Mark 10:1 - 12 in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 10:1-12 into Mexican Sign Language with back-translations into Spanish and English underneath:


© La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)

Jesús y los discípulos salieron de Capernaúm y fueron a Judea, y después Jesús y los discípulos fueron a otro lugar cerca del río Jordán.

Otra vez muchas personas vinieron y Jesús los enseñaba como siempre era su costumbre.

Los Fariseos (decidieron) probar a Jesús con una pregunta y fueron a él diciendo: “Jesús, una pregunta: permite la Ley que un hombre decida a divorciar a una mujer?”

Jesús dijo: “¿Qué dice lo que Moisés escribió hace mucho, qué manda?”

Los Fariseos dijeron: “Moisés escribió que es permitido que un hombre escribe una carta de divorcio y se la da a la mujer para que se vaya.”

Jesús (respondió): “¿Porqué lo escribió Moisés en la Ley? Porque todas las personas son obstinadas y no entienden, por eso.

De verdad, hace mucho Dios hizo el mundo y lo dio al hombre y la mujer, por eso está escrito en el rollo, que un hombre se separe de sus padres cuando se case y los dos juntos se convierten en una persona.

Yo les advierto que Dios da que los dos ya están juntados eb matrimonio, y no pueden ser saparados.”

Jesús y los discípulos se fueron a casa y los discípulos preguntaron: “¿Qué significa lo que ahorita explicaste?”

Jesús respondió: “Si un hombre se casa con una mujer y después la divrocia y se casa con otra, el hombre es llamado adúltero, traiciona a la mujer.

En la misma manera una mujer que se casa con un hombre y después lo divorcia y se casa con otro es llamado adúltera.”


Jesus and the disciples left Capernaum and went to Judea, and afterwards Jesus and the disciples went to another place close to the River Jordan.

Again many people came and Jesus taught them as was always his custom.

The Pharisees (decided to) test Jesus with a question and they went up to him saying: “Jesus, a question: does the Law permit a man to decide to divorce a woman?”

Jesus said: “What did Moses write long ago, what did he order?”

The Pharisees said: “Moses wrote that a man is allowed to write a letter of divorce and give it to the woman to send her off.”

Jesus (answered): Why did Moses write it in the Law? Because all the people are stubborn and don’t understand, that’s why.

“Truly, long ago God made the world and gave it to a man and a woman, and that is why it is written in the scroll that a man will separate from his parents when he is newly married and the two together will become one person.

“I tell you that God gives that the two of them are already joined together in marriage and they cannot be separated.”

Jesus and the disciples went home and the disciples asked: “What is the meaning of what you explained just now?”

Jesus (answered): “If a man marries a woman and then divorces her and marries someone else, the man is called an adulterer, he betrays the woman.

“In the same way if a woman marries a man and then divorces him and marries someone else, the woman is called an adulteress.”

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

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Mark 10:13-16 in Mexican Sign Language >>

Mark 10:1-12 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 10:1-12 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

Here is Galilee, here is Judea, here is the Jordan River. Jesus is going from Galilee to Judea and to the land beyond the Jordan. Crowds of people followed Jesus. Jesus was teaching the people as usual.

The Pharisees heard that Jesus was coming. They decided among themselves, “Let’s put him to the test.” They asked Jesus:

— If a man and a woman are married, can they divorce afterward?

Jesus said to them:

— In the Law that Moses gave you, what is commanded?

The Pharisees replied:

— Moses authorized the man to write a certificate of divorce and divorce his wife by giving her this document.

Jesus said:

— Moses authorized a divorce by writing a divorce certificate just because you are stubborn. In the very beginning, when God created man and woman, this was the rule given: “A man grows up and leaves his father and mother and unites with his wife. Together they become as one person.” What God has joined together, man must not separate.

Some time later, the disciples asked Jesus in the house:

— Recently there was a conversation about divorce. Is it wrong to divorce?

Jesus replied:

— Any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman, he is violating marital fidelity. In the same way, any woman who divorces her husband and then marries another man is violating marital fidelity.

Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):

Вот Галилея, вот — Иудея, вот — река Иордан. Иисус направляется из Галилеи в Иудею и в земли за Иорданом. Толпы народа шли за Иисусом. Иисус, как обычно, учил людей.

Фарисеи прослышали, что идет Иисус. Они решили между собой: «Давайте его испытаем». Они спросили Иисуса:

— Если мужчина и женщина вступили в брак, то потом им можно развестись?

Иисус им сказал:

— В Законе, который вам дал Моисей, что велено?

Фарисеи ответили:

— Моисей разрешил мужчине написать разводное свидетельство и развестись с женой, дав ей этот документ.

Иисус сказал:

— Моисей разрешил разводиться, написав разводное письмо, только потому что вы упрямы. В самом начале, когда Бог сотворил мужчину и женщину, такое было правило дано: «Мужчина, вырастает и оставляет отца и мать и соединяется со своей женой. Вдвоем они становятся как бы один человек». То, что соединил Бог, то человеку разъединять нельзя.

Спустя какое-то время, ученики спросили Иисуса в доме:

— Недавно был разговор о разводе. Разводиться нельзя?

Иисус ответил:

— Любой мужчина, который разводится со своей женой и женится на другой женщине, он нарушает супружескую верность. Так же и любая женщина, которая развелась со своим мужем, а потом выходит замуж за другого мужчину, нарушает супружескую верность.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

<< Mark 9:42-50 in Russian Sign Language
Mark 10:13-16 in Russian Sign Language >>

complete verse (Mark 10:3)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 10:3:

  • Uma: “Yesus said: ‘What command did the prophet Musa give you?'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “He answered them, he said, ‘What is the command that Musa has given to you?'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “A question also was Jesus’ answer to them, he said, ‘What did Moses command us which we can read in the law about divorce?'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘What did Moses command you long-ago?’ said Jesus.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Jesus replied, saying, ‘Well what was it that Moises commanded you?'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing religious leaders

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

Here, Jesus is addressing religious leaders with the formal pronoun, showing respect. Compare that with the typical address with the informal pronoun of the religious leaders.

The only two exceptions to this are Luke 7:40/43 and 10:26 where Jesus uses the informal pronoun as a response to the sycophantic use of the formal pronoun by the religious leaders (see formal pronoun: religious leaders addressing Jesus).

In most Dutch translations, the same distinctions are made, with the exception of Luke 10:26 where Jesus is using the formal pronoun. In Afrikaans and Western Frisian the informal pronoun is used throughout.

Moses

The name that is transliterated as “Moses” in English is signed in Spanish Sign Language and Polish Sign Language in accordance with the depiction of Moses in the famous statue by Michelangelo (see here ). (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )


“Moses” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

American Sign Language also uses the sign depicting the horns but also has a number of alternative signs (see here).

In French Sign Language, a similar sign is used, but it is interpreted as “radiance” (see below) and it culminates in a sign for “10,” signifying the 10 commandments:


“Moses” in French Sign Language (source )

The horns that are visible in Michelangelo’s statue are based on a passage in the Latin Vulgate translation (and many Catholic Bible translations that were translated through the 1950ies with that version as the source text). Jerome, the translator, had worked from a Hebrew text without the niqquds, the diacritical marks that signify the vowels in Hebrew and had interpreted the term קרו (k-r-n) in Exodus 34:29 as קֶ֫רֶן — keren “horned,” rather than קָרַו — karan “radiance” (describing the radiance of Moses’ head as he descends from Mount Sinai).

Even at the time of his translation, Jerome likely was not the only one making that decision as this article alludes to (see also Moses as Pharaoh’s Equal — Horns and All ).

In Swiss-German Sign Language it is translated with a sign depicting holding a staff. This refers to a number of times where Moses’s staff is used in the context of miracles, including the parting of the sea (see Exodus 14:16), striking of the rock for water (see Exodus 17:5 and following), or the battle with Amalek (see Exodus 17:9 and following).


“Moses” in Swiss-German Sign Language, source: DSGS-Lexikon biblischer Begriffe , © CGG Schweiz

In Vietnamese (Hanoi) Sign Language it is translated with the sign that depicts the eye make up he would have worn as the adopted son of an Egyptian princess. (Source: The Vietnamese Sign Language translation team, VSLBT)


“Moses” in Vietnamese Sign Language, source: SooSL

In Estonian Sign Language Moses is depicted with a big beard. (Source: Liina Paales in Folklore 47, 2011, p. 43ff. )


“Moses” in Estonian Sign Language, source: Glossary of the EKNK Toompea kogudus

See also Moses and Elijah during the Transfiguration.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Moses .

Honorary are / rare constructs denoting God (“answer”)

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, kotae-rare-ru (答えられる) or “answer” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Mark 10:3

Exegesis:

eneteilato (13.34) ‘he commanded,’ ‘ordered.’ Freely translated, the meaning of the question is: “What commandment (entolē) did Moses give you?”

Translation:

Answered may be easily mistranslated in languages which require certain types of verbs introducing direct discourse. What follows is of course a question, even though it is given in response to another question. Accordingly, in some languages this must be adapted as ‘he asked them in turn.’

Command may be rendered as ‘tell you to do’ or ‘order you to do.’ Often some complimentary verb must be added, for Moses was not actually commanding the people but enjoining a particular order upon them.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

formal second person plural pronoun

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 choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English). (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )