The term that is transliterated as “Mary Magdalene” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign signifying 7 demons having gone out, referring to Luke 8:2. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Mary Magdalene” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
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Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 8:2:
Noongar: “and also women whom Jesus had healed of their evil spirits and sicknesses. Mary (called Magdalene) — Jesus had driven seven evil spirits out of her;” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “There were also several women who accompanied them. Those women were women whom Yesus had healed from their diseases or from evil spirits that possessed them. One of them was Maria, who was usually called Magdalena. One time Yesus had expelled seven evil spirits from that Maria.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “There were also women going with him. Among those women were some whose sicknesses had been healed. Some also had been demon possessed and Isa had driven out the demons. One of these women, Mariyam, a woman from Magdala, had seven demons driven out from her.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And there were also some women there who went along with him, and as for these women, he had before cured them from their sicknesses, and some of them, he drove away the demons that were afflicting them. One of these women was Mary Magdalene, the one from whom Jesus drove away seven demons.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “along with some women from whom Jesus had removed sicknesses and caused-to-leave the evil-spirits that possessed them. These women were Maria Magdalena whom seven evil-spirits had left,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “And others who went around with him were women whose illness he had healed and from whom he had driven out evil spirits. One was Maria who was called Magdalena. There were seven evil spirits possessing her which had been driven out.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Sissala: kaŋtɔŋ, which traditionally referred to “either a spirit of natural phenomena such as trees, rivers, stones, etc., or the spirit of a deceased person that has not been taken into the realm of the dead. Kaŋtɔŋ can be good or evil. Evil kaŋtɔŋ can bring much harm to people and are feared accordingly. A kaŋtɔŋ can also dwell in a person living on this earth. A person possessed by kaŋtɔŋ does not behave normally.” (Source: Regina Blass in Holzhausen 1991, p. 48f.)
Umiray Dumaget Agta: hayup or “creature, animal, general term for any non-human creature, whether natural or supernatural.” Thomas Headland (in: Notes on Translation, September 1971, p. 17ff.) explains some more: “There are several types of supernatural creatures, or spirit beings which are designated by the generic term hayup. Just as we have several terms in English for various spirit beings (elves, fairies, goblins, demons, imps, pixies) so have the Dumagats. And just as you will find vast disagreement and vagueness among English informants as to the differences between pixies and imps, etc., so you will find that no two Dumagats will agree as to the form and function of their different spirit beings.” This term can also be used in a verb form: hayupen: “creatured” or “to be killed, made sick, or crazy by a spirit.”
Yala: yapri̍ija ɔdwɔ̄bi̍ or “bad Yaprija.” Yaprijas are traditional spirits that have a range presumed activities including giving or withholding gifts, giving and protecting children, causing death and disease and rewarding good behavior. (Source: Eugene Bunkowske in Notes on Translation 78/1980, p. 36ff.)
Lamnso’: aànyùyi jívirì: “lesser gods who disturb, bother, pester, or confuse a person.” (Source: Fanwong 2013, p. 93)
Paasaal: gyɩŋbɔmɔ, “beings that are in the wild and can only be seen when they choose to reveal themselves to certain people. They can ‘capture’ humans and keep them in hiding while they train the person in herbalism and divination. After the training period, which can range from a week to many years, the ‘captured’ individual is released to go back into society as a healer and a diviner. The gyɩŋbɔmɔ can also be evil, striking humans with mental diseases and causing individuals to get lost in the wild. The Pasaale worldview about demons is like that of others of the language groups in the area, including the Northern Dagara [who use kɔ̃tɔmɛ with a similar meaning].” (Source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
In the still widely-used 1908 Tswana (also: Setswana) translation (by Robert Moffat, revised by Alfred Wookey), the term badino or “ancestor spirit” is used for “demon,” even though in the traditional understanding there is nothing inherently negative associated with that term. Musa Dube (in: Journal of Society of New Testament 73, 1999, p. 33ff. ) describes this as an example of “engaging in the colonization of the minds of natives and for advancing European imperial spaces. The death and burial of Setswana culture here was primarily championed through the colonization of their language such that it no longer served the interests of the original speakers. Instead the written form of language had equated their cultural beliefs with evil spirits, demons and wizardry. This colonization of Setswana was in itself the planting of a colonial cultural bomb, meant to clear the ground for the implantation of a worldwide Christian commonwealth and European consciousness. It was a minefield that marked Setswana cultural spaces as dangerous death zones, to be avoided by every intelligent Motswana reader or hearer of the translated text.”
In Kachin, the term Nat (or nat) us used for “demon” (as well as “devil” and “unclean/evil spirit“). Like in Tswana, the meaning of Nat is not inherently negative but can be positive in the traditional Nat worship as well. Naw Din Dumdaw (in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 94ff.) argues that “the demonization of Nat created a social conflict between Kachin Christians and Kachin non-Christians. Kachin converts began to perceive their fellow Kachins who were still worshipping Nats as demonic and they wanted to distance themselves from them. Likewise, the Nat-worshiping Kachin community perceived the Kachin converts as betrayers and enemies of their own cultural heritage. (…) The demonization of the word Nat was not only the demonization of the pre-Christian religion but also the demonization of the cultural heritage of the Kachin people. When the word Nat is perceived as demonic, it creates an existential dilemma for Kachin Christians. It distances them from their cultural traditions.”
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®).
Syntactically vv. 1-3 form one long sentence. The main verb diōdeuen ‘he went about,’ or a related verb, is to be understood with kai hoi dōdeka sun autō ‘and the twelve with him,’ and with kai gunaikes tines ‘and (also) some women.’ Semantically the sentence consists of three parts, concerning (a) Jesus who goes about among towns and villages preaching; (b) the twelve who are going with him, and (c) a group of women, also accompanying him and the disciples, and providing for them. Names and (some) details are added concerning some of these women.
kai egeneto ‘and it happened,’ cf. on 1.8.
en tō kathexēs, scil. chronō, lit. ‘in the subsequent time,’ hence ‘(soon) afterward’ (cf. on 7.11). For kathexēs cf. on 1.3.
kai autos diōdeuen kata polin kai kōmēn ‘he went about through town and village.’ autos is unemphatic ‘he’ as often in kai autos (cf. on 2.28), and does not anticipate hoi dōdeka.
diodeuō ‘to travel about,’ ‘to go about.’
kata polin kai kōmēn ‘to (every single) town and village.’ kata is distributive. The phrase goes with diōdeuen but is also to be understood with the following participles.
kērussōn kai euaggelizomenos tēn basileian tou theou ‘proclaiming and preaching (the good news of) the kingdom of God.’ For kērussō cf. on 3.3, for euaggelizomai on 1.19. tēn basileian tou theou (cf. on 4.43) is object with both participles. kērussōn and euaggelizomenos supplement each other: kērussōn stresses the note of authority and euaggelizomenos implies the idea of the good tidings.
kai hoi dōdeka sun autō ‘and the twelve (went) with him,’ see above. hoi dōdeka has the function of a title, or name, and identifies the disciples as a group.
(V. 2) kai gunaikes tines ‘and some women (went with him, see above).’ tines is best understood to refer to the three women mentioned by name.
hai ēsan tetherapeumenai apo pneumatōn ponērōn kai astheneiōn ‘who had been cured of evil spirits and illnesses,’ cf. on 7.21.
Maria hē kaloumenē Magdalēnē lit. ‘Mary, who was called the one from Magdala,’ i.e. “Mary, who was called Mary of Magdala” (An American Translation, cf. New English Bible), probably because in early Christian circles more than one Mary was known.
aph’ hēs daimonia hepta exelēluthei ‘from whom seven demons had come out.’ The intransitive exelēluthei is virtually equivalent to the passive ‘had been driven out’ (cf. An American Translation). daimonia hepta refers to possession of extraordinary malignity (cf. Plummer, Grundmann). Seven is a traditional number with evil spirits but there is no reason to attach a specific meaning to it here.
(V. 3) Iōanna gunē Chouza epitropou Hērōdou ‘Jo(h)anna the wife of Chouza(s), the steward of Herod,’ presumably without further introduction known to the readers of Luke’s Gospel. The same applies to Susanna.
epitropos ‘steward,’ ‘manager,’ or ‘governor,’ presumably the former (cf. Plummer, Grundmann).
kai heterai pollai ‘and many others,’ probably differing from gunaikes tines in that they had not been healed by Jesus, but included in the same group, as also going with Jesus.
haitines diēkonoun autois ‘who served them.’ haitines is equivalent to the simple relative pronoun hai and does not have consecutive force. Antecedent of haitines are both heterai pollai and gunaikes tines. autois refers to Jesus and the twelve.
diakoneō (cf. on 4.39) ‘to serve,’ with dative means here ‘to provide for,’ ‘to support.’
ek tōn huparchontōn autais ‘out of their means.’ For huparchō cf. on 7.25. ta huparchonta lit. ‘that which is at one’s disposal’ (hence with dative, here autais), is used here as a substantive ‘means,’ ‘possessions’ (though the dative still reflects its verbal origin). In 11.21; 12.33, 44; 16.1; 19.8 it is followed by a possessive genitive.
Translation:
Went on through cities and villages. The distributive sense may be expressed in the prepositional phrase, e.g. ‘in city (after) city and town (after) town’ (Marathi), or in the verb, e.g. by the use of a verbal suffix with distributive force (Ekari), or of a compound verbal phrase such as, ‘travelled traversing’ (Balinese).
Preaching and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The connexion with what precedes may be final, ‘in-order-to preach…’ (Bahasa Indonesia RC), temporal, e.g. ‘and meanwhile (or, during these journeys) he preached…,’ or local, e.g. ‘and there he preached….’ The two participles are sometimes better combined into one expression, e.g. ‘and proclaimed/preached everywhere the good news of…’ (cf. New English Bible, Brouwer, Sranan Tongo). For to preach see on 3.3; for to bring (or, preach) the good news of the kingdom of God see on 3.18 and 4.43.
The twelve, or, ‘the twelve disciples.’
(V. 2) The intricate, almost confusing, structure of vv. 2f may have to be adjusted and clarified, e.g. ‘Many women went with him also. Some among them had been healed of…, to wit, Mary, …, …, and Joanna, …, …, and Suzanna. All of them (or, All these women) provided for them….’
Had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, or, ‘had been demon-possessed and ill, but Jesus had healed them’; see on 7.21. For infirmity see on 5.15.
From whom seven demons had gone out, cf. on 4.33, 35 and references.
(V. 3) Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward. The double apposition may be ambiguous, e.g. where the word for “steward” is neutral as to sex; hence adjustments such as, ‘J., the wife of H.’s steward, (called) Ch.,’ ‘J., whose husband, Ch., served as steward to Herod’ (Zarma). Steward, or, ‘major-domo’ (Tzeltal; similarly in Balinese, lit. ‘the-one-who-prepares-the-betel-quid,’ then, the favourite courtier who manages the prince’s palace and possessions), ‘the-one who-is-trusted in the house’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘the man who watches the house/goods’ (Ekari, Sranan Tongo), ‘the head (lit. elder) of the house’ (Sundanese).
Provided for them out of (i.e., taking from) their means (or, ‘things’), ‘giving a part from what they possessed’ (cf. Tae’); or, ‘they used their possessions to pay-for their needs’ (cf. Balinese). Provided for them, or, ‘helped them’ (cf. Good News Translation), “attended to their needs” (Translator’s New Testament), ‘took care of them’ (Batak Toba). It may be impossible, or unsuitable, to subjoin both Jesus and his disciples under one pronominal reference; hence, ‘the group/party’ (Bahasa Indonesia 1968), ‘Jesus and his disciples’ (Ekari).
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.
some women: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as some women includes Mary, Joanna, and Susanna. It also includes the “many others” of 8:3b whose names are not mentioned.
women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Some of the women had formerly been controlled by evil spirits, and some had been sick. The text does not imply that all the women had been controlled by evil spirits and had also suffered from diseases. One way to make this clear is:
and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits or diseases
In some languages it may not be natural to speak of being healed of evil spirits. If that is true in your language, you may use a different verb. The phrase healed of evil spirits implies that formerly the evil spirits were controlling the women. Then Jesus forced the evil spirits to release their control. Use natural terms in your language to talk about this. For example:
who had been delivered from evil spirits -or-
whom Jesus freed from evil spirits
evil spirits: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as evil spirits refers to spirits that are evil and can control people’s actions. The phrase evil spirits refers to the same type of spirit as the Greek terms that are often translated as “demons” and “unclean spirits.” The Greek term for “demons” is used in 8:2b. In many languages it may be good to translate these two terms in the same way.
Some ways to translate evil spirits are:
• Use a general term in your language that refers to spirits that are evil and can control people. If there is one word with this meaning, you may not need a separate word like “evil.” For example:
demons
• Use a specific term in your language that refers to a certain type of spirit. This spirit should be able to do what is described in this context. Do not use a term that refers to the spirit of a dead person.
• Use a descriptive phrase. For example:
evil/bad spirits -or-
unclean spirits
Be sure that an expression like “unclean spirits” does not imply that the spirits are literally dirty.
See demon in the Glossary for more information.
8:2b
Mary called Magdalene: Scholars believe that Mary was called Magdalene because she came from the town of Magdala. Mary was a common name in New Testament times, and this distinguished her from the other women named Mary who are mentioned in Luke. Here are some ways to translate this phrase:
Mary surnamed the Magdalene (New Jerusalem Bible) -or-
Mary, known as Mary of Magdala (Revised English Bible)
from whom seven demons had gone out: When a demon controlled a person, the Jews thought of the demon being in the person. Here the text says that the seven demons had gone out of Mary. Your language may have a different expression to describe when a demon releases control of a person. Some other ways to say this are:
whom seven demons had left -or-
who had been healed/rescued from seven demons -or-
who had been controlled by seven demons, but had been freed from their control
The text implies that Jesus is the one who caused the demons to come out of Mary. If this is not clear to your readers, you may need to make it explicit. For example:
from whom Jesus had cast out seven demons -or-
Jesus had commanded seven demons to leave her
demons: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as demons is different from the term “evil spirits” in 8:2a, but it has the same meaning. Here are two ways to translate these terms:
• Use a different term here than the one you used in 8:2a, but be sure that it has the same meaning or a very similar meaning.
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