The Greek terms that are translated into English as “preach” or “proclaim” are regularly rendered into Aari as “speaking the word of salvation.” (Source: Loren Bliese)
Other languages (back-) translate it in the following manner:
Tzeltal: “he explains, they hear” (“the goal of all preachers”)
Copainalá Zoque: “a preacher is ‘one who speaks-scatters'” (a figure based on the scattering of seed in the process of sowing) (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
Shilluk: “declare the word of of God” (source: Nida 1964, p. 237)
In Luang it is translated with different shades of meaning:
For Acts 9:20, 10:42: nakotnohora: “talk about” (“The generic term for preaching.”)
For Acts 8:4, 8:5, 8:25: rodkiota-ralde’etnohora — “bring words, give news about.” (“This term is used when the preacher is moving from place to place to preach.”)
Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.
In choosing a word for the Greek that is typically translated as “gospel” in English, a number of languages construct a phrase meaning “good news,” “joyful report” or “happiness-bringing words.” In some instances such a phrase may be slightly expanded in order to convey the proper meaning, e.g. “new good word” (Tzotzil), or it may involve some special local usage:
the Germandas Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) translates as “all-transformative good news” (alles verändernde gute Botschaft), also “good news”
Vitaly Voinov tells this story about the translation into Rutul (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight):
“In Rutul, it was only during the most recent consultant checking session that I realized that the Rutul word for Gospel – Incir (from Arabic إنجيل — Injil) — sounds and looks exactly like the word that means ‘fig’ in Rutul. This is a case of homonymy, in which two completely non-related words from differing historical sources have come to sound exactly alike. Most Rutul speakers know that incir means ‘fig’ because they grow this fruit in their yard or buy it at the market every week. However, because the religious sphere of discourse was heavily disparaged during the Soviet era, most people simply never encountered Incir with the meaning of ‘Gospel.’ This meaning of the word, which Rutuls of the pre-Soviet era knew from the Koran, simply fell into disuse and never had much reason for returning into contemporary Rutul since there is no Christian church established among the people. So if the translator continues to use the term Incir as the rendering for ‘Gospel,’ he runs the risk that most readers will, at best, read the word with a smile because they know that it also means ‘fig,’ and, at worst, will completely misunderstand the word. The seemingly ‘easy’ solution in this case is for the translator to use a Rutul neologism meaning ‘Joyful Message’ or ‘Good News,’ [see above] instead of Incir; but in fact it is not all that easy to make this change if the translator himself insists on using the historical word because at least some Rutuls still understand it as meaning ‘Gospel.’ This is a situation in which the translation team has to gradually grow into the understanding that a fully intelligible translation of Scripture is preferable to one that maintains old words at the cost of alienating much of the readership.”
The Greek that is translated as “all the gentiles” or “all nations” in English is translated as “all people” in Tzeltal, as “all mankind” in Highland Totonac, or “the peoples who are everywhere” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)
Jesús y los discípulos estaban caminando y los discípulos dijeron: “Meastro ve el templo, qué tan grande son las piedras, ¡huy, es maravilloso!”
Jesús (dijo): “¡¿Ver qué tan grande es el templo?! Les advierto, en el futuro el templo se caerá y será destruido.”
El grupo siguió caminando y después en el Monte de los olivos Jesús se sentó a ver el templo que estaba enfrente. Cuando Pedro, Jacobo, Juan y Andrés vieron que no había otra gente fueron a él.
Dijeron: “Jesús, lo que explicaste ahorita ¿cuándo vendrá por cierto? ¿Cómo lo descubrimos?”
Jesús (dijo): “Mira, les explico, en el futuro uds oirán que ya ha venido una guerro y personas les advertirán que haya otra guerra, pero uds no se asusten, todavía no se acaba el mundo.
Mira, en el futuro en diferentes lugares del mundo habrá guerras y terremotos fuertes y hambre
y también habrá personas falsas que hablan disimulando: ‘Yo soy Jesúcristo’ y engañaran a la gente, muchas personas lo creerán: ¿de veras, de veras? y caerán en el engaño.
Cuidado, uds se alejen, estas cinco cosas son el comienzo del sufrimiento pero todavía no se acaba el mundo.
Es necesario que primero el evangelio será predicado y anunciado en diferentes idiomas y esparcido por el mundo.
Les advierto, tengan cuidado. En el futuro otras personas los agarrarán y los llevarán al juez y también en las sinagogas las personas los maltratarán y azotarán y cuando terminen los llevarán ante el gobierno o el rey porque uds creen en mi, Jesús. Uds cuentenles su testimonio.
Oigan, cuando las personas los arresten no se preocupen imaginando: ‘¿Qué voy a decir ante el juez?’ No se preocupen, el espíritu santo les ayudará suficiente para que uds puedan contarles.
Les advierto: en el futuro un hermano verá que su hermano cree en Jesús y lo entregará y matarán a su hermano, un papá verá que su hijo cree en Jesús y lo entregará y su hijo será matado, y habrá hijos que verán que sus padres creen en Jesús y estarán en contra y matarán sus padres.
Les advierto personas en todo el mundo les odiarán porque uds creen en mi, Jesús, pero si uds son fieles hasta la muerta serán salvados.”
Marcos escribió: “Uds necesitan leerlo y entenderlo.”
Jesus and the disciples were walking and the disciples said: “Teacher, look at the temple, how big its stones are, wow it’s wonderful!”
Jesus (said): “Look at how big the temple is?! I warn you, in the future the temple will fall down and be destroyed.”
The group continued walking and afterwards on the Mount of olives Jesus sat down opposite the temple to see it. When Peter, James, John and Andrew saw that there were no people around, they went up to him.
They said: “Jesus, what you told us just now, when will that come true? How will we find out?”
Jesus (said): “Look, I’ll explain it to you, in the future you will hear that a war has come and people will warn you that there is another war, but do not be frightened, it is not the end of the world yet.
“Look, in the future there will be wars in different parts of the world and strong earthquakes and hunger band there will also be false people who will talk pretending: ‘I am Jesus Christ’ and they will deceive the people and many people will believe it (they will go) ‘really, really?’ and they will fall for it.
“Be careful, stay away from them, these five things are the beginning of the suffering but it is not the end of the world yet.
“It is necessary that the gospel first be preached and announced in different languages and spread throughout the world.
“I warn you be careful. In the future other people will take hold of you and take you to the judge and also in the synagogues the people will mistreat you and whip you and when they are done they will take you before the government or the king because you believe in me, Jesus. Tell them your testimony.
“Listen, when people arrest you do not worry, imagining: ”What will I say before the judge?’ Don’t worry, the Holy Spirit will help you sufficiently so that you can tell them.
“I warn you, in the future a brother will see that his brother believed in Jesus, and he will hand him over and they will kill his brother, a father will see that his son believes in Jesus and he will hand him over and his son will be killed, and there will be some children who will see that their parents believe in Jesus and they will be against them and kill their parents.
“I warn you that people in the whole world will hate you because you believe in me, Jesus, but if you are faithful until death, you will be saved.”
Mark wrote: “You need to read it and understand it.”
Jesus and his disciples left the Temple. One of the disciples looked at the Temple, admired it, and said:
— Teacher, look at this Temple! It’s big, beautiful, the stones are so strong!
Jesus answered:
— Yes, the Temple is large and beautiful, but the time will come when it will be completely destroyed, not a single stone will remain intact.
Jesus went up to the Mount of Olives. The Temple was clearly visible from the Mount of Olives. Only four disciples were with Jesus: Peter, James, John, Andrew. The disciples began to ask Jesus:
— Tell us, what will be the sign that the Temple will soon be destroyed?
Jesus answered them:
— First, many people will say: “God sent me, I am Christ.” Many will teach this. But they are liars. Many people will listen to them and believe them. But you, beware! Do not believe them!
Secondly, rumors will spread that wars are happening in different places, that one kingdom is going to war against another.
Thirdly, earthquakes will occur here and there throughout the earth. Fourthly, there will be famine and various troubles throughout the earth. But do not be afraid when you look at all this, do not think that this is the end of the world. All these events are signs to be prepared. This is only the beginning of great suffering. It is like, for example, a woman, when it is time for her to give birth, she has contractions before labor. Be prepared for different people to grab you and take you to court. There, in the house of judgment, they will beat you. They will grab you and lead you before the rulers, so that you proclaim me, Jesus Christ, there. But first, all the peoples of the earth will know the Good News about me.
When you are brought to trial, do not worry about how to speak. The Spirit that is in you will explain it to you.
I also tell you that one brother will be angry with another brother because he believed in me, and he will kill him. Likewise, parents will be angry with their own children who believed in Christ, they will be angry with them and kill them. Also, children will be angry and will kill their own parents who believed in Jesus. People will hate you because you believed in Jesus.
But a person who stands firm and follows Christ, despite all the difficulties, God will save such a person and grant him eternal life.
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Иисус вместе с учениками вышел из Храма. Один из учеников смотрел на Храм, восхищался и сказал:
— Учитель, смотри какой Храм! Большой, красивый, камни такие крепкие!
Иисус ответил:
— Да, Храм большой красивый, но придет время, когда он будет полностью разрушен, ни одного камня целого не останется.
Иисус поднялся на Масличную гору. Прямо с Масличной горы хорошо был виден Храм. С Иисусом были только четверо учеников — Петр, Иаков, Иоанн, Андрей. Ученики стали спрашивать Иисуса:
— Подскажи нам, как будет знамение, что Храм скоро разрушится?
Иисус им ответил:
— Во-первых, многие люди станут говорить: «это меня послал Бог, я — Христос». Многие стану так учить. Но они — лжецы. Многие люди их послушают и поверят. Но вы же, берегитесь! Не верьте им!
В-вторых, будут распространяться слухи, что в разных местах происходят войны, что одно царство идет войной на другое.
В-третьих, по всей земле то тут, то там будут происходить землетрясения. В-четвертых, по всей земле будет голод и разные беды. Но вы, глядя на все это, не бойтесь, не думайте, что это конец мира. Эти все события — знамения, чтобы быть готовым. Это лишь начало великих страданий. Это как, например, женщина, когда ей пришло время родить, перед родами у нее схватки. Будьте готовы, что разные люди будут хватать вас и вести на суд. Там, в доме суда, вас будут бить. Будут вас хватать и вести пред лицо правителей, чтобы вы там возвещали обо мне, Иисусе Христе. Но сначала все народы земли узнают обо мне Радостную Весть.
Когда вас поведут на суд, не беспокойтесь, как говорить. Дух, который будет в вас, он объяснит вам.
Еще говорю вам, что один брат, будет гневаться на другого брата за то, что тот поверил мне, и убьет его. Так же и родители, будут гневаться на собственных детей, которые поверили в Христа, будут гневаться на них и убивать. Также дети будут гневаться и будут убивать собственных родителей, которые поверили в Иисус. Люди будут ненавидеть вас, по причине того что вы уверовали в Иисуса.
Но человек, который твердо стоит и идет за Христом, несмотря на все трудности, такого человека Бог спасет и одарит его вечной жизнью.
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 13:10:
Uma: “And the Good News must be announced to all the world before the Judgment Day.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “For before the end of the world comes, the good news has to be sent/extended to all the tribes,’ said Isa.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For before that time ends, it is necessary that the good news is preached to people in all kingdoms.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “The good news must be preached first in the many-towns/countries on the earth, then its end will arrive.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “For what is really necessary is that the teaching of this Good News will spread to/through all nations before the end of the world is reached.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
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 Translator2002, 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 his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.
In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.
eis panta ta ethnē ‘in all nations,’ ‘among all peoples,’ ‘to all the Gentiles.’
eis ‘in,’ ‘to.’ Moule calls the use of eis in this verse equivalent to a pure dative.
ta ethnē in a general sense ‘all nations’; it could, however, have the meaning ‘all the Gentiles.’
prōton ‘first’ is an adverb, modifying the verbal phrase dei kēruchthēnai ‘it is necessary (that) be preached.’ It is generally taken to indicate time, ‘first,’ that is ‘before’ (something happens: in this case, before the End comes): so most translations; by some, however, it is taken to indicate degree of rank or importance: cf. Manson, “the first essential”; Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodaletout d’abord; Lagrange “avant tout, tout d’abord.”
For dei ‘it is necessary’ cf. 8.31; kērussō ‘proclaim,’ ‘preach’ cf. 1.4; euaggelion ‘the gospel’ cf. 1.1.
Translation:
For gospel see 1.1, and for preached see 1.4. A typical rendering is ‘the good news must first be announced.’
All nations may be ‘all peoples’ or ‘the people of all different places.’ In the first instance the point of view is the diversity of kinds and in the second the distinction in place, differences which must be carefully observed in some languages.
In the active form, as required by some languages, one may translate as ‘people must announce the good news to….’
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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