amazed / astonished / marvel

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The Greek that is translated as “astonished” or “amazed” or “marvel” in English is translated in Pwo Karen as “stand up very tall.” (In John 5:20, source: David Clark)

Elsewhere it is translated as “confusing the inside of the head” (Mende), “shiver in the liver” (Uduk, Laka), “to lose one’s heart” (Mískito, Tzotzil), “to shake” (Southern Bobo Madaré), “to be with mouth open” (Panao Huánuco Quechua) (source: Bratcher / Nida), “to stand with your mouth open” (Citak) (source: Stringer 2007, p. 120), “ceasing to think with the heart” (Bulu), “surprise in the heart” (Yamba) (source for this and one above: W. Reyburn in The Bible Translator 1959, p. 1ff. ), or “have one’s mouth full” (Maan (source: Don Slager).

In Mark 5:20 and elsewhere where the astonishment is a response to listening to Jesus, the translation is “listen quietly” in Central Tarahumara, “forget listening” (because they were so absorbed in what they heard that they forgot everything else) in San Miguel El Grande Mixtec, “it was considered very strange by them” in Tzeltal (source: Bratcher / Nida), “in glad amazement” (to distinguish it from other kinds of amazement) (Quetzaltepec Mixe) (source: Robert Bascom), or “breath evaporated (or “escaped”)” (Mairasi) (source: Enngavoter 2004).

In Western Dani astonishment is emphasized with direct speech. In Mark 1:22, for instance, it says: “Wi!” yinuk, pi wareegwaarak — “They were all amazed, saying ‘Oh'” (source: Lourens De Vries in The Bible Translator 1992, p. 333ff. )

In Low German it is translated as grote Oken maken or “make big eyes” (sometime followed by: un kreegn dat Stillswiegen: “and became silent”) (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006).

In the Kölsch translation (Boch 2017) it is translated as brummte de Lück de Kopp or “the heads of the people buzzed,” Bauklötz jestaunt, lit. “marvel toy blocks,” and vür Staune de Muhl nit mieh zojekräch or “so full of marvel that they couldn’t close their mouths again.”

In the Pfälzisch translation by Walter Sauer (publ. 2012) it is often translated as baff vor staune or “speechless because of their marvel.” (Source: Jost Zetzsche)

See also amazed and astonished, astonished (Mark 6:51), and I’m astonished.

Raising a Girl (image)

Painting by Wang Suda 王肅達 (1910-1963),
Copyright by the Catholic University Peking, China

Text under painting translated from Literary Chinese into English:
Raising a Girl
Proof that Jesus is the true God

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.

complete verse (Luke 8:56)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 8:56:

  • Noongar: “Her father and mother were astonished, but Jesus told them they must not tell people what happened.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “Her parents were very surprised. But Yesus forbade them, that they not say to anyone what had happened.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “The parents of the child wondered very much. But they were sternly instructed by Isa not to tell anybody (lit. even who) about it.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the parents of the child were very, very surprised at this which Jesus had done. And Jesus said to them that they should not tell this to anybody.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Her father and mother were extremely amazed, but Jesus instructed them that they were absolutely not to relate what had happened to even any person.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Jairo and spouse/company were amazed. But Jesus impressed upon them not to tell anyone about that which he had done.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("order/command")

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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 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, meiji-rare-ru (命じられる) or “order/command” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Luke 8:56

Exegesis:

kai exestēsan hoi goneis autēs ‘and her parents were astounded.’ As a comparison with 2.47 shows this is a moderate phrase and less strong than the parallel Mk. 5.42.

parēggeilen ‘he ordered,’ cf. on 5.14.

to gegonos ‘what had happened.’

Translation:

For parents see on 2.27, and for amazed on “wondered” in 1.21.

He charged them to tell no one, cf. on 5.14.

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.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 8:56

8:56a

Her parents were astounded: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as were astounded describes a feeling of surprise mixed with fear or awe. The girl’s parents were surprised and awed by the miracle that Jesus had just done. Translate it with an expression in your language that could describe how people would feel if they saw someone raised from the dead. You may have an idiom for this.

8:56b

but: Most English versions begin this verse with the conjunction but to show contrast with 8:56a. The parents’ astonishment in 8:56a would naturally cause them to want to tell people that Jesus had raised their daughter from the dead. However, Jesus commanded the parents not to tell other people. Connect 8:56b to 8:56a in a way that naturally fits this context in your language.

Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened: See the note on 5:14a, where Jesus gave the same kind of command to the leper whom he had healed.

In some languages it may be natural to translate this as direct speech:

he ordered them, “Do not tell anyone what has happened.”
-or-
Jesus commanded them, “You must not spread the news to other people ⌊that I caused your daughter to live again⌋!”

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