The Greek that is translated as “powers in the heavens will be shaken” or similar in English is translated in Tzotzil as “the lights in the sky will come out of their place,” in Southern Puebla Mixtec as “those who rule in the heavens will be caused to move out of the way,” and in Tlahuitoltepec Mixe as “a great shaking will pass in the sky.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
host / powers
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “host” or “powers” or similar in English is translated in Mandarin Chinese as wànxiàng (万象 / 萬象) or “every manifestation of nature” (lit. “10,000 manifestations”). This is a term that is loaned from Buddhist terminology (see here ). (Source: Zetzsche)
See also LORD of hosts.
Mark 13:24 - 27 in Mexican Sign Language
Following is the translation of Mark 13:24-27 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)
Jesús les advirtió: “Cuando este sufrimiento se acabe el sol será transformado en oscuridad y también la luna será oscuro, no difundirá luz, habrá un terremoto allá en el universo y las estrellas caerán.
Todas las personas se volverán a ver el hijo de hombre bajando, parado en una nube, con gloria y gran poder, luz brillando de él.
Él que está parado en la nube dirá a los ángeles: ‘Yo ya elegí a las personas que sí creen, uds ángeles vayan, bajen al mundo entero y agarren a las personas y las lleven junto a mi.'”
Jesus warned them: “When this suffering ends, the sun will be transformed into darkness and also the sun will be dark, it will not give light, there will be an earthquake up there in the universe and the stars will fall.
“All people will turn to see the Son of Man coming down on a cloud in glory and great power with light shining out from him.
“The one standing on the cloud will say to the angels: ‘I have already chosen the people who do believe, you angels go down into the whole world and grab the people and bring them to me.'”
Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios
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Mark 13:28-37 in Mexican Sign Language >>
Mark 13:24-27 in Russian Sign Language
Following is the translation of Mark 13:24-27 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:
Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество
Jesus said to his disciples:
— This time of suffering will end, and then throughout the universe the sun will go out, and the moon will go out, and the stars will fall down, and the heavens will tremble. All over the earth people will see the Son of Man descending from heaven, in glory and radiance, and with him a mighty host of angels. I will command the angels: “You, angels, go to earth and gather those whom God has chosen.”
Angels will descend and gather those whom God has chosen from all over the earth.
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Иисус сказал ученикам:
— Это время страданий кончится, и потом во всей вселенной солнце погаснет, и луна погаснет, и звезды попадают вниз, а небеса содрогнутся. По всей земле люди увидят, как с небес спускается Сын Человеческий, в славе и сиянии, а вместе с ним могучее воинство ангелов. Я прикажу ангелам:
— Вы, ангелы, идите на землю и соберите тех, кого избрал Бог.
Ангелы спустятся и по всей земле соберут тех, кого избрал Бог.
Back-translation by Luka Manevich
<< Mark 13:14-23 in Russian Sign Language
Mark 13:28-31 in Russian Sign Language >>
complete verse (Mark 13:25)
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 13:25:
- Uma: “‘So, at that time, when that time of suffering has passed, all the powerful things in the sky will be shaken. The sun will turn dark, the moon will no longer shine, the stars will drop from the sky.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “The stars will fall from the sky and the different-kinds in the sky will leave their places.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the stars in the sky will fall, and everything in heaven shall be shaken.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “The many-stars will also fall and all that is in the sky will be shaken.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “The stars will fall from the sky/heaven, for the whole sky/heavens will be caused to quake/tremble by the strength of the supernatural-power of God.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
- Amele: “And then the stars will pluck out of the sky and fall down, and the strong doings that sit in the sky will tremble,’ he said.” (Source: John Roberts in this article )
sky
Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Aramaic all have one term only that refers to what can be expressed in English as “sky” or “heaven(s)” (as a physical and spiritual entity). While there is a slight overlap between the meaning of the two English terms, “sky” (from Old Norse sky meaning “cloud”) typically refers to the physical entity, and “heaven” (from Old English heofon meaning “home of God”) typically refers to the spiritual entity. While this enriches the English lexicon, it also forces English Bible translators to make decisions that can be found only in the context in the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic texts. Most versions tend to use “heaven(s)” even if the meaning is likely “sky,” but the Contemporary English Version (NT: 1991, OT: 1995, DC: 1999) is an English translation that attempted to be more specific in the separation of the two meanings and was used as the basis for the links to verses used for this and this story (“heaven”).
Norm Mundhenk (in The Bible Translator 2006, p. 92ff. ) describes the difficulty that English translations face (click or tap here to see more):
“A number of years ago an old lady asked me a question. What did Jesus mean when he said, ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away’? I do not remember what answer I gave, but I was surprised at how concerned she seemed to be about the verse. It was only later, after I had left her, that I suddenly realized what it was that she was so concerned about. She knew that death could not be far away, and all her life she had looked forward to being with God in heaven. But this verse said that ‘heaven will pass away’! What did that mean for her hopes? In fact, of course, in this verse Jesus was talking about the skies or the heavens, not about Heaven as the place of God’s presence. If I had realized the problem in time, I could easily have set the lady’s mind at rest on this question that was troubling her so much. However, I suspect that she is not the only person to be misled by the wording of this verse. Therefore, it is very surprising to find that even today many English versions (including the New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Good News Translation) still say ‘heaven and earth’ in verses like Matt 24:35 and its parallels (Mark 13:31 and Luke 21:33). The Contemporary English Version (CEV) and Phillips’ translation seem to be aware of the problem, and in Mark 13:31 both of these have ‘earth and sky’ instead of ‘heaven and earth.’ But in some other passages (such as Matt 5:18) the traditional wording is still found in both of those translations. The New Century Version (NCV) does have ‘earth and sky’ more consistently, and the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has ‘sky and earth’ in these passages. (Although ‘sky and earth’ is closer to the Greek, it seems more natural in English to say ‘earth and sky’; but either way, at least the meaning is correct.)
“Louw and Nida’s Lexical Semantics of the Greek New Testament (publ. 1992) suggests that the Greek expression being translated here, ho ouranos kai he ge is ‘a more or less fixed phrase equivalent to a single lexical unit’ and that it means everything that God created, that is, the universe. They then quote Mark 13:31 as an example, using ‘heaven and earth’ in their translation of it. However, they go on to say that there ‘may be certain complications involved in rendering ho ouranos kai he ge as ‘heaven and earth,’ since ‘heaven’ might be interpreted in some languages as referring only to the dwelling place of God himself. The referents in this passage are ‘the sky and the earth,’ in other words, all of physical existence, but not the dwelling place of God, for the latter would not be included in what is destined to pass away.’ In my opinion, English itself is one of the languages where the word ‘heaven’ will be interpreted as referring only to the dwelling place of God himself, and translations into English should not use ‘heaven’ in these passages. It is probably because these passages are so very familiar that translators do not realize the meaning they are giving their readers when they use the expression ‘heaven and earth’ here. In modern English we might talk about a rocket ‘soaring into the heavens,’ but we would certainly not describe it as ‘soaring into heaven,’ because ‘heaven’ is not another way of referring to the sky or to outer space.
“In fact, it is surely important in all languages to have some way of distinguishing the concept of ‘sky’ from the concept of ‘dwelling place of God.’ In these passages translators should never use a term meaning ‘the dwelling place of God.’ It may not be necessary to use a term meaning ‘sky’ either, if there is some other expression in the language which gives the correct meaning of ‘everything that has been created’ or ‘the universe.’ There are of course places in the New Testament where Heaven, as the place where God lives, is contrasted with the earth. In these passages, translators should be careful to give the correct meaning. A good example of this is in the Lord’s Prayer, in Matt 6:10: ‘Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ Similarly, 1 Cor 15:47 says that ‘the first man [a reference to Adam] was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.’ Passages like these are referring to Heaven, not to the sky. Other NT passages where heaven refers to God’s dwelling place, in contrast with earth, are Matt 5:34-35, 16:19, 18:18, Acts 7:49, James 5:12, and Rev 5:3.
“Sometimes in the New Testament, the word ‘heaven’ is used because of the Jewish reluctance to use the name of God. ‘Heaven’ in these cases is used in place of ‘God’ and refers to God himself. This is the case in the many references in Matthew to ‘the kingdom of heaven’ where other gospels have ‘the kingdom of God’ (e.g., compare Matt 4:17 with its parallels in Mark 1:15 and Luke 10:9). It is also most likely the case in references like Matt 16:1, Luke 20:4, 5, John 3:27, and even perhaps Col 1:5.
“There are some places, such as Matt 11:25, where God is called ‘Lord of heaven and earth.’ Since God is of course the Lord of Heaven as well as of the universe, it may not matter so much which interpretation is given in these passages (others are Luke 10:21 and Acts 17:24). Nevertheless, the intended meaning here is likely to be ‘the universe.’ This is because this expression in Greek, as Louw and Nida say, is a set expression referring to everything that has been created. Acts 17:24 in fact combines the idea of the creation of the universe with the idea of God as Master or Lord of the universe. (…)
“Old Testament background The use of ‘heaven and earth’ in the New Testament is very similar to what we find in the Old Testament, because it is largely based on the Old Testament.
“The Old Testament begins with the story of creation, which is presented as the creation of the heavens and the earth, with lights to shine in the heavens and give light to the earth. Birds are created to live in the heavens, animals to live on earth, and fish to live in the sea (Gen 1:1-2:4).
“As we can see from the way the creation story is told, it is meant to be understood as the creation of the universe. Although in English the regions above the earth have traditionally been called ‘the heavens’ in the story of creation, they cannot be called ‘Heaven,’ in the sense of the place where God dwells. In terms of modern English, it would probably be better to say ‘the sky and the earth’ or ‘the earth and the sky.’ The story of creation then becomes an important theme throughout the Old Testament. (…)
“In most passages, whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament, when ‘heaven and earth’ or ‘the heavens and the earth’ are mentioned, the meaning is the created universe. It is not a reference to Heaven, as the dwelling place of God. In English, translators have not been careful to keep this distinction clear, and this is probably true in many other languages as well. However, as we have seen, this can lead to real confusion for ordinary Bible readers. It is better if translators find ways to make the meaning clear in these passages. ‘Heaven’ should be mentioned only in passages which clearly mean the dwelling place of God. In other passages, an expression should be used which means only ‘sky.’ Or else, the whole expression ‘heaven and earth’ can be translated in a way to show that the whole universe is meant.”
Other languages that have a semantic distinction similar to English include:
- Hungarian: ég — “sky”; menny — “heaven”
- Tagalog: kalawakan — “sky”; langit/kalangitan — “heaven”
- Swedish: sky — “sky”; Himmel — “heaven”
- Loma: “up” — “sky”; “God’s place” — heaven”
- Mossi: saase — “sky”; nyingeri — “the up above”(source for Loma and Mossi: Bratcher/Nida)
- Roviana: mamaṉa — “sly”; maṉauru — “heaven” (an old word, meaning “empty, open space of the sky”) (source: Carl Gross)
- Kayaw: mô̄la or “canopy-under”/mô̄khû̄la or “canopy-above-under” — “sky” (atmosphere where there is just air); mô̄khû̄ or “canopy-on/above” — “heaven” (invisible abode of God and angels)
- Burmese: မိုး ကောင်း ကင်/moe kaungg kain — “sky”; ကောင်း ကင်/kaungg kain — “sky” or “heaven”; ကောင်း ကင်ဗုံ/kaungg kain bone — “heaven”
- Mairasi: Sinyavi — an indigenous term that is used for both “sky” and heaven”; Surga — loanword from Sanskrit via Indonesian referring to “heaven” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
- Noongar: worl — “sky”; Boolanga-Yirakang Boodjer — “Country of God” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Many languages follow the original biblical languages in not making that distinction, such as:
- Latin: caelum
- Portuguese: céu
- French: ciel
- Italian: cielo
- Catalan: cel
- Russian and Ukrainian: небо/‘nebo
- Finnish: taivas
- Estonian: taevas
- Dutch: hemel
- Czech: nebe
- Slovak: nebo
- Danish: himmel
- German: Himmel
- Matumbi: kunani (lit. “up”) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
- Mandarin Chinese: 天/tiān
- Korean: 하늘/haneul
- Amele: sao (source: John Roberts)
- Kamo: yamba, which, when capitalized (Yamba), means “God” (source: David Frank)
In some languages, such as Wandala, the vocabulary for terms for either “heaven” or “sky” is much richer than just to include those two distinction. While zhegela, the term that is specifically used for the physical sky was only used in early translations of the New Testament for “sky,” other terms such as samaya (used for both “sky” and “heaven”), zlanna (specifically used for the perfect abode of God and the goal of the faithful, as in Matthew 8:11), kwárá (a locational term used to speak of a chief’s rule [lit., “voice”] such as Matthew 3:2), or sleksire (“chieftaincy,” “kingship,” or “royalty” [originally from slekse “chief”] and used where there are no locational overtones, such as in Matthew 16:28) are used. (Source: Mona Perrin in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 51ff.)
The English translation by Sarah Ruden (2021) uses “sky” throughout. Ruden explains (p. li): “The Greek word ouranos refers evenhandedly to the physical sky and the place—often pictured as a royal court — where supreme divinity resides. ‘Sky’ seems generally better, first of all in avoiding the wackier modern imagery that comes with the English ‘heaven.’ And even when a supernatural realm is meant, ‘sky’ will often do, because the divine realm was thought to be located there, in addition to the weather and the heavenly bodies, whereas ‘heaven’ to us is fundamentally a religious term, and the ancients did not tend to separate linguistic domains in this way. I have retained the plural ‘skies’ where I see it in the Greek, because it is a Hebraism familiar in English translations of scripture and (I hope) not too archaic or jarring.”
Translation commentary on Mark 13:25
Text:
Instead of ek tou ouranou ‘from heaven’ of all modern editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus has tou ouranou ‘of heaven.’
Exegesis:
hoi asteres (only here in Mark) ‘the stars.’
esontai … piptontes ‘shall be falling’: the verbal phrase is perhaps linear, denoting a succession of stars falling from heaven.
piptō (cf. 4.4) ‘fall.’
hai dunameis hai en tois ouranois ‘the powers which are in the heavens’: in accordance with Hebrew parallelism, these heavenly ‘powers’ may be simply the stars themselves, this second clause being synonymous with the first (as is probably the case in Isa. 34.4, whose language is reflected in this passage in Mark); or these ‘powers’ might be the evil spirits which, in Jewish thought, were supposed to rule the heavenly bodies. For the attributive phrase hai en tois ouranois ‘the ones in the heavens’ cf. a similar instance in 11.25.
saleuthēsontai (only here in Mark) ‘they shall be shaken’: i.e. they will be driven out of their normal course.
Translation:
It must be noted that the differences of exegesis (and exposition) of this passage (verses 24-25) may be quite pronounced, for though some persons believe that this description refers to extraordinary astronomical phenomena, others are certain that this description applies not to celestial bodies but to the collapse of earthly governments, which are often described in apocalyptic literature by these figures of speech. However, regardless of the ultimate exposition of the passage, the translation should preserve the wording as closely as possible, leaving this wider interpretation to commentaries.
Heaven is best translated as ‘sky,’ if the language in question distinguishes between words for ‘sky’ and ‘heaven’ (as the abode of God).
Powers in the heavens is translatable in some languages as the ‘authorities in the sky.’ One must avoid implying that God’s own authority is to be shaken by translating heavens as ‘the abode of God.’ However, ‘authorities’ (or ‘powers’) is not very meaningful even at best, since this type of expression is quite alien to the concepts of most people. In Navajo an alternative expression ‘that which holds things firm in the sky’ has been employed, but this is a phrase which would imply literal rearrangement of heavenly bodies.
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 .
SIL Translator's Notes on Mark 13:25
13:25a
the stars will fall from the sky: The clause the stars will fall from the sky indicates that the stars will fall out of their positions in the sky. It is not clear whether they will fall all the way to the earth.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
The stars will fall out of the sky
-or-
The stars will fall from their positions in the sky
In some languages it may be unnaturally redundant to say that stars fall from the sky. If that is true in your language, you may make the phrase from the sky implicit. For example:
The stars will fall
13:25b
and the powers of the heavens: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as powers of the heavens is probably a poetic way to refer to the stars and other lights in the sky. It may also refer figuratively to spiritual forces that controlled the stars and other heavenly lights. These forces include Satan and his evil spirits. (This interpretation is mentioned as a possibility by UBS Handbook (page 414), TRT (page 180), and others. Greek writers sometimes referred to these lights as the “armies” or “powers” of the heavens. Other scholars understand “powers in the heavens” to refer to the stars as the armies of heaven. Still others, including Edwards (page 402), speak of the other heavenly bodies as being included.)
In most languages it will not be possible to find an expression that refers both to stars and to powerful beings in the sky. If that is true in your language, you may use an expression that refers to the stars or to all the lights in the sky. You may also want to add a footnote that gives the figurative meaning along with an explanation. For example:
Literally, the “powers” or “armies” in the sky. This phrase probably refers figuratively to the stars and other lights in the sky. It may also refer to evil spirits. Many people thought that evil spirits controlled the stars.
heavens: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as heavens means “in the sky.” This is the same Greek word as the word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “sky” in 13:25a. It does not refer to heaven where God lives. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:
in the sky
See also heaven, Meaning 1, in the Glossary.
will be shaken: The phrase will be shaken means “will be shaken violently/strongly,” so that they fall from their positions.
Here is another way to translate this phrase:
will be driven from their courses (Good News Bible)
The verb is passive. In some languages it may not be natural to use a passive verb here. If that is true in your language, here are some options to consider:
• Choose a verb that does not need to indicate an actor. For example:
will move/shift chaotically
• Use an impersonal expression. For example:
something will force [the heavenly bodies] from their normal places
• Supply God as the actor. This option should only be used if it is necessary. For example:
and God will violently shake all these things in the sky
Paragraph 13:26–27
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