Jesus

The Greek Iēsous is “only” a proper name but one with great importance. The following quote by John Ellington (in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 401ff. ) illustrates this:

“In Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus Christ, Joseph is told that when Mary gives birth to a son ‘you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins’ (1:21). This name is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name [Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) which is a short form of a name meaning] ‘the Lord [Yahweh] saves.’ The name is very significant and is in itself especially dear to Christians around the world. (…) Unquestionably great importance is attached to the name of Jesus by Christians of all persuasions and backgrounds.”

While Iēsous (pronounced: /i.ɛː.suːs/) is transliterated as “Jesus” (pronounced /ˈdʒiːzəs/) in English (but was translated as “Hælend” [the “healing one”] in Old English — see Swain 2019) it is transliterated and pronounced in a large variety of other ways as well, following the different rules of different languages’ orthographies, writing systems and rules of pronunciation. The following is a (partial) list of forms of Jesus in Latin characters: aYeso, Azezi, Boiyesuq, Cecoc, Chesús, Chi̍i̍sū, Chisɔsi, Ciisahs, Ciise, Ciisusu, Djesu, Ɛisa, Ƹisa, Eyesu, Gesù, Gesû, Gesü, Ġesù, Ghjesù, Giêsu, ꞌGiê‑ꞌsu, Giê-xu, Gyisɛse, Hesu, Hesús, Hisus, Hisuw, Ià-sŭ, Iesen, Ié:sos, Iesu, Iesui, Iesusɨn, Iesusiva, Ié:sos, Ihu, Īhu, Iisus, Iisussa, Ijeesu, iJisọsị, Iji̍sɔ̄ɔsi, Iosa, Íosa, Ìosa, İsa, I’sa, Isiso, Isõs, Ísu, Isus, Isusa, Iisussa, Isuthi, Itota, Îtu, Isuva, Izesu, Izesuq, Jasus, Jeeju, Jeesus, Jeesuse, Jeezas, Jehu, Jeisu, Jeju, Jejus, Jesesi, Jeshu, Jeso, Jesoe, Jesosa, Jesoshi, Jesosi, Jesosy, Jesu, Jesû, Jesua, Jesuh, Jesuhs, Jesuo, Jesús, Jésus, Jesúsu, Jethu, Jezed, Jezi, Jézi, Ježiš, Jezu, Jezus, Jézus, Jėzus, Jēzus, Jezusi, Jėzus, Jezuz, Jiijajju, Jíísas, Jiisusi, Jiizas, Jíìzọ̀s, Jisas, Jisase, Jisasi, Jisasɨ, Jisaso, Jisesi, Jisɛ̀, Jisos, Jisọs, Jisɔs, Jisu, Jiszs, Jizọs, Jizɔs, Jizọsi, Jizọsu, Jòso, Jusu, Jweesus, Ketsutsi, Njises, ọYẹsọ, Sesi, Sisa, Sísa, Sisas, Sises, Sīsū, Sizi, Txesusu, uJesu, Ujísɔ̄si, ŵaYesu, Xesosi, ´Xesús, Xesús, Yasu, Ya:su, yasuɛ, Yasuuⓐ, Ɣaysa, Yecu, Yeeb Sub, Yeeh Suh, Yeesey, Yeeso, Yeesso, Yēēsu, Yehsu, Yëësu, Yeiqsul, Yeisu, Yeisuw, Yeshu, Yē shú, Yeso, Yéso, Yesò, Yëso, Yɛso, ye-su, Yésu, Yêsu, Yẹ́sụ̃, Yěsù, Yésʉs, Yeswa, Yet Sut, Yetut, Yexus, Yezo, Yezu, Yiesu, Yiisa, Yiisu, Yiitju, Yis, Yisɔs, Yisufa, Yitati, Yusu, ‑Yusu, :Yusu’, Zeezi, Zezi, Zezì, Zezuz, Zezwii, Ziizɛ, Zisas, Zîsɛ, Zjezus, Zozi, Zozii, and this (much more incomplete) list with other writings systems: ᔩᓱᓯ, ᒋᓴᔅ, Հիսուս, ᏥᏌ, ኢየሱስ, ያሱስ, ܝܫܘܥ, Ісус, Їисъ, 耶稣, იესო, ईसा, イエス, イイスス, イエスス, 예수, येशू, येशो, ਈਸਾ, ພຣະເຢຊູ, ජේසුස්, যীশু, ଯୀଶୁ, ཡེ་ཤུ་, ‘ঈছা, இயேசு, ಯೇಸು, ພຣະເຢຊູ, ယေရှု, ઇસુ, जेजू, येसु, เยซู, យេស៊ូ, ᱡᱤᱥᱩ, ယေသှု, యేసు, ᤕᤧᤛᤢ᤺ᤴ, އީސާގެފާނު, ਯਿਸੂ, ꕉꖷ ꔤꕢ ꕞ, ⵏ⵿ⵗⵢⵙⴰ, ଜୀସୁ, يَسُوعَ,ㄧㄝㄙㄨ, YE-SU, ꓬꓰ꓿ꓢꓴ, 𖽃𖽡𖾐𖼺𖽹𖾏𖼽𖽔𖾏, ꑳꌠ, ᠶᠡᠰᠦᠰ (note that some of these might not display correctly if your device does not have the correct fonts installed).

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In some languages the different confessions have selected different transliterations, such as in Belarusian with Isus (Ісус) by the Orthodox and Protestant churches and Yezus (Езус) by the Catholic church, Bulgarian with Iisus (Иисус) by the Orthodox and Isus (Исус) by the Protestant church, Japanese with Iesu (イエス) (Protestant and Catholic) and Iisusu (イイスス) (Orthodox), or Lingala with Yesu (Protestant) or Yezu (Catholic). These differences have come to the forefront especially during the work on interconfessional translations such as one in Lingala where “many hours were spent on a single letter difference” (source: Ellington, p. 401).

In Literary and Mandarin Chinese where transliterations of proper names between the Catholic and Protestant versions typically differ vastly, the Chinese name of Jesus (Yēsū 耶稣) remarkably was never brought into question between and by those two confessions, likely due to its ingenious choice. (Click or tap here to see more).

The proper name of God in the Old Testament, Yahweh (YHWH), is rendered in most Chinese Bible translations as Yēhéhuá 耶和華 — Jehovah. According to Chinese naming conventions, Yēhéhuá could be interpreted as Yē Héhuá, in which Yē would be the family name and Héhuá — “harmonic and radiant” — the given name. In the same manner, Yē 耶 would be the family name of Jesus and Sū 稣 would be his given name. Because in China the children inherit the family name from the father, the sonship of Jesus to God the Father, Jehovah, would be illustrated through this. Though this line of argumentation sounds theologically unsound, it is indeed used effectively in the Chinese church (see Wright 1953, p. 298).

Moreover, the “given name” of Sū 稣 carries the meaning ‘to revive, to rise again’ and seems to point to the resurrected Jesus. (Source: J. Zetzsche in Malek 2002, p. 141ff., see also tetragrammaton (YHWH))

There are different ways that Bible translators have chosen historically and today in how to translate the name of Jesus in predominantly Muslim areas: with a form of the Arabic Isa (عيسى) (which is used for “Jesus” in the Qur’an), the Greek Iēsous, or, like major 20th century Bible translations into Standard Arabic, the Aramaic Yēšūaʿ: Yasua (يَسُوعَ). (Click or tap here to see more.)

Following are languages and language groups that use a form of Isa include the following (note that this list is not complete):

  • Indo-Iranian languages: Persian, Dari, Central Pashto, Southern Pashto all use Eysa (عيسی or عيسىٰ for Southern Pashto), Sindhi uses Eysey (عيسيٰ), Southern Balochi Issa (ایسّا), Central Kurdish (Sorani) and Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) use Îsa (عیسای and Иса respectively), Turkmen has Isa, and Tajik Isoi (Исои — compare Iso/Исо in the Tajik Qur’an)
  • Turkic languages: Turkish uses İsa, Kazakh, Kumyk, Nogai, Crimean Tatar all have Isa (Иса), Kirghiz has Iysa (Ыйса), Uzbek has Iso (Исо — compare Iiso/Ийсо in the Uzbek Qur’an), Bashkir uses Aaisa (Ғайса), North Azerbaijani İsa, Uighur uses Eysa (ئەيسا), and Kara-Kalpak İysa (Ийса)
  • Caucasian languages: Bezhta and Lezghian use Isa (Иса), Avaric has Aisa (ГІиса), and Chechen Iza (Иза)
  • Various African languages: Somali, a Cushitic language, has Ciise, Kabyle has Ɛisa and Tahaggart Tamahaq has Yeswa (both Berber languages), the Saharan languages Central Kanuri, Manga Kanuri have Isa, the Atlantic-Congo languages Dagbani, Mampruli, and Bimoba use Yisa, and the Chadian Arabic Bible has Isa (عِيسَى)
  • In Indonesian, while most Bible translations had already used Yesus Kristus rather than Isa al Masih, three public holidays used to be described using the term Isa Al Masih. From 2024 on the government is using Yesus Kristus in those holiday names instead (see this article in Christianity Today ).
  • Some languages have additional “TAZI” editions (TAZI stands for “Tawrat, Anbiya, Zabur, and Injil” the “Torah, Prophets, Psalms and Gospel”) of the New Testament that are geared towards Muslim readers where there is also a translation in the same language for non-Muslims. In those editions, Isa is typically used as well (for example, the Khmer TAZI edition uses Isa (អ៊ីសា) rather than the commonly used Yesaou (យេស៊ូ), the Thai edition uses Isa (อีซา) rather than Yesu (เยซู), the Chinese edition uses Ěrsā (尔撒) vs. Yēsū (耶稣), and the English edition also has Isa rather than Jesus.)

In German the name Jesus (pronounced: /ˈjeːzʊs/) is distinguished by its grammatical forms. Into the 20th century the grammatical rules prescribed a unique Greek-Latin declination: Jesus (nominative), Jesu (genitive, dative, vocative), Jesum (accusative), from which today only the genitive case “Jesu” is still in active use. Likewise, in Seediq (Taroko), the morphological treatment of “Jesus” also occupies a special category by not falling under the normal rule of experiencing a vowel reduction when the object-specific suffix an is added “since it was felt that the readers might resent that the name has been changed that drastically.” (Compare Msian for “Moses” (Mosi) as an object, but Yisuan for “Jesus” (Yisu).) (Source: Covell 1998. p. 249)

In Lamba the name ŵaYesu consists of a transliteration Yesu and the prefix ŵa, a plural form for “proper names when addressing and referring to persons in any position of seniority or honor.” While this was avoided in early translations to avoid possible misunderstandings of more than one Jesus, once the church was established it was felt that it was both “safe” and respectful to use the honorific (pl.) prefix. (Source C. M. Doke in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 57ff. )

In virtually all sign languages, “Jesus” is signed with the middle finger of each hand pointing to the palm (or wrist) of the other in succession (signing the nails of the cross). In the context of Bible translation this has been pointed out as theologically problematic since the “semantic connections of the original name Jesus do point towards ‘salvation,’ they do not naturally lead to crucifixion.” (Source: Phil King in Journal of Translation 1 (2020), p. 33ff.)


“Jesus” in German Sign Language (source )

Following is the oldest remaining Ethiopian Orthodox icon of Jesus from the 14th or possibly 13th century (found in the Church of the Saviour of the World in Gurji, Ethiopia). As in many Orthodox icons, Jesus’ right hand forms the Greek letters I-C-X-C for IHCOYC XPICTOC or “Jesus Christ.” Another interpretation of the right hand is that it shows three fingers pointing to the Trinity, while the two other fingers point to Jesus’ two natures.

source (c) Jacques Mercier and Alain Mathieu

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 )

The following is the so-called “Wales Window for Alabama.” It is a stained-glass window by the artist John Petts from Carmarthenshire, Wales, created in response to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing which took place in 1963:

Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )

The style of the following drawing of Jesus by Annie Vallotton is described by the artist as this: “By using few lines the readers fill in the outlines with their imagination and freedom. That is when the drawings begin to communicate.” (see here ; see also We All are One in Christ)

Illustration by Annie Vallotton, copyright by Donald and Patricia Griggs of Griggs Educational Service.

Other visual representation of Jesus in TIPs include several non-Western styles of art: traditional Korean art, traditional Chinese art, modern Chinese abstract art, northern and central Thailand’s popular art, Indian Hamzanama style, traditional Vietnamese art, or Japanese prints.

See also this devotion on YouVersion .

Translation commentary on Mark 10:32

Text:

Instead of hoi de ‘but those’ before akolothountes ‘(who) were following’ of most modern editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus and Kilpatrick have kai ‘and.’ Thus the meaning is changed to … ‘and following (they were afraid).’

Exegesis:

There is general agreement that the subject of ‘they were going up to Jerusalem’ is ‘Jesus and his disciples’; that the subject of ‘they were amazed’ is ‘the disciples’; and that ‘but those (others) who were following were afraid’ refers to people other than the disciples.

Most of the words of this verse have already been dealt with: for anabainō ‘go up’ cf. 1.10; proagō ‘precede,’ ‘go ahead’ cf. 6.45; thambeomai ‘be amazed’ cf. 1.27; akoloutheō ‘follow’ (here in a physical sense) cf. 1.18; phobeomai ‘be afraid’ cf. 4.41; paralambanō ‘take along,’ ‘take aside’ cf. 4.36; hoi dōdeka ‘the Twelve’ cf. 3.16.

ēsan de en tē hodō anabainontes eis Ierosoluma ‘they were on the road going up to Jerusalem’: it is probable (with Revised Standard Version) that ēsan ‘they were’ is the main verb, and anabainontes ‘going up’ is an independent participle, modifying ‘they.’

en tē hodō (cf. 8.3, 27) ‘in the road,’ ‘on the journey.’

anabainontes eis Ierosoluma ‘going up to Jerusalem’ cf. ‘those who came down from Jerusalem’ in 3.22.

ta mellonta autō sumbainein ‘the things that were to happen to him.’

mellō (13.4) ‘about to be (or, happen),’ ‘coming,’ ‘future’: the verb denotes something in the future which is about to take place; often, however (as here), more than mere time is implied: there is the quality of “compulsion, necessity or certainty” (Abbott-Smith), so that the participial form to mellon does not mean simply ‘the thing that will happen (in the future)’ but ‘something that must take place,’ ‘something that is bound to happen.’ Arndt & Gingrich: “an action that necessarily follows a divine decree, is destined, must, will certainly.”

sumbainō (only here in Mark) ‘happen,’ ‘come about.’

Translation:

Were on the road must often be rendered ‘traveling on the road.’

They must be so translated as to identify Jesus and those with him, not the immediately preceding third person plural ‘the many’ of verse 31, or those who will receive the hundredfold. Accordingly, one may translate ‘Jesus and those with him were journeying along.’

Going up to is generally used of traveling to Jerusalem because of the greater height of Jerusalem relative to the surrounding region, especially Jericho (see verse 45). However, at this point they were not evidently in the ascent from the Jordan valley, for the episode described as near Jericho occurs later in the chapter.

Ahead of them may actually be ‘ahead of the rest’ in some languages, for Jesus is contrasted with the disciples and the following crowd.

They, as the subject of were amazed, may be translated as ‘the disciples,’ if a more specific subject is required.

For amazed see 1.22, 27.

Taking the twelve refers to ‘going aside with the twelve disciples’ or ‘leading aside the twelve disciples’ (cf. 3.14; 4.10).

Happen to him may in some languages be translated as active, from the perspective of the person undergoing the events, e.g. ‘what he would experience.’ In other languages what would happen to is best translated as ‘what men would do to.’

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 .

SIL Translator's Notes on Mark 10:32

Section 10:32–34

Jesus predicted his death a third time

Jesus told his disciples in 8:31 and 9:31 that people would kill him and that he would rise from the dead after three days. In 10:32–34, Jesus again told the disciples that these things would happen to him. This time he gave more details about how it would happen.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

For the Third Time Jesus Foretells That He Will Die and Come Back to Life (God’s Word)
-or-
Jesus continues his journey toward suffering and death in Jerusalem

Refer to your section title for 9:30–32. If you used a phrase that means “the second time” there, you should use a phrase that means “the third time” here.

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 20:17–19 and Luke 18:31–34.

Paragraph 10:32–34

10:32a

The events in this section happened sometime after the event in the preceding section. At the beginning of that section in 10:17, Jesus started on his journey. The events in this section happened while he was on the journey. Indicate this in a natural way in your language.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

And they were on the road (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
They were now on the way up to Jerusalem (New Living Translation)
-or-
As Jesus and the people with him were on the road to Jerusalem (New Century Version)

As they were going up the road to Jerusalem: Jesus and his disciples had already begun to travel toward Jerusalem (see 10:17 and 10:23). It may be natural in your language to indicate this in some way. For example:

As they continued going up the road to Jerusalem

they: The pronoun they refers to Jesus’ disciples. You may need to make this explicit in your translation. Since Jesus was with them, some versions include Jesus along with the disciples as those referred to as they. For example, the Good News Bible says:

Jesus and his disciples

going up the road to Jerusalem: When the writers of the Bible said that people were going to Jerusalem, they usually said that they were going up to Jerusalem. This is because the city of Jerusalem was higher than most parts of the land of Israel. It was located in the mountains at an altitude of about 800 meters above sea level.

In some languages, it is natural to speak of going up or down when traveling on a road. In other languages, this may not be natural, or it may not be understood. If that is true in your language, you may use a more general expression. For example:

were going on the road to Jerusalem

Jerusalem: Jerusalem was the most important city to the Jewish people. The temple where they worshiped God was there. The high priest and many other religious, government, and military leaders lived there. In some languages you may want to include a footnote with some of this information.

See how you translated this city name in 1:5a.

Jesus was walking ahead of them: The phrase Jesus was walking ahead of them means that Jesus was walking first along the road, and the others were behind him.

10:32b–c

The disciples were amazed, but those who followed were afraid: The phrases The disciples and those who followed refer to two different groups of people. (There is a textual issue here. As a result, English versions interpret the relationship between the phrases the disciples and those who followed in either of two ways: (1) The phrases refer to two different groups of people. For example, the God’s Word says: “His disciples were shocked…. The others who followed were afraid.” (Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, God’s Word, Good News Bible, New American Standard Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, NET Bible, New Living Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, English Standard Version). (2) The phrases both refer to the same group of people. For example, the King James Version says: “they were amazed, and as they followed, they were afraid” (King James Version). Most English versions follow the Greek manuscripts on which interpretation (1) is based. It is recommended that you follow option (1), as most English versions do.) In some languages, it may be necessary to make this more explicit than the Berean Standard Bible does. For example, the God’s Word says:

His disciples were shocked…. The others who followed were afraid.

disciples: The word disciples here refers to the twelve men whom Jesus chose as apostles in 3:14–18. See how you translated this word at 2:15b. See also disciple in the Glossary.

amazed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as amazed means “astonished” or “very surprised.” Apparently the disciples were amazed that Jesus was going to a place where there might be danger to him. In some languages it may be necessary to say why they were amazed. For example:

His disciples were shocked [that he was going to Jerusalem]. (God’s Word)

those who followed were afraid: The text does not say why the people who followed were afraid. It was probably for the same reason that the disciples were astonished. They realized that it might be dangerous to go to Jerusalem.

those who followed: The phrase those who followed refers to other people (beside the twelve disciples) who were traveling with him. In this context, they were literally following Jesus on the road. Jesus led the way, his disciples came behind him, and those who followed were behind the disciples.

General Comment on 10:32a–c

In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of the parts of this verse. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:

32bThe disciples were confused 32aas Jesus led them toward Jerusalem, 32cand his other followers were afraid.

10:32d–e

Again: The word Again (The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Again is connected grammatically with the verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as took…aside. But the Berean Standard Bible and a number of other English versions translate 10:32d in a way that includes the words began to tell them what was going to happen to him in what Jesus did again.) applies to the whole action in 10:32d–e. It indicates that Jesus again took the disciples aside and taught them privately about what was going to happen to him. He had done this earlier, in 9:30–32.

Jesus took the Twelve aside: The phrase took…aside means “led away from the other people.” Jesus led his twelve disciples away from the crowd who were following them. He wanted to speak with his disciples privately.

In some languages the natural way to translate took…aside would be with an indirect quote. For example:

Jesus told the twelve disciples to come with him so he could be alone with them

the Twelve: The phrase the Twelve refers to the twelve disciples whom Jesus had selected as his special helpers. See how you translated this phrase in 4:10a.

and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him: This clause summarizes Jesus’ speech in 10:33–34. Jesus told his disciples about what was going to happen to him in Jerusalem.

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