The Greek that is translated as “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” in English is translated in Totontepec Mixe aw “I am still the God of Abraham, of Isaac, also Jacob, his God. God spoke thus, even though they had died a long time before.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
Mark 12:18 - 27 in Mexican Sign Language
Following is the translation of Mark 12:18-27 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)
Los saduceos, que no creen en la resurección, ellos también vinieron diciendo: “Maestro, una pregunta. Hace mucho Moisés escribó la ley que dice que si un hombre casa una mujer y el hombre se muere y no hay hijos le toca a su hermano casar la misma mujer para que nazcan hijos para su hermano.
Oye, una pregunta de ejemplo: había siete hermanos y el mayor se casó con una mujer, después el hombre murió y no había hijos, y le tocó al segundo hermano a casar la misma mujer, pero el hombre se murió y no había hijos.
En la misma manera les tocó al tercero hermano, el cuarto, el quinto, el sexto y el séptimo, todos los hermanos muerieron sin que la mujer tuviera hijos, y también la mujer murió.
En el futuro todas las personas resucitarán, también los siete hermanos y la mujer pero la mujer ha sido casado en la misma manera a los siete hermanos. ¿Quién de ellos será su esposo, cuál?”
Jesús (dijo): “Ay, uds están equivocados porque no entienden la palabra de Dios, uds no saben qué tan poderoso es Dios.
Oigan, en el cielo los ángeles no se casan, y en la misma manera las personas que mueren y resucitarán en el futuro no se casarán. Uds los Saduceos piensan que no hay resurección pero uds están equivocados.
Oigan, miren, el rollo que Moisés escribió ¿uds jamás lo han leído? ¿No saben? Mucho antes cuando Moisés vio el arbusto en llamas Dios le habló y dijo: “Moisés, yo soy Dios; Abraham, Isaac y Jacob creían en mi.”
Los tres adentro todavía viven, uds piensan que murieron y después de mucho tiempo desintegraron pero uds están equivocados.”
The Sadducees, who do not believe in the resurrection, came also saying: “Teacher, we ave a question. Long ago Moses wrote the law which says that when a man marries a woman and the man dies without their being children it falls to his brother to marry the same woman so that children are born for his brother.
“Listen, a question that is an example: there were seven brothers and the oldest married a woman, then the man died and there were no children and it fell to the second brother to marry the same woman, but the man died and there were no children.
“In the same way it fell to the third brother, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth and the seventh, all the brothers died without the woman having children, and the woman also died.
“In the future all the people will be resurrected and also the seven brothers and the woman, but the woman has been married to the seven brothers in the same way. Who of them will be her husband, which one?”
Jesus (said): “Oh, you are mistaken, because you don’t understand the Word of God, you do not know how powerful God is.
“Listen, in heaven the angels do not marry, and in the same way the people who die and will be resurrected in the future wil not get married. You Sadducees think there is no resurrection but you are mistaken.
“Listen, look, the scroll that Moses wrote, have you never read it? Don’t you know? Long ago when Moses saw the burning bush God spoke to him and said: “Moses, I am God, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob believed in me.”
“The three of them are still living inside, you think that they died and after a long time decomposed but you are mistaken.”
Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios
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Mark 12:18-27 in Russian Sign Language
Following is the translation of Mark 12:18-27 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:
Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество
Here is a group of Sadducees. They believed that a person lives, dies, but then does not rise again. A person disappears after death — and that’s it. That’s what they thought. And then one day they met Jesus and began to ask him:
— Teacher! In the Law of Moses it is clearly written that if a man married a woman and if this man died and had no children, then this man’s brother must marry the widow. The children born in this marriage will be the continuation of the name of the deceased man, to continue his line. So it is written. Let’s look at this example. One man had seven brothers. This man got married, then died, and he had no children. The second brother also married this woman, and the second brother also died, and had no children. And the third brother also married her and also died, and had no children. And so did the fourth brother, and the fifth, sixth, and finally the seventh. The woman was left a lonely widow, and after some time she also died. Then this woman will be resurrected. Then whose wife of the seven brothers will she be? After all, all seven of them were her husbands. How will that be?
Jesus answered:
— You think that a person dies and then there is no resurrection. You are mistaken! You distort what the Scripture says! You do not understand the power of God! When a person is resurrected after death, there will no longer be marriage. There, everyone will be like angels. The Scripture says that in ancient times Moses saw a burning bush, and from there God said to him: Here is Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. I am the God of each of them!
Do you really think they all died? Of course not. They all have life.
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Вот группа саддукеи. Они считали, что человек живет, умирает, но потом не воскресает. Человек после смерти исчезает — и все. Так они думали. И вот однажды они повстречали Иисуса и стали спрашивать его:
— Учитель! В Законе Моисея точно написано, что если человек вступил в брак с женщиной и если этот человек умер, а детей у него не было, то брат этого человека должен взять в жены вдову. Дети, которые родятся в этом браке будут продолжением имени умершего человека, продолжат его род. Так написано. Рассмотрим такой пример. У одного человека было семь братьев. Этот человек женился, затем умер, а детей у него не было. Второй брат тоже женился на этой женщине, и второй брат тоже умер, а детей не было. И третий брат тоже женился на ней и тоже умер, а детей не было. И так же четвертый брат, и пятый, шестой, и наконец последний седьмой. Женщина осталось одинокой вдовой, а через какое-то время и она умерла. Потом эта женщина воскреснет. Тогда чьей женой из семерых братьев она будет? Они ведь все семь были ее мужьями. Как же тогда?
Иисус ответил:
— Вот вы считаете, что человек умирает, а потом воскресенья нет. Вы заблуждаетесь! Вы искажаете то, что говорит Писание! Вы не понимаете силу Бога! Когда человек воскресает после смерти, то там уже не будет брака. Там все будут, как ангелы. В Писании говорится, что в древности Моисей увидел горящий куст, и оттуда Бог сказал ему: Вот Авраам, Исаак, Иаков. Я — Бог каждого из них!
Неужели вы думаете, что все они умерли? Конечно, нет. У всех у них есть жизнь.
Back-translation by Luka Manevich
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Mark 12:28-34 in Russian Sign Language >>
complete verse (Mark 12:26)
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 12:26:
- Uma: “Haven’t you ever before read the words in the Holy Book that make-clear that the dead will live again? In the book of the Law of Musa we read the account of how God spoke to the prophet Musa from the flaming bush. At that time, Abraham, Ishak and Yakub had long been dead. But even so, God said to Musa like this: ‘I am the God worshipped by, the God worshipped by Ishak, the God worshipped by Yakub.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “Na, concerning the dead people that they are made alive again, have you never read in the holy-book Tawrat about the puhung tree that burned/flamed? It is written there that God spoke to Musa. God said, ‘I am God who is acknowledged-as-God by Ibrahim and Isahak and Yakub.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And about dead people who are raised, haven’t you ever read in the book Moses wrote long ago about the flaming weed where God appeared to him? For even though Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob worship,'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “And concerning moreover the living again of the dead, it’s as if you haven’t read what God caused-Moses -to-write concerning the flaming tree which says, ‘I am God who is still the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.’ He said that even though plural Abraham had already-been-dead a-long-time.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “Well, also about this coming alive again of those who have died, haven’t you yet read in the writing of Moises concerning the bush which was flaming? What is written there says that God said to Moises, ‘I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Isaac
The name that is transliterated as “Isaac” in English is signed in Spanish Sign Language and French Sign Language with a sign that is linked to his mother’s laughter when she hears that she will be pregnant with him (referring to Genesis 18:12 – 18:15) and also is the meaning of the Hebrew “Isaac” (Yitschaq — “he laughs”):
“Isaac” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Isaac .
For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .
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.
Abraham
The name that is transliterated as “Abraham” in English means “father of a multitude,” “father of mercy,” “father of many nations.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
In the vast majority of sign languages, including American Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “hold back arm” (referring to Genesis 22:12).
“Abraham” in American Sign Language (source )
In Vietnamese (Hanoi) Sign Language it is translated with a sign for that demonstrates his new destiny. Previously, he had been called to wander from his home, and the name “Abram” reflected this movement (see here). The new sign name is in one location and stays there, showing Abraham will be given a land to call his own. At this time, Abraham was in the southern part of Canaan, which is shown on the base arm by the location near the elbow. (Source: The Vietnamese Sign Language translation team, VSLBT)
“Abraham” in Vietnamese Sign Language, source: SooSL
For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .
In Tira it is transliterated as Abaram. The choice of this, rather than the widely-known “Ibrahim,” as used in the Tira translation of the Qu’ran, was to offset it against the Muslim transliteration which originates from Arabic. (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
Click or tap here to see two short video clips about Abraham (source: Bible Lands 2012)
See also our ancestor Abraham and Abram.
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Abraham .
Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("speak")
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 rare (られ) 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, kata-rare-ru (語られる) or “speak” is used.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
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