18And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him, for they were afraid of him because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching.
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), or “surprise in the heart” (Yamba) (source for this and one above: W. Reyburn in The Bible Translator 1959, p. 1ff. ).
In Mark 5:20 and elsewhere where the astonishment is a response to listening to Jesus, the translation is “listened quietly” in Central Tarahumara, “they forgot 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” (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 (publ. 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)
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “chief priest” in English is translated in Muyuw as tanuwgwes lun or “ruler-of peace offering.” (Source: David Lithgow in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 118ff. )
The Greek that is translated as “to fear” or “to be afraid” or similar in English is translated in Ashe as agõõi iwei or “hearing fear.” (Source: David Rowbory)
The Greek that is usually translated as “scribe” in English “were more than mere writers of the law. They were the trained interpreters of the law and expounders of tradition.”
Tboli: “one who taught the law God before caused Moses to write” (or “one who taught the law of Moses”) (source for this and 5 above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Noongar: Mammarapa-Warrinyang or “law man” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Mairasi: “one who writes and explains Great Above One’s (=God’s) prohibitions” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Chichewa: “teacher of Laws” (source: Ernst Wendland)
Lalana Chinantec: “one who is a teacher of the law which God gave to Moses back then”
Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “one who know well the law” (Source for this and four above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Huixtán Tzotzil: “one who mistakenly thought he was teaching God’s commandments”(Huixtán Tzotzil frequently uses the verb -cuy to express “to mistakenly think something” from the point of view of the speaker; source: Marion M. Cowan in Notes on Translation 20/1966, pp. 6ff.)
Germandas Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “theologian”
English translation by Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023): Covenant Code scholar
In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines the signs for “expert” and “law.” (Source: Anna Smith)
“Scribe” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)
Jesús y los discípulos fueron a Jerusalén y cerca del templo en la plaza afuera Jesús vio a las personas cambiando dinero y a otras personas vendiendo palomas.
Jesús caminó hacia ellos y quitaba las sillas y tiraba las mesas y el dinero se esparció. Las personas que estaban vendiendo y comprando Jesus los expulsó.
Jesús vio a otras personas que venían cargando cosas (y dijo): “¡Alto, está prohibido que uds se metan en el templo, tienen que dar la vuelta afuera!”
“Oigan, está escrito en el rollo que Dios dice: ‘El templo es mi casa para oración, todas las personas del país pueden congregar libremente para orar’, pero uds piensan que el templo parece una cueva donde entran los rateros y ladrones.”
Los líderes de los sacerdotes y los maestros de la Ley lo oyeron: “¡Caray!” tenían miedo y dialogaron acerca de que querían matar a Jesús, pero ¿cómo? Habría una estorba porque vieron a Jesús siempre enseñando y las personas que lo veían eran atraídos, lo consideraban maravilloso.
Después en la noche Jesús y los discípulos se fueron a otro lugar.
Jesus and the disciples went to Jerusalem and near the temple in the square outside it Jesus saw the people changing money and other people selling doves.
Jesus walked over to them and took away the chairs and threw over the tables and the money was spread out. The people who were selling and buying were thrown out by Jesus.
Jesus saw other people who came carrying things (and said): “Stop, it is prohibited to enter the temple, you have to go around it outside!”
“Hey, it is written in the scroll that God says: ‘The temple is my house for prayer, all the people of the country can gather freely to pray,’ but you think it is like a cave where pickpockets and thieves enter.”
The leaders of the priests and the teachers of the Law heard it: “Oh no!” They were afraid and discussed together that they wanted to kill Jesus, but how? There would be a disturbance because they always saw Jesus teaching and the people who saw him were attracted and thought it wonderful.
Afterwards, at night, Jesus and the disciples went off to another place.
Jesus and his disciples came to Jerusalem. Jesus went into the Temple courtyard. There he saw many people selling and buying animals and pigeons. There were tables of coin changers. Jesus looked at all this, became angry, and began to drive away both the sellers and the buyers. There was a great commotion. Jesus overturned the tables and overturned the benches of the pigeon sellers. And he forbade people to go through the Temple courtyard to trade.
Jesus began to teach:
— Long ago two prophets in the Bible wrote: “This place will be called the house of the Lord, a place of prayer,” and you have turned it into a gathering of criminals.
Jesus continued to teach. The older priests and teachers of the law heard this and they all got angry and began to discuss how they could kill Jesus. They were afraid that a great many people were listening to Jesus favorably.
Evening came. Jesus and his disciples left the city and traveled back.
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Иисус вместе с учениками пришли в Иерусалим. Иисус вошел во двор Храма. Там он увидел, что множество людей продают и покупают животных и голубей. Были там столы обменщиков монет. Иисус посмотрел на все это, разгневался и начал прогонять прочь и продавцов и покупателей. Случился великий переполох. Столы Иисус перевернул, скамейки продавцов голубей тоже перевернул. И он запретил, чтобы люди проходили через двор Храма, чтобы торговать.
Иисус начал учить:
— Еще давно два пророка в Библии писали: «Это место будет названо домом Господа, местом молитвы», а вы превратили его в сборище преступников.
Иисус продолжал учить. Старшие священники и учителя закона услышали это, все они разозлились и стали обсуждать, как им убить Иисуса. Они боялись, что очень многие люди слушали Иисуса благосклонно.
Наступил вечер. Иисус с учениками покинули город и отправились обратно.
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 11:18:
Uma: “When the leading priests and religion teachers heard what Yesus had done, they sought for a scheme/way to kill him. They were nervous, for all the people were glad hearing his teaching.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “So-then the leaders of the priests and the teachers of the religious law were told about what Isa did. They were afraid of him because all the crowds of people were amazed at his preaching. Therefore they looked for a way so that they could kill Isa.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard about what Jesus did. They were afraid of Jesus for the many people liked to hear his teaching. That’s why the leaders were looking for a way that they might be permitted to have Jesus put to death.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “The leaders of the priests and the teachers of the law heard-the-news of what Jesus had done, and they were looking-for how they would kill him. Because they were afraid of him, because of-the-fact-that the many-people were amazed at what he was teaching.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “This was heard by the chiefs of the priests and the explainers of law. From then on, they were looking for how they could get Jesus killed, for they were afraid of him. Because as for the crowd, they were really fascinated with his teaching.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Mairasi: “The headmen of the religious leaders [chief priests] and people who write and explain Great Above One’s prohibitions [scribes] heard this message. Then they looked for bait/lies/excuse/way to kill him because they were afraid of Him: ‘The people will follow Him’ said they and they were afraid that the people would not respect religious leaders [priests]. Because all the people gazed at him their-breath-evaporated [in amazement] because of his strong words.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).
Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.
In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.
While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal ta (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential ta (祂) is used.”
In that system one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and one for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.
Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains in the following way: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”
In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)
Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”
In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in <em>The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )
In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)
The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.
Some Protestant English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible, but most translations, especially those published in the 21st century, do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In both languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).
