The Greek that is translated as “from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heaven” or similar in English is translated in Copainalá Zoque as “out of all the towns there are under heaven” and in Teutila Cuicatec as “throughout the whole earth.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
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
<< Mark 13:14-23 in Mexican Sign Language
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 >>
angel
The Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic that is translated as “angel” in English versions is translated in many ways:
- Pintupi-Luritja: ngaṉka ngurrara: “one who belongs in the sky” (source: Ken Hansen quoted in Steven 1984a, p. 116.)
- Tetela, Kpelle, Balinese, and Mandarin Chinese: “heavenly messenger”
- Shilluk / Igede: “spirit messenger”
- Mashco Piro: “messenger of God”
- Batak Toba: “envoy, messenger”
- Navajo: “holy servant” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida 1961; Igede: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
- Central Mazahua: “God’s worker” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.)
- Saramaccan: basia u Masa Gaangadu köndë or “messenger from God’s country” (source: Jabini 2015, p. 86)
- Mairasi: atatnyev nyaa or “sent-one” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
- Shipibo-Conibo: “word bringer” (source: James Lauriault in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 32ff. )
- Apali: “God’s one with talk from the head” (“basically God’s messenger since head refers to any leader’s talk”) (source: Martha Wade)
- Michoacán Nahuatl: “clean helper of God” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
- Noongar: Hdjin-djin-kwabba or “spirit good” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
- Wè Northern (Wɛɛ): Kea ‘a “sooa or “the Lord’s soldier” (also: “God’s soldier” or “his soldier”) (source: Drew Maust)
- Iwaidja: “a man sent with a message” (Sam Freney explains the genesis of this term [in this article ): “For example, in Darwin last year, as we were working on a new translation of Luke 2:6–12 in Iwaidja, a Northern Territory language, the translators had written ‘angel’ as ‘a man with eagle wings’. Even before getting to the question of whether this was an accurate term (or one that imported some other information in), the word for ‘eagle’ started getting discussed. One of the translators had her teenage granddaughter with her, and this word didn’t mean anything to her at all. She’d never heard of it, as it was an archaic term that younger people didn’t use anymore. They ended up changing the translation of ‘angel’ to something like ‘a man sent with a message’, which is both more accurate and clear.”)
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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) is used as in mi-tsukai (御使い) or “messenger (of God).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
See also angel (Acts 12:15) and this devotion on YouVersion .
complete verse (Mark 13:27)
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 13:27:
- Uma: “I will order my angels to go gather the people who are my portion from the whole world, from the corners of the world and from the corners of the sky.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “And I will command the angels to come and gather the people which I have chosen from the four corners of the world.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And I will send my angels to the four sides here on the earth, and they will gather together my chosen people from everywhere on the earth.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “Then I will send the angels to the four sources of the wind in order that they go gather-together my people whom I have chosen from all corners of the world.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “I will then send my angels to gather together all my chosen people coming from whatever place here under the heavens.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
pronoun for "God"
God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).
Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.
In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.
While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal ta (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential ta (祂) is used.”
In Kouya, Godié, Northern Grebo, Eastern Krahn, Western Krahn, and Guiberoua Béte, all languages of the Kru family in Western Africa, a different kind of systems of pronouns is used (click or tap here to read more):
In that system one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and one for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.
Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains in the following way: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”
In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)
Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”
In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )
In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)
The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.
Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In both languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).
See also first person pronoun referring to God.
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Gender of God .
Translation: Chinese
在现代汉语中,第三人称单数代词的读音都是一样的(tā),但是写法并不一样,取决于性别以及是否有生命,即男性为“他”,女性为“她”,动物、植物和无生命事物为“它”(在香港和台湾的汉语使用,动物则为“牠”)。这些字的部首偏旁表明了性别(男人、女人、动物、无生命事物),而另一偏旁通常旁提示发音。
到1930年为止,基督教新教《圣经》经过整整一百年的翻译已经拥有了十几个译本,当时的一位圣经翻译者王元德新造了一个“神圣的”代词“祂”,偏旁“礻”表示神明。一般汉语读者会立即知道这字的发音是tā,而这个偏旁表示属灵的事物,因此他们明白这个字指出,三位一体的所有位格都没有性别之分,而单单是上帝。
然而,最重要的新教圣经译本(1919年的《和合本》)和天主教圣经译本(1968年的《思高圣经》)都没有采用“祂”;虽然如此,许多其他的圣经译本采用了这个字,另外还广泛出现在赞美诗和其他基督信仰的书刊中。(资料来源:Zetzsche)
《吕振中译本》的几个早期版本也使用“祂”来指称“上帝”;这个译本的《新约》于1946年译成,整部《圣经》于1970年完成。克拉默斯(Kramers)指出:“‘他’的这种新写法(即‘祂’)产生了一个小问题,就是在指称耶稣的时候,是否一律使用这个敬语代词?《吕振中译本》遵循的原则是,在称呼耶稣这个人的时候,用一般的‘他’,而在称呼耶稣神性的时候,特别是升天之后的耶稣,则用尊称‘祂’。”
Translator: Simon Wong
Translation commentary on Mark 13:27
Text:
After aggelous ‘angels’ Textus Receptus and Kilpatrick add autou ‘his,’ which is omitted by all other modern editions of the Greek text.
There is considerable doubt concerning the authenticity of autou ‘his’ after eklektous ‘elect’: it is omitted by Tischendorf and Soden; placed in brackets by Westcott and Hort, Nestle, and Taylor; included by Textus Receptus, Vogels, Souter, Lagrange, Kilpatrick, and Merk.
Exegesis:
apostelei (cf. 1.2) ‘he will send’: in the context, the subject is ‘the Son of man’ of the preceding verse.
tous aggelous (cf. 1.2) ‘the angels,’ ‘the heavenly messengers.’
The rest of the verse reflects O.T. concepts and language such as found in Zech. 2.10 and Deut. 30.4.
kai episunaxei (cf. 1.33) ‘and he will gather,’ ‘and he will bring together (into one group).’
tous eklektous (cf. v. 20) ‘the elect,’ ‘the chosen ones.’
ek tōn tessarōn anemōn ‘from the four winds’: this phrase indicates the four points of the compass, meaning (in popular language) ‘from the four corners of the earth’ (cf. in 1 Chr. 9.24, in the Septuagint, the description of the four sides of the Temple, kata tous tessaras anemous ēsan hai pulai ‘the gates were on the four sides’ – literally, ‘according to the four winds’). The phrase appears not only in the Bible but in the papyri as well. Revised Standard Version‘s literal translation ‘from the four winds’ is likely to be misleading, since in current English the idiom does not denote the four points of the compass (cf. The Modern Speech New Testament ‘from north, south, east and west’; Williams ‘from the four points of the compass’).
ap’ akrou gēs heōs akrou ouranou ‘from the extremity of the earth to the extremity of heaven.’ This phrase is unique and offers some difficulty. It appears to be a combination of two phrases often used in the O.T.: ap’ akrou tēs gēs heōs akrou tēs gēs ‘from one extremity of the earth to the other’ (Deut. 13.8, Jer. 12.12), and ap’ akrou tou ouranou heōs akrou tou ouranou ‘from one extremity of heaven to the other’ (Deut. 4.32; 30.4; Ps. 18(19).7; cf. Mt. 24.31). It would mean, therefore, ‘from one end of the world to the other’ (cf. Bengel: “from the uttermost part of the heaven (sky) and earth in the east, even to the uttermost part of the heaven and earth in the west”). Manson confesses ignorance of the precise meaning of the phrase and conjectures it originally meant ‘from one end of the earth to the other.’
The concept of the universe which underlies this idiom, in conformance with Jewish cosmogony, was that of the heaven as a half circle overarching the earth, the two meeting at the two extremes.
Some, however, take the phrase to mean, ‘he will gather the elect … from the highest (or ‘lowest,’ according to others) point of earth and carry them to the heights of heaven’ (to which 1 Thess. 4.17 lends some support).
Translation:
For angels see 1.13.
Gather should be rendered by an expression applicable to persons, not to things, e.g. ‘he will cause to come together’ or ‘he will cause to be led together.’ Literally, the angels are the ones which evidently are to perform this task of bringing the elect together, but the syntactic form of the expression would indicate that the Son of man is the cause, since the third person singular subject of the verb is the same as for the verb send.
His elect are ‘his chosen ones’ or ‘the people he has chosen.’
Four winds provides no end of trouble, especially since only rarely can this idiom be translated literally. In Amganad Ifugao, for example, one speaks only of two winds, and ‘winds’ are never used as reference points for directions. Accordingly, one must say ‘from north, east, south, and west.’ In Cashibo-Cacataibo one may translate ‘from all parts.’ In San Blas Kuna the equivalent is ‘from the four directions,’ and in Piro one may use ‘from the four sides.’
From the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven is admittedly one of the most difficult idioms to translate in the entire gospel of Mark, for frankly, as noted above, we do not know precisely what is meant, since we do not know exactly how this expression is relatable to the cosmogony underlying Scriptural usage. It is impossible to translate end as a ‘point’ or ‘projection.’ In some instances this passage has been rendered as ‘from wherever they are, all over the earth and all over heaven’ and ‘from all over earth to all over heaven.’ However, these translations imply gathering the elect together from heaven, a meaning which is not in the original. A more accurate rendering would be ‘from the limit of the earth in one direction to the limit of the earth in the other direction.’
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 13:27
13:27
This verse indicates that when the Son of Man returns in glory, his angels will go all over the world and gather God’s people. (If you interpret 13:26 to refer to the time when Jesus ascended to heaven, you can interpret 13:27 as follows: It would indicate that the angels would begin to gather people from all over the world to become people of God. This would be a fulfillment of the prophecy in 13:10, “the gospel must first be proclaimed to all the nations.” See also Deuteronomy 30:4 and Zechariah 2:10.)
13:27a
See how you translated the title “the Son of Man” in 13:26a. If you translated it as “I, the Son of Man,” you will need to continue to use the pronoun “I” instead of “he” in 13:27a.
And: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And is literally two conjunctions: “And then.” This phrase introduces what happens next in a series of events. You should connect 13:26d and 13:27a in a way that is natural in your language. It may not be necessary to use a conjunction.
He…the angels: The word He refers to the Son of Man. The phrase the angels probably refers to the angels who will come with the Son of Man, as Mark 8:38 indicates.
angels: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as angels means “messengers.” It refers here to spirit beings who serve God. Sometimes God sends an angel to tell a message to human beings. He also sends angels to serve him in other ways.
Here are some other ways to translate this term:
• Use a descriptive word or phrase. For example:
messengers from God/heaven
-or-
good/holy spirit-beings
• Use a local term that fits the biblical meaning.
• Use a loan word from a major language. If the meaning of the word is not well-known, you may want to indicate the meaning in some way. For example:
angelos messengers from God
-or-
sacred angelos spirits
See how you translated this word in 1:13c. See also angel, Meaning 1, in the Glossary.
If you use a descriptive phrase such as “messengers from God,” make sure that it contrasts with terms that are similar in meaning like “prophet” or “apostle.” A “prophet” is also God’s messenger, and “apostle” literally means “one who is sent.” Each of these words should have a unique term in your language.
will send out: In this context the phrase will send out indicates that the Son of Man will give the angels instructions to go and do something. In some languages it may be necessary to state the place where the Son of Man will send the angels. For example:
he will send his angels all around the earth (New Century Version)
-or-
he will send his angels out into the world
See the General Comment on 13:27a–d at the end of 13:27d.
13:27b
to gather: The verb gather means “gather together.” In this context it indicates that the Son of Man will gather people to/around himself. He will do this by sending the angels to bring them to him. It is good to use a word or phrase that can describe bringing people together as one group.
His elect: The expression His elect refers to the people whom the Son of Man has elected or chosen.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
the elected/chosen people
-or-
the selected people
-or-
the people whom he elected/chose
In the context of 13:26a, His elect here refers to the people that the Son of Man has chosen. In 13:20c and 13:22c, Jesus refers to the elect that the Lord God has chosen. Since God and Jesus are one, the expressions refer to the same people. See how you translated the term “elect” in 13:20c and 13:22c.
13:27c
In some languages it may be natural to begin a new sentence here.
from the four winds: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible literally translates as from the four winds is an idiom. It means “from the north, south, east, and west,” that is from all over the earth.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
from all over the world (New Living Translation)
-or-
all around the earth (New Century Version)
There may be an idiom in your language to express this meaning.
13:27d
from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven: This long expression repeats the idea found in 13:27c. It emphasizes completeness, meaning “from absolutely all over the world/earth.” Consider how to translate 13:27c–d in an emphatic way that will not sound redundant in your language. See the General Comment on 13:27c–d for suggestions.
heaven: In this context, the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as heaven refers to the sky. Here, the word heaven combined with the word “earth” is simply a way to refer to the whole world/earth. It does not mean “where God dwells,” nor does it imply that the angels will gather people who are “in the sky.” See heaven, Meaning 1, in the Glossary.
General Comment on 13:27a–d
In this verse Jesus told about the instructions that he himself would give the angels. In some languages it may be natural to use direct speech for these instructions. Jesus referred to himself as the Son of Man. It may be necessary to indicate this by using forms like “I,” “me,” and “my,” instead of “he,” “him,” and “his.” For example:
I will send out my angels, saying, “Go out into the world and bring to me the people whom I have chosen. Go and fetch them from every place, from the farthest places on earth.”
General Comment on 13:27c–d
The meaning of 13:27c and 13:27d have the same meaning, but 13:27c is expressed in a more figurative way.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
• State the meaning twice. For example, the New Century Version says:
27cThen he will send his angels all around the earth to gather his chosen people 27dfrom every part of the earth and from every part of heaven.
• State the meaning only once, combining 13:27c–d. For example, The Contemporary English Version says:
27c–dHe will send his angels to gather his chosen ones from all over the earth.
Consider whether you have an idiom or an emphatic way to express the meaning in your language.
© 2008 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.