The Greek that is translated as “became dazzling white” in English is translated in Sa’a with “a specially-coined, but old word for what happened to Jesus at the transfiguration. It means ‘gloriously changed to be bright and shiny and totally unlike anything else at all.’ It is used only for Jesus’ transfiguration, and then, by extension, for what will happen to us at our resurrection. The word is ‘nu’e’ — an awful lot meaning packed into just four letters!”
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated with “clothes” or similar in English is translated in Enlhet as “crawling-in-stuff” (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 169ff. ) and in Noongar as bwoka or “Kangaroo skin” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
Following is a Ukrainian Orthodox icon of the Transfiguration by Ivan Rutkovych (c. 1650 – c. 1708) (for the Church of Christ’s Nativity in Zhovkva, Ukraine, today in the Lviv National Museum).
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 )
“to beg” or “to ask,” (full expression: “to ask with one’s heart coming out,” which leaves out selfish praying, for asking with the heart out leaves no place for self to hide) (Tzotzil)
“to raise up one’s words to God” (implying an element of worship, as well as communication) (Miskito, Lacandon) (source of this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
Shilluk: “speak to God” (source: Nida 1964, p. 237)
Mairasi: “talk together with Great Above One (=God)” (source: Enggavoter, 2004)
Ik: waan: “beg.” Terrill Schrock (in Wycliffe Bible Translators 2016, p. 93) explains (click or tap here to read more):
What do begging and praying have to do with each other? Do you beg when you pray? Do I?
“The Ik word for ‘visitor’ is waanam, which means ‘begging person.’ Do you beg when you go visiting? The Ik do. Maybe you don’t beg, but maybe when you visit someone, you are looking for something. Maybe it’s just a listening ear.
When the Ik hear that [my wife] Amber and I are planning trip to this or that place for a certain amount of time, the letters and lists start coming. As the days dwindle before our departure, the little stack of guests grows. ‘Please, sir, remember me for the allowing: shoes, jacket (rainproof), watch, box, trousers, pens, and money for the children. Thank you, sir, for your assistance.’
“A few people come by just to greet us or spend bit of time with us. Another precious few will occasionally confide in us about their problems without asking for anything more than a listening ear. I love that.
“The other day I was in our spare bedroom praying my list of requests to God — a nice list covering most areas of my life, certainly all the points of anxiety. Then it hit me: Does God want my list, or does he want my relationship?
“I decided to try something. Instead of reading off my list of requests to God, I just talk to him about my issues without any expectation of how he should respond. I make it more about our relationship than my list, because if our personhood is like God’s personhood, then maybe God prefers our confidence and time to our lists, letters, and enumerations.”
In Luang it is translated with different shades of meaning (click or tap here to read more):
For Acts 1:14, 20:36, 21:5: kola ttieru-yawur nehla — “hold the waist and hug the neck.” (“This is the more general term for prayer and often refers to worship in prayer as opposed to petition. The Luang people spend the majority of their prayers worshiping rather than petitioning, which explains why this term often is used generically for prayer.”)
For Acts 28:9: sumbiani — “pray.” (“This term is also used generically for ‘prayer’. When praying is referred to several times in close proximity, it serves as a variation for kola ttieru-yawur nehla, in keeping with Luang discourse style. It is also used when a prayer is made up of many requests.”)
For Acts 8:15, 12:5: polu-waka — “call-ask.” (“This is a term for petition that is used especially when the need is very intense.”)
Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 9:29:
Noongar: “At the moment Jesus was speaking, his face changed, and his clothes (lit.: “kangaroo skin”) became white and shining.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “While Yesus was praying, his appearance changed, and his clothes became sparkling white.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “While he was praying, his face changed and his clothes were very bright and really very white.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And while Jesus was praying, suddenly his appearance changed and his clothing shone very white and it dazzled the eyes.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “As Jesus then was praying, the appearance of his face changed and his clothes, they became extremely-white becoming-dazzling.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “When he was praying, suddenly/unexpectedly the face of Jesus became very unusual, and his clothes were dazzling with extreme whiteness.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-kao (御顔) or “face (of God)” in the referenced verses.
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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 rare (られ) 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, inotteo-rare-ru (祈っておられる) or “praying” is used.
kai egeneto … to eidos tou prosōpou autou heteron ‘and the appearance of his face became different, or, changed,’ without indicating the nature of the change. But according to v. 32 the disciples saw Jesus’ doxa, i.e. ‘his bright splendour’ (cf. on 2.9). This is also consistent with what follows in v. 29. For eidos cf. on 3.21.
kai ho himatismos autou leukos exastraptōn scil. egeneto ‘and his clothing became white (and) gleaming.’ For himatismos cf. on 7.25. leukos exastraptōn without connective. Most translations render it as one phrase and treat exastraptōn as an adverb modifying leukos (cf. Revised Standard Version). leukos.
exastrapto ‘to flash, or, gleam like lightning.’
Translation:
The phrase as he was praying is more than a simple indication of time here; the verb is repeated to bring out the connexion between Jesus’ communion with God in prayer and his transfiguration. The aspect is durative, ‘during his prayer,’ ‘there he prayed for a time, then….’
The appearance of his countenance was altered, or, ‘the appearance of his face took another form, or, became different (lit. it one kind)’ (East Nyanja, Trukese), ‘the shadow/picture of his face was another one’ (Yao). To render ‘appearance’ one may have to shift to a verbal construction, ‘his face was seen to have become different’ (cf. Tae’ 1933), ‘it became visible that his face had changed,’ ‘his face appeared manner of otherness’ (Kituba). Some versions slightly simplify the expression, e.g. ‘his characteristic-appearance changed’ (Balinese), ‘his form/shape/appearance/face changed’ (South and Tae,’ Shona 1966, Sinhala, Ekari, Sranan Tongo). Tboli says ‘he became different,’ because ‘his face was changed’ is an idiom to say that a person is dying. The translation to be used will often have to coincide with, or come close to, that of “he was transfigured”.
Raiment or ‘clothing,’ cf. on 7.25. A more specific term may be used, where necessary, provided it refers to an outer garment.
Dazzling white, or, ‘white and shining/sparkling’; some versions render the phrase by one term expressing a high degree of splendour/brightness/whiteness.
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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