae,’ same verb as used with horses), ‘to ascend a boat’ (Tboli, same verb used when one comes up into a house on stilts).
Asked him to put out …, or more analytically, ‘said to them, “Will you put out…, or, I want you to put out…” ’; elsewhere more synthetically, ‘he-let-her-be-pushed-off’ (Toraja-Sa’dan). In a language such as Balinese Jesus does not ask but ‘utters-a-wish.’
To put out … from the land. The aspect is momentaneous. Idiomatic equivalents may be viewing the event from another angle, ‘to go-to-the-middle’ (i.e. of the lake) (Balinese), or built on the instrument used, ‘to pole out (from the shore)’ (Ekari, Tae’).
He sat down and taught … from the boat, or, if the first verb requires a locative qualification, ‘he sat down in the boat and taught … from there’ (Santali). Sat down, i.e. on a beam or bench in the boat, or perhaps in its bow or stern.
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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