first commandment

The Greek in Mark 12:28 that is translated as “first commandment” in English is translated in Guhu-Samane as “the head of the rest of the commandments… .” This solves a potential confusion for Guhu-Samane speakers whether the commandment is “the first in point of time, or of importance. [This way] it speaks obviously of the primacy of the commandment.”

Source: Ernest L. Richert in Notes on Translation December 1963: p. 4-7; reprinted in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff. .

Mark 12:28 - 34 in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 12:28-34 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 Saduceos estaban platicando y un maestro de la ley lo vio (y pensó): ‘huy Jesús explica bien’ y lo acercó y dijo: “Si escoges un mandamiento, ¿cuál es lo más importante?”

Jesús (respondió): “El primero, el más importante mandamiento, mira, dice en el rollo: Oigan personas de Israel, necesitan prestar atención, el Señor Dios es único.”

“Uds personas amen al Señor Dios con su corazón, su alma, su mente y su fuerza completa, y el segundo mandamiento en importancia es: Como las personas aman a si mismas así deben amar a otras personas. Los dos mandamientos son los más importantes, otros mandamientos son menos (importantes).”

El maestro de la ley lo vio bien (y dijo): “Tú dices la verdad, Dios es único no hay otro. Que personas aman a Dios con su corazón, entendimiento y fuerza completa y deben amar a otras personas en igual manera como aman a si mismos eso es más importante que el sacrificio de animales.”

Jesús lo vio y adentro pensó: ‘Él respnde bien, él ya entiende’ y después dijo: “Tú ya te has acercado al reino de Dios.”

Otras personas le preguntaban más, pero se quedó callado.


Jesus and the Sadducees were talking and a master of the Law saw it (and thought): ‘wow Jesus explains well’ and he came up to him and said: “If you choose one commandment, which one is the most important?”

Jesus (answered): “The first, the most important commandment, look, it says in the scroll: You people of Israel, you need to pay attention, the Lord God is the only one.”

˜You people love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and the second most important commandment is: As people love themselves in the same way they must love other people. The two commandments are the most important, other commandments are less (important).”

The teacher of the Law saw this as good (and said): “You tell the truth, God is the only one, there is no other. That people love God with all their heart, understanding and strength and have to love other people in the same way as they love themselves is more important than animal sacrifices.”

Jesus looked at him and thought: ‘He answers well, he already understands’ and then he said: “You have already come close to the Kingdom of God.”

Other people asked him more questions, but he kept quiet.

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

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Mark 12:28-34 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 12:28-34 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

A certain man, a scribe, heard how well Jesus taught the people. He also wanted to approach Jesus and ask him a question. He asked Jesus:

— We have many different commandments. And which commandment is the most important?

Jesus answered:

— We have many different commandments, and the most important of them is this: People of Israel, listen to God! Our God is only one! You must love God completely with all your thoughts, feelings and strength. This is the most important first commandment. And there is also a second, equally important: love your neighbor as yourself. These commandments are the most important.

The scribe replied:

— Teacher, you speak correctly! There are no other gods except our God. We must love God with all our heart, all our thoughts, all our strength. And yes, we must love our neighbor as ourselves. These two commandments are above all others and even sacrifices.

Jesus said to him:

— You reason correctly! You are close to the Kingdom of God.

After this event, none of the scribes dared to ask him tricky questions anymore.

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

Один человек, книжник, слышал, как хорошо Иисус учил народ. Он тоже захотел подойти к Иисусу и задать ему вопрос. Он спросил Иисуса:

— У нас есть много разных заповедей. А какая заповедь самая главная?

Иисус ответил:

— У нас есть много разных заповедей, а самая главная из них такая: Народ Израиля, слушай Бога! Наш Бог только один! Вы должны всеми вашими мыслями, чувствами и силами полностью любить Бога. Это самая главная первая заповедь. А есть еще вторая, такая же важная: своего ближнего так же, как самого себя, люби его. Эти заповеди самые важные.

Книжник ответил:

— Учитель, ты говоришь правильно! Нет иных богов, кроме нашего Бога. Нужно всем сердцем, всеми мыслями, силами полностью любить Бога. И да, нужно любить ближнего своего так же, как самого себя. Эти две заповеди выше всех остальных и даже жертвоприношений.

Иисус сказал ему:

— Ты рассуждаешь правильно! Ты близок к Царству Бога.

После этого события никто из книжников больше не решался задавать ему каверзные вопросы.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

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Mark 12:35-37 in Russian Sign Language >>

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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.”

Here are a number of its (back-) translations:

  • Yaka: “clerk in God’s house”
  • Amganad Ifugao: “man who wrote and taught in the synagogue”
  • Navajo (Dinė): “teaching-writer” (“an attempt to emphasize their dual function”)
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “book-wise person”
  • San Blas Kuna: “one who knew the Jews’ ways”
  • Loma: “educated one”
  • San Mateo del Mar Huave: “one knowing holy paper”
  • Central Mazahua: “writer of holy words”
  • Indonesian: “expert in the Torah”
  • Pamona: “man skilled in the ordinances” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Sinhala: “bearer-of-the-law”
  • Marathi: “one-learned-in-the-Scriptures”
  • Shona (1966): “expert of the law”
  • Balinese: “expert of the books of Torah”
  • Ekari: “one knowing paper/book”
  • 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)
  • North Alaskan Inupiatun: “teachers of law”
  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “writer”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “person who teaches the law which Moses wrote”
  • Alekano: “man who knows wisdom” (source for this and four above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
  • Saint Lucian Creole French: titcha lwa sé Jwif-la (“teacher of the law of the Jews”) (source: David Frank in Lexical Challenges in the St. Lucian Creole Bible Translation Project, 1998)
  • Chichimeca-Jonaz: “one who teaches the holy writings”
  • Atatláhuca Mixtec: “teacher of the words of the law”
  • Coatlán Mixe: “teacher of the religious law”
  • 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.)
  • Sumau: “law-knowing men” (source: this blog post by Todd Owen)
  • German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “theologian” and in the 1964 translation by Helmut Riethmüller: “theologian of scriptures” (Schrifttheologe)
  • 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)

complete verse (Mark 12:28)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 12:28:

  • Uma: “At that time, a religion teacher came to Yesus. He heard the previous argument of the Saduki people with Yesus, and he said in him heart: ‘That reply of Yesus’ was indeed good!’ That’s why he also asked something of Yesus, he said: ‘Which command is the main one of all the commands?'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then there was a teacher of the religious law standing there and he heard their arguing/discussion. When he observed that Isa’s answer to them was good, he went closer to ask Isa. ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘which is the commandment greater than all?'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And there was there a teacher of the law who heard their arguing with Jesus. When he realized that Jesus was very wise in answering them, he asked him, ‘Teacher, which one of all the laws is the first?'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “There was a teacher of the law who was listening to the conversation of the Sadducees and Jesus and he asked Jesus, ‘What is the most-important command?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “One person who was an explainer of law heard their arguing/conflict. He comprehended that the answers Jesus gave were wholly correct. That’s why he approached and questioned Jesus. He said, ‘Teacher, which law is the most important?'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Mark 12:28-34)

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 12:28-34:

Jesus had just frustrated a group of theologians,
when a noted biblical scholar asked him,
       “What’s the most important teaching in the Bible?”

Jesus answered, “The Bible itself says,
       Love God with all your heart!
And the Bible also says,
       Love others as much as you love yourself!
No teachings are more important than these.”

“Teacher,” answered the man, “you’re certainly right.
We must love the one and only God with all our heart,
       and love others as much as we love ourselves.
To obey these two commands is more important
       than offering all kinds of gifts to God.”

Jesus realized the depth of the man’s answer and said,
       “You already have one foot in the Ultimate Kingdom.”

After this, no one dared put Jesus to the test.

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("answer")

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, kotae-rare-ru (答えられる) or “answer” is used.

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