tempted by Satan

The Greek that is translated as “tempted by Satan (or: the devil)” in most English translations is translated in Tlahuitoltepec Mixe as “and the devil was wanting to cause him to sin, and not once did Jesus obey.” An addition was necessary to indicate that the devil’s desire was frustrated. (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)

See also tempt.

desert / wilderness

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The Greek, Hebrew and Latin that is translated as “desert” or “wilderness” in English is translated in a number of ways:

  • Mairasi: “a place where noisiness is cut off (or: stops)” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Muna: pandaso bhalano pr “big barren-field” (source: René van den Berg)
  • Balinese: “barren field” (source: J.L. Swellengrebel in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 75ff. )
  • Wantoat: “uninhabited place” (source: Holzhausen 1991, p. 38)
  • Umiray Dumaget Agta: “where no people dwell” (source: Larson 1998, p. 98)
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “where no house is” (source: James Lauriault in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 32ff. )
  • Ocotlán Zapotec: “large empty place” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Pa’o Karen: “jungle” (denoting a place without any towns, villages and tilled fields) (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. )
  • Low German translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006: “steppe”
  • Yakan: “the lonely place” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “a land where no people lived” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “the place with no inhabitants” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Matumbi uses various term: lubele (desert, sandy place without water) — used in John 11:54, lupu’ngu’ti (a place where no people live, can be a scrub land, a forest, or a savanna) — used in Mark 1:3 et al.), and mwitu (a forest, a place where wild animals live) — used in Mark 1:13 et al.) (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
  • Chichewa Contemporary translation (2002/2016): chipululu: a place uninhabited by people with thick forest and bush (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

Note that in Luke 15:4, usually a term is used that denotes pastoral land, such as “eating/grazing-place” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).

See also wilderness and desolate wilderness.

Satan

The Greek that is typically transliterated in English as “Satan” is transliterated in Kipsigis as “Setani.” This is interesting because it is not only a transliteration that approximates the Greek sound but it is also an existing Kipsigis word with the meaning of “ugly” and “sneaking.” (Source: Earl Anderson in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 85ff. )

In Morelos Nahuatl it is translated as “envious one” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.) and in Tibetan: bdud (བདུད།), lit. “chief devil” (except in Rev. 20:2, where it is transliterated) (source: gSungrab website ).

See also devil.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Satan .

serve

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “serve,” “minister,” “walk with,” or “service” is translated in Igede as myị ẹrụ or “agree with message (of the one you’re serving).” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

In Quetzaltepec Mixe, “serve” is translated as “obey.” (Source: Robert Bascom)

Mark 1:9-13 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 1:9-13 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

There was a town called Nazareth in the region of Galilee. That’s where Jesus lived. Here is the Jordan River. John the messenger was near it. Jesus came from Nazareth to the Jordan River. There He dipped into the water. Then He came out of the water and looked up into heaven. The clouds had parted in different directions. The Spirit of God descended on Jesus in the form of a bird. God from heaven looked at Jesus and said:

— I am very glad! You are my beloved son!

Jesus looked at heaven, then at the desert around him. Then the Spirit of God took Jesus and carried him far away into the desert. Jesus stayed there for 40 days.

In that place was Satan, who was persecuting Jesus. Satan hoped to tempt Jesus to make an accidental mistake. But the angels of God were protecting Jesus. There were some ravenous beasts around, Jesus walked among them. But the angels of God protected Jesus on every side.

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

В области Галилея был город Назарет. Там жил Иисус. Вот река Иордан. Возле нее находился вестник Иоанн. Вот Иисус пришел из Назарета к реке Иордан. Там он погрузился в воду. Потом Он вышел из воды и посмотрел на небо. Облака разошлись в разные стороны. Дух Божий в виде птицы спустился на Иисуса. Бог с небес посмотрел на Иисуса и сказал:

— Я очень рад! Ты — мой сын любимый!

Иисус посмотрел на небо, потом на пустыню вокруг. Тут Дух Божий взял Иисуса и унес далеко в пустыню. Иисус там находился в течение 40 дней.

В том месте был Сатана, который преследовал Иисуса. Сатана надеялся искусить Иисуса, чтобы тот случайно ошибся. Но ангелы Божьи оберегали Иисуса. Были там и хищные звери вокруг, Иисус ходил среди них. Но ангелы Божьи оберегали Иисуса со всех сторон.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

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Mark 1:14-20 in Russian Sign Language >>

Mark 1:9-13 in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 1:9-13 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)

Del estado de Galilea, del pueblo de Nazaret Jesús caminó y fue al río Jordán. Juan el Bautista estaba bautizando y vió que Jesús se acercaba y lo bautizó. Jesús miró hacia arriba, y estaba el cielo abierto y parecido a una paloma blanca vino el Espíritu Santo en su corazón.

Del cielo (sonó) el voz de Dios: Él es mi hijo amado, yo veo que está bien, estoy contento (con él).

Después Jesús sintió que el Espíritu Santo adentro de él lo animaba a ir al desierto y Jesús fue a donde había animales peligrosos.

Jesús se quedó 40 días y se acercó satanás a tentarlo, y ángeles cuidaban a Jesús.


From the state of Galilee, from the village of Nazareth, Jesus walked to the river Jordan. John the Baptist was baptizing and he looked up and saw Jesus who came up and was baptized. Jesus looked up and saw heaven open and the Holy Spirit came like a white dove and entered his heart.

From heaven (came) the voice of God: “He is my beloved son, I see it is well, I am pleased (with him).”

Afterwards Jesus felt the Holy Spirit within encourage him to go to the desert, and Jesus went where there are dangerous animals.

Jesus stayed there for 40 days and Satan came to attack/tempt him, and angels took care of Jesus.

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

<< Mark 1:4-8 in Mexican Sign Language
Mark 1:14-15 in Mexican Sign Language >>

angel

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The Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic that is translated as “angel” in English versions is translated in many ways:

  • Pintupi-Luritja: ngaṉka ngurrara: “one who belongs in the sky” (source: Ken Hansen quoted in Steven 1984a, p. 116.)
  • Tetela, Kpelle, Balinese, and Mandarin Chinese: “heavenly messenger”
  • Shilluk / Igede: “spirit messenger”
  • Mashco Piro: “messenger of God”
  • Batak Toba: “envoy, messenger”
  • Navajo (Dinė): “holy servant” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida 1961; Igede: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • Central Mazahua: “God’s worker” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.)
  • Saramaccan: basia u Masa Gaangadu köndë or “messenger from God’s country” (source: Jabini 2015, p. 86)
  • Mairasi: atatnyev nyaa or “sent-one” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “word bringer” (source: James Lauriault in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 32ff. )
  • Apali: “God’s one with talk from the head” (“basically God’s messenger since head refers to any leader’s talk”) (source: Martha Wade)
  • Michoacán Nahuatl: “clean helper of God” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Noongar: Hdjin-djin-kwabba or “spirit good” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Wè Northern (Wɛɛ): Kea ‘a “sooa or “the Lord’s soldier” (also: “God’s soldier” or “his soldier”) (source: Drew Maust)
  • Iwaidja: “a man sent with a message” (Sam Freney explains the genesis of this term [in this article ): “For example, in Darwin last year, as we were working on a new translation of Luke 2:6–12 in Iwaidja, a Northern Territory language, the translators had written ‘angel’ as ‘a man with eagle wings’. Even before getting to the question of whether this was an accurate term (or one that imported some other information in), the word for ‘eagle’ started getting discussed. One of the translators had her teenage granddaughter with her, and this word didn’t mean anything to her at all. She’d never heard of it, as it was an archaic term that younger people didn’t use anymore. They ended up changing the translation of ‘angel’ to something like ‘a man sent with a message’, which is both more accurate and clear.”)

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) is used as in mi-tsukai (御使い) or “messenger (of God).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also angel (Acts 12:15) and this devotion on YouVersion .