not as the scribes

The Greek in Mark 1:20 that is translated as “not as the scribes” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as nicht dürr wie die der Schriftgelehrten or “not dry as that of the scribes.”

boat, ship

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated “boat” or “ship” in English is translated in Chichimeca-Jonaz as “that with which we can walk on water” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.), in Chitonga as a term in combination with bwato or “dugout canoe” (source: Wendland 1987, p. 72), and in Tangale as inj am or “canoe-of water” (inj — “canoe” — on its own typically refers to a traditional type of carved-out log for sleeping) (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).

In Kouya it is translated as ‘glʋ ‘kadʋ — “big canoe.”

Philip Saunders (p. 231) explains how the Kouya team arrived at that conclusion:

“Acts chapter 27 was a challenge! It describes Paul’s sea voyage to Italy, and finally Rome. There is a storm at sea and a shipwreck on Malta, and the chapter includes much detailed nautical vocabulary. How do you translate this for a landlocked people group, most of whom have never seen the ocean? All they know are small rivers and dugout canoes.

“We knew that we could later insert some illustrations during the final paging process which would help the Kouya readers to picture what was happening, but meanwhile we struggled to find or invent meaningful terms. The ‘ship’ was a ‘big canoe’ and the ‘passengers’ were ‘the people in the big canoe’; the ‘crew’ were the ‘workers in the big canoe’; the ‘pilot’ was the ‘driver of the big canoe’; the ‘big canoe stopping place’ was the ‘harbour’, and the ‘big canoe stopping metal’ was the ‘anchor’!”

In Lokạạ it is translated as ukalangkwaa, lit. “English canoe.” “The term was not coined for the Bible translation, but rather originated in colonial times when the English arrived in Nigeria on ships. The indigenous term for a canoe was modified to represent the large, ocean-going ship of the English.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

See also ships of Tarshish, harbor, anchor, and sailor.

Mark 1:14-20 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 1:14-20 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

Here’s what happened. This is the messenger John. He was captured and imprisoned. After that Jesus went back to Galilee. There are villages there. Jesus went through the villages and preached. Jesus was speaking to the people:

— God has a kingdom and authority. They approached. Repent, be changed! Stop your sins and evil deeds. Come back to be one with God. Believe what I say to you.

Jesus went and spoke to the people. There is a lake there. Jesus came to the lake. There were two men by the lake. The first man’s name was Simon and the second man’s name was Andrew. They were brothers. They were casting nets to catch fish. Jesus was passing by, noticed them and said to them:

— Follow me! I will give you my authority, and you will no longer be fishers of fish, but fishers of men. Follow me.

The brothers looked at Jesus and agreed. They threw down their nets and followed Jesus.

After a while, the laborers and fishermen gathered there. There were two men on the boat. The first was James and the second was John. They were brothers. Their father was also with them. They were mending torn nets. Jesus was passing by, noticed them and said:

— Both of you, follow me!

The brothers looked at Jesus, agreed. To their father and all the workers they said:

— We are going to follow Jesus.

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

Вот что случилось. Вот вестник Иоанн. Его схватили и заключили в тюрьму. После этого Иисус вернулся в Галилею. Есть там деревни. Иисус ходил по деревням и проповедовал. Иисус обращался к людям:

— У Бога есть царство и власть. Они приблизились. Вы покайтесь, изменитесь! Прекратите ваши грехи и злые дела. Вернитесь к единению с Богом. Верьте в то, что я говорю вам.

Иисус ходил и обращался к людям. Есть там озеро. Иисус пришел к озеру. Возле озера были два человека. Первого звали Симон, второго — Андрей. Они были братья. Они закидывали сети, чтобы ловить рыбу. Иисус проходил мимо, заметил их и сказал им:

— Следуйте за мной! Я дам вам мою власть, и вы больше не будете ловить рыбу, но будете ловцами людей. Следуйте за мной.

Братья посмотрели на Иисуса и согласились. Они бросили сети и последовали за Иисусом.

Через какое-то время там собрались рабочие и рыбаки. На лодке были два человека. Первый — Иаков, второй — Иоанн. Они были братья. С ними был также их отец. Они чинили порванные сети. Иисус проходил мимо, заметил их и говорит:

— Вы оба, следуйте за мной!

Братья посмотрели на Иисуса, согласились. Своему отцу и все работникам они сказали:

— Мы пойдем следовать за Иисусом.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

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Mark 1:21-28 in Russian Sign Language >>

Mark 1:16-21a in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 1:16-21a 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)

En el alrededor del lago de Galilea Simón y Andrés, quienes eran hermanos, trabajaban, ellos eran pescadores. Jesús caminaba y los vió y gritó: vengan conmigo, dejen el trabajo con peces y en su lugar yo los enseñaré como en el futuro agarrarán a personas.

Los dos dejaron su trabajo con los redes y se juntaron con Jesús y fueron los tres.

Vieron un barco y había un hombre, Zebedeo, con sus hijos Jacobo y Juan y otra persona, un siervo, y juntos estaban trabajando arreglando los redes.

Jesús gritó: “Jacobo, Juan, vengan conmigo” y Jacobo y Juan dejaron su papá Zebedeo y se juntaron con Jesús y fueron como grupo al pueblo de Capernaúm.


After some time soldiers arrested John the Baptist and put him in prison. Jesus went to Galilee where he preached and announced something wonderful: it has been fulfilled, the kingdom of God has come near, you need to believe and repent.

In the area of the lake of Galilee Simon and Andrew, two brothers, were working, they were fishermen. Jesus was walking there and saw them and shouted: come with me, leave the work with the fish and instead I will teach you and in the future you will take hold of people.

The two of them left their work with the nets and joined Jesus and the three of them went on.

They saw a boat and there was a man, Zebedee with his two sons, James and John and another person, a servant, working together repairing the nets.

Jesus shouted: “James, John, come with me”, and James and John left their father Zebedee and they joined Jesus and they went as a group to the village of Capernaum.

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

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Mark 1:21b-28 in Mexican Sign Language >>

complete verse (Mark 1:20)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 1:20:

  • Uma: “He called them to follow him. So they left their father in the boat with the people with them who were employed [lit., who ate salary], and they followed Yesus.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Immediately they were called by Isa and asked by him to come along (lit. taken/carried by him). So-then they left their father in the boat and the people they were employing, and they followed now Isa.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when Jesus saw them, he called them to come with him, and then they left their father and their hired netters in the boat, and they went with Jesus.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Jesus immediately-called them, and they left their father and the men he was salarying in the boat, and they went-with Jesus too.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “They were also called by Jesus. Those two also followed (right behind) Jesus. As for their father, he was there still in the boat, left. Just his people/workers were his companions.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “Then they left their father Zebedee seated in the canoe. Together with the workers they abandoned him. Having abandoned him, they went together behind Jesus.” (Source: James Lauriault in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 32ff. )
  • Balinese: “Then He called them too and they followed in Jesus’ steps. Their father Zabdi was left behind by them in the boat with the people that receive wages.” (Source: J.L. Swellengrebel in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 75ff. )
  • English translation by Michael Pakaluk (2019): “So he called them right then and there. And so they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired hands, and, taking a place behind him, they walked away.”

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Mark 1:16-20)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Mark 1:16-20:

As Jesus was strolling beside Lake Galilee,
he noticed two fishermen — brothers they were —
       and they were casting their nets into the lake.

“Follow me!” commanded Jesus.
“I’ll give you power to bring in people.”
       At this, they dropped their nets and followed him.

As Jesus continued walking along the shore,
he saw James and John Zebedee
       sitting in a boat, mending their nets.

“Follow me!” commanded Jesus.
Leaving their father and the hired workers,
       they followed him.

Translation commentary on Mark 1:20

Exegesis:

ekalesen (2.17; 3.31; 11.17) ‘call’: from this basic meaning there develops further the meaning ‘to invite,’ ‘to summon’ and the word becomes a technical term meaning ‘to summon before a court.’ From this latter meaning the sense of the verb in this passage is derived ‘call to discipleship.’

aphentes … apēlthon ‘leaving … they went off’ means ‘they left and went.’

misthōtōn (only here in Mark) ‘hired men’: the literal meaning of the noun (from misthos ‘pay,’ ‘wage’) should be observed; these are not douloi ‘slaves’ or diakonoi ‘servants,’ but helpers hired for the job (cf. Lagrange).

en tō ploiō ‘in the boat’ and meta tōn misthōtōn ‘with the hired men’ are connected with Zebedee, not ‘they’ (i.e. James and John).

apēlthon opisō autou ‘went off after him’: here is the same idea of discipleship as in ēkolouthēsan autō ‘followed him’ in v. 18 and deute opisō mou ‘come after me’ in v. 17.

Translation:

In translating call one must make certain that the term chosen in the receptor language conveys something of the meaning of ‘call to follow,’ ‘summon to accompany,’ or ‘invite to come,’ for if not, it may signify only that Jesus shouted at the men. Where necessary, one may use the phrase ‘called them to accompany him.’

In some languages it is difficult (and unnecessarily awkward) to distinguish precisely between the two senses in which Zebedee, on the one hand and he hired servants, on the other, were left by James and John. For example, in Amganad Ifugao one would say ‘left Zebedee their father and the hired servants in the boat’ rather than ‘Zebedee with the hired servants.’ The important mistake to avoid is linking the hired servants with James and John and hence implying that they went off with Jesus and the disciples, as has been the case in some translations.

In some instances one needs to be very specific about personal reference, but sometimes it is possible to be overly repetitious. In Yatzachi Zapotec, for example, one should not repeat Zebedee in verse 20, for he is already specifically identified in the previous sentence and to repeat the name would be misleading, implying some other Zebedee was meant.

Hired servants are simply ‘the workmen’ or ‘the day laborers.’

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 .