The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated/transliterated in English as “unclean spirit” or “evil spirit” is translated in Paasaal it is translated as gyɩŋbɔmɔ, which is also the term used for “demon.” Wyɩŋbɔmɔ are “beings that are in the wild and can only be seen when they choose to reveal themselves to certain people. They can ‘capture’ humans and keep them in hiding while they train the person in herbalism and divination. After the training period, which can range from a week to many years, the ‘captured’ individual is released to go back into society as a healer and a diviner. The gyɩŋbɔmɔ can also be evil, striking humans with mental diseases and causing individuals to get lost in the wild. The Pasaale worldview about demons is like that of others of the language groups in the area.” (Source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
Note that often the words for “demon” “unclean spirit” are being used interchangeably.
Jesus and the four disciples came to the town of Capernaum. There is a house of prayer there. It was where the Jews gathered together every Sabbath to pray, to teach, to listen. It was the Sabbath day. Jesus went in there. He began to teach. The people listened attentively. They wondered:
— How is he teaching? There used to be teachers of the law, but here he was different; it was as if God had given him authority.
The people marveled. Suddenly some man jumped up. Satan was in him. He began to shout fearfully:
— You, Jesus of Nazareth! Why have you come here to us? You are planning to destroy us! I know you! God has chosen you!
Jesus looked at him and said:
— Be quiet! The demon in this man, get out!
The demon inside the man began to scream and thrash and jumped out, and the man fell down. The people around marveled, people began to say:
— How can this be? Jesus has the power to command Satan and Satan obeys.
The rumor of this miracle spread everywhere.
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Иисус вместе с четырьмя учениками прибыли в город Капернаум. Там есть дом молитвы. Туда каждую субботу собирались иудеи вместе, чтобы молиться, учить, слушать. Был день суббота. Иисус зашел туда. Начал учить. Народ слушал внимательно. Все удивлялись:
— Как это он учит? Раньше ходили учителя закона, но вот он совсем другой; как будто бы Бог дал ему власть.
Народ удивлялся. Вдруг вскочил какой-то человек. Сатана был в нем. Он начал страшно кричать:
— Ты, Иисус из Назарета! Ты зачем пришел сюда к нам? Ты задумал нас истребить! Я знаю тебя! Бог избрал тебя!
Иисус посмотрел на него и сказал:
— Замолчи! Бес в этом человеке, выйди вон!
Бес внутри человека стал кричать, биться и выскочил вон, а человек упал. Народ вокруг изумился, люди начали говорить:
— Как же это?! Иисус имеет власть приказывать сатане и сатана слушается.
Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)
El sábado, el día de descanso, las personas fueron al templo y Jesús enseñaba.
La gente lo miró y pensó: antes de esto siempre hemos visto los maestros de la ley, primero aprenden algo y luego lo enseñan, pero Jesús es diferente, él sabe todo completo y enseña bien, ¡huy!
Mientras las personas estaban viendo (a Jesús) se paró un hombre que tenía un demonio adentro y gritó interrompiendo a las personas, y ellos se volvieron a ver el hombre que fue al frente y empezó a insultar a Jesús: ¿Tú, para qué has venido?, tú que vives en Nazaret, te conozco, huy, tú eres el santo de Dios, tú has venido para destruirme.
Jesús (dijo): “Silencio, te expulso, demonio”, y el hombre cayó en el piso convulsionando y pateando y el demonio adentro de él gritó y lo dejó.
Las personas lo vieron con asombro: ¿cómo es posible? Él, Jesús, puede enseñar en una manera nueva, puede expulsar demonios, lo obedecen y se piran, ¡huy!
La gente se levantó y en su camino advertieron y contaron (lo que había pasado) y se difundió por Galilea.
On Saturday, the day of rest, the people went to the religious building and Jesus taught.
The people watched him and thought: before this we have always seen the teachers of the law, they learn first and then they teach it, but Jesus is different, he knows it completely and he teaches well, wow!
As the people were watching (Jesus) a man who had a demon inside stood up and shouted, interrupting the people so that they all turned to see the man. He went to the front and started insulting Jesus: What have you come for? You, who live in Nazareth, I know you, wow, you are the holy one of God, you have come in order to destroy me.
Jesus (said): “Silence, get out demon”, the man fell on the ground writhing and kicking and inside him the demon screamed and left him.
The people watched him in amazement: How is this possible? He, Jesus can teach in a new way, he can throw out demons and they obey him and go away, wow!
The people got up and on their way they let people know and told them (what had happened) and it spread throughout Galilee.
In many English translations the Greek terms “hieron” (the whole “temple” in Jerusalem or specifically the outer courts open to worshippers) and “naos” (the inner “shrine” or “sanctuary”) are translated with only one word: “temple” (see also for instance “Tempel” in German [for exception see below] and “tempel” in Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans).
Other languages make a distinction: (Click or tap here to see more)
Navajo (Dinė): “house in which worship is carried out” (for naos)
Balinese: “inner part of the Great Temple” (“the term ‘inner part’ denoting the hindmost and holiest of the two or three courts that temples on Bali usually possess”) vs. “Great Temple”
Telugu: “womb (i.e. interior)-of-the-abode” vs. “abode”
Thai: a term denoting the main audience hall of a Buddhist temple compound vs. “environs-of-the-main-audience-hall”
Kituba: “place of holiness of house-God Lord” vs. “house-God Lord”
Shipibo-Conibo: “deep in God’s house” vs. “God’s house” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Germandas Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “inner court of the temple” (Tempelinnenhof) vs. “temple”
Languages that, like English, German, Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans, don’t make that distinction include:
Toraja-Sa’dan: “house that is looked upon as holy, that is sacred, that is taboo and where one may not set foot” (lit. “house where-the-belly-gets-swollen” — because taboo is violated — using a term that is also applied to a Muslim mosque) (source for this and the three above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Aguaruna: “the house for talking to God” (source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
Guhu-Samane: “festival longhouse of God” (“The biiri, ‘festival longhouse’, being the religious and social center of the community, is a possible term for ‘temple’. It is not the ‘poro house’ as such. That would be too closely identified with the cult of poro. The physical features of the building, huge and sub-divided, lend it further favor for this consideration. By qualifying it as ‘God’s biiri’ the term has become meaningful and appropriate in the context of the Scriptures.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. )
Enga: “God’s restricted access house” (source: Adam Boyd on his blog )
Another distinction that tends to be overlooked in translations is that between hieron (“temple” in English) and sunagógé (“synagogue” in English). Euan Fry (in The Bible Translator 1987, p. 213ff. ) reports on this:
“Many older translations have simply used transliterations of ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ rather than trying to find equivalent terms or meaningful expressions in their own languages. This approach does keep the two terms separate; but it makes the readers depend on explanations given by pastors or teachers for their understanding of the text.
“Translators who have tried to find meaningful equivalents, for the two terms ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ have usually made a distinction between them in one of two ways (which focus on the contrasting components of meaning). One way takes the size and importance of the Temple to make a contrast, so that expressions such as ‘sacred meeting/ worship house of the Jews’ and ‘big sacred meeting/worship house of the Jews’ are used. The other way focuses on the different nature of the religious activity at each of the places, so that expressions such as ‘meeting/worship house of the Jews’ and ‘sacrifice/ceremony place of the Jews’ are used.
“It is not my purpose in this article to discuss how to arrive at the most precise equivalent to cover all the components of meaning of ‘temple’. That is something that each translator really has to work through for himself in the light of the present usage and possibilities in his own language. My chief concern here is that the basic term or terms chosen for ‘temple’ should give the reader of a translation a clear and correct picture of the location referred to in each passage. And I am afraid that in many cases where an equivalent like ‘house of God’ or ‘worship house’ has been chosen, the readers have quite the wrong picture of what going to the Temple or being in the Temple means. (This may be the case for the word ‘temple’ in English too, for many readers.)”
Here are some examples:
Bambara: “house of God” (or: “big house of worship”) vs. “worship house” (or: “small houses of worship”)
Toraja-Sa’dan: “house where-the-belly-gets-swollen” (see above) vs. “meeting house for discussing matters concerning religious customs” (and “church” is “house where one meets on Sunday”)
Navajo (Dinė): “house in which worship is carried out” vs. “house of gathering” (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida)
Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Herod’s temple (source: Bible Lands 2012)Click or tap here to see a short video clip showing synagogues in New Testament times (source: Bible Lands 2012)
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 1:23:
Uma: “At that time, there was a person who was possessed [lit., ridden] by an evil spirit, he also entered into that prayer house, and he shouted:” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “So-then a person/man entered the prayer-house who was demon possessed.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And while Jesus was still teaching, suddenly there came into the church a man afflicted by a demon.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “There was a man there whom an evil-spirit had possessed (lit. fastened/adhered-to, same in all references).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Suddenly/unexpectedly there was a person who was possessed by an evil spirit who shouted out in that worship-place.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Shipibo-Conibo: “Just then too a certain man was in their small house to praise God in, a ruinous demon possessor. Thereupon he screamed. (Source: James Lauriault in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 32ff. )
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 1:21-28:
Jesus and his followers went to the town of Capernaum,
and when the Sabbath rolled around,
Jesus entered the synagogue and started teaching.
Everyone was amazed at his powerful teaching —
they’d never heard anything like this.
Suddenly a demon-possessed man rushed in, shouting,
“Jesus of Nazareth, have you come here to destroy us?
I know you — you’re God’s Chosen One!”
“You demon, come out of this man!
Be silent!” shouted Jesus.
After sending the man into a convulsion,
the demon yelled and left.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
Textus Receptus omits euthus ‘immediately’: its inclusion, however, is accepted by all modern editions of the Greek text.
Revised Standard Version ends the verse at “unclean spirit”: all editions of the Greek text, however, include also in this verse kai anekraxen ‘and he cried out’; the following discussion conforms to the Revised Standard Version division.
Exegesis:
euthus ēn ‘immediately (there) was’: as it stands this phrase is difficult to translate Revised Standard Version “immediately there was” is impossible English, unless was can mean ‘came,’ ‘entered’ (which The Modern Speech New Testament‘s “all at once there was” actually means; cf. Translator’s New Testament, Berkeley: “just then there was”). The weakened sense ‘now’ is adopted by some (Manson; “now … there was”); Moffatt connects ‘immediately’ with ‘cried out’: “who at once shrieked out.” Two alternatives offer themselves: (1) euthus may be understood in a general sense ‘now,’ ‘then’; (2) ēn ‘was’ may be taken as equivalent to egeneto ‘came,’ ‘appeared,’ The second is probably to be preferred, cf. Gould: “No sooner [was Jesus] in the synagogue than this demoniac appeared.” Cf. O Novo Testamento de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo. Revisdo Autorizada: Nao tardou que aparecesse. A man with an unclean spirit would not normally be in attendance at the worship service in the synagogue.
anthrōpos ‘man’ here equals the indefinite pronoun tis ‘a certain one.’
ēn pneumati akathartō ‘in an unclean spirit’ (1.26, 27; 3.11, 30; 5.2, 8, 13; 6.7; 7.25; 9.25; cf. pneuma alalon ‘dumb spirit’ 9.17, 25; and to pneuma ‘the spirit’ 9.20).
en ‘in,’ ‘with’ has the force of the Hebrew be with the meaning ‘having’ (cf. 5.2, and Lk. 4.33); Howard (II, 464) calls it a “Semitism of thought.” Arndt & Gingrich translate “under the special influence of a demonic spirit” (cf. Swete “under spiritual influence”), while Lagrange, with particular reference to Rom. 8.9, suggests “a man in whom was an unclean spirit.”
pneuma akatharton is best understood as ‘a spirit (which makes the man) unclean.’ Grant suggests physical impurity; what is probably meant, however, is ceremonial, moral, or spiritual defilement or pollution. Moulton & Milligan quote a magical papyrus in which the word has the “moral sense of an unclean demon” (cf. Zech. 13.2).
Translation:
If was is to be interpreted in the sense of ‘appeared,’ which is probably the most likely (demoniacs would not normally be in a synagogue service since the possession of a spirit would make them unclean and hence ceremonially unacceptable), one may translate ‘right then a man with an unclean spirit appeared.’
There are a number of different ways in which people speak of demon possession: ‘an unclean spirit had hit him’ (Mitla Zapotec), ‘under the control…’ (one Chinese translation), ‘someone hit by an evil spirit’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘… standing around inside of’ (Navajo), ‘a man has an unclean spirit’ and ‘an unclean spirit has a man.’
In many languages it is impossible to distinguish between the word used for ‘spirit’ in this context (speaking of ‘unclean spirit’) and the word for ‘demon.’ Any attempt to make a distinction, when none actually exists in the language in question, may only lead to misunderstanding. Accordingly, unclean spirit may simply be ‘unclean demon.’
At the same time, it is not always easy to distinguish between ‘unclean spirit’ and ‘evil spirit.’ The latter is not too difficult because such spirits are often regarded as morally bad, hence, evil. However, in many cultures there is no use of ‘unclean’ in the sense of ceremonially or religiously unacceptable. Some translators have tried to use the equivalent of ‘dirty demon,’ but this has often appeared to be a very strange expression. What is more, the real significance of the term ‘unclean’ is not primarily the appearance of the spirit itself so much as the fact that the possession of such a spirit made the person in question unclean, i.e. ceremonially in some languages a word meaning ‘unclean’ may have no moral significance, but a term such as ‘ugly’ may. For example, in Tabasco Chontal the closest equivalent of unclean spirit is ‘ugly spirit.’
Since in many languages there are a number of different kinds of spirits, it is of extreme importance that one carefully study all the types and be sure that any word chosen for ‘spirit’ in this context is appropriate. One thing is quite certain, namely, that in most instances it will be different from the word employed in the phrase ‘Holy Spirit.’
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 .
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