Mark 11:27 - 33 in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 11:27-33 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 fueron otra vez a Jerusalén y cuando Jesús estaba caminando frente al templo algunos líderes de los sacerdotes y maestros de la ley y ancianos vinieron hacia él.

Dijeron: “Jesús, ¿quién te dio permiso, te mandó a quitar las mesas y tirarlas y a predicar y enseñar diferentes cosas? ¿Quién te entregó la autoridad? Dinos.”

Jesú (dijo): “Alto, primero yo tengo una pregunta, uds diganme (la respuesta) y después yo les diré. Oigan, ¿quién mandó a Juan el Bautista a que bautizara con agua? ¿Dios o personas? Diganme.”

¡Caray! Fueron a dialogar juntos. “¿Cómo (vamos a responder)? Si nosotros decimos que Dios mandó a Juan el Bautista a que bautizara con agua a la gente sabemos que seguramente Jesús nos insultará (preguntandonos) porqué no hemos creído a Juan el Bautista.

Si decimos que un hombre le mandó…..” Dijeron: “No sabemos.” Jesús (dijo): “Si uds no me dicen, yo tampoco les diré nada.”

Porque tenían miedo porque todas las personas creían que Juan el Bautista era un verdadero profeta.


Jesus and the disciples went again to Jerusalem and when Jesus was walking in front of the temple some leaders of the priests and teachers of the Law and elders came up to him.

They said: “Jesus, who gave you permission, who ordered you to throw over the tables and to preach and teach all kinds of things? Who gave you the authority? Tell us.”

Jesus (said): “Stop, first I have a questions, you tell me (the answer) and then I will tell you. Listen, who ordered John the Baptist to baptize with water? God or people? Tell me.”

Oh no! They went to discuss it together. “How (are we going to answer)? If we say that God ordered John the Baptist to baptize people with water we know that Jesus will surely insult us by asking us why we haven’t believed John the Baptist.

“If we say that a man ordered him….” They said: “we don’t know.” Jesus (said): If you don’t tell me then I won’t tell you anything either.”

Because they were afraid because all the people believed that John the Baptist was a true prophet.

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

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Mark 12:1-12 in Mexican Sign Language >>

Mark 11:27-33 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 11:27-33 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

Jesus and his disciples came back to Jerusalem. Jesus was walking in the Temple courtyard. The older priests and the scribes and elders came up to him in a crowd. They asked Jesus:

— Behold, you recently drove the merchants out of here, overturning the tables. Who authorized you to do such things?

Jesus said to them:

— I’m going to ask you one question first. If you answer it to me, I will also tell you who authorized me to do such things. John the messenger was performing the rite of immersion over a multitude of people. Who commanded him to do this? God or people? Answer me!

The chief priests, scribes, and elders began to discuss among themselves how to answer:

— If we say that God commanded John the messenger, then Jesus would ask: “Why then did you not believe John the messenger?” No, we won’t say that. Or say that people commissioned John the messenger? No. Scary! Everyone around them thinks that John was a prophet.

They thought, they thought, how to answer — God or people? — and finally they said:

— We don’t know who commanded John the messenger, God or men.

Jesus said:

— Then I will not tell you who authorized me to do these things.

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

Иисус вместе с учениками снова пришли в Иерусалим. Иисус прохаживался по двору Храма. Там к нему подошли толпой старшие священники, а также книжники и старейшины. Они спросили Иисуса:

— Вот ты недавно выгнал отсюда торговцев, столы перевернул. Кто тебе разрешил делать такие вещи?

Иисус им сказал:

— Я сначала задам вам один вопрос. Если вы мне на него ответите, то и я скажу вам, кто мне разрешил делать такие вещи. Иоанн вестник совершал обряд погружения в воду над множеством людей. Кто ему повелел это делать? Бог или люди? Ответьте мне!

Первосвященники, книжники и старейшины стали между собой совещаться, как ответить:

— Если скажем, что Бог велел Иоанну вестнику, тогда Иисус спросит: «Почему же вы тогда не поверили Иоанну вестнику?» Нет, так говорить не будем. Или сказать, что люди поручили Иоанну вестнику? Нет. Страшно! Все кругом считают, что Иоанн был пророк.

Думали они, думали, как ответить — Бог или люди? — и наконец, сказали:

— Мы не знаем, кто повелел Иоанну вестнику, Бог или люди.

Иисус сказал:

— Тогда и я вам не скажу, кто мне разрешил делать такие вещи.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

<< Mark 11:20-25 in Russian Sign Language
Mark 12:1-12 in Russian Sign Language >>

complete verse (Mark 11:33)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 11:33:

  • Uma: “So, they answered him: ‘We(excl.) don’t know.’ That’s why Yesus said to them: ‘In that case, neither will I tell you where my authority to do these things is from.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Therefore they answered, they said, ‘Inday, we (excl.) do not know as to where Yahiya’s authority was from.’ So-then Isa said to them, ‘Na, I also will not tell you as to where my authority is from to do those things.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Therefore they answered Jesus, ‘We don’t know.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘I also will not tell you about my right to do all these things.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then they said to Jesus, ‘We (excl.) don’t know.’ Jesus said in-return, ‘If that is so, neither will I tell you who gave me my authority to be doing these things.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Therefore what they replied was, ‘We don’t know.”Well if it’s like that,’ said Jesus, ‘I also won’t tell you my authority to do these things I am doing.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Mark 11:33)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding Jesus).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

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.

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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 choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

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

See also pronoun for “God”.

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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 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. )

Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("say")

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 are (され) 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, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.

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