3While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head.
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 14:3:
Uma: “When Yesus was in the village of Betania, he went to the house of a person named Simon the leper. While he was there, a woman came carrying a bottle full of fragrant oil that was very expensive, that was made from fragrant tree roots. While Yesus was eating, the woman broke the bottle and poured it on Yesus’s head in order to honor him.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Na, Isa was there in Betani. He was eating there in the house of Simon, the man who had been a leper. So-then while they were eating, a woman arrived bringing fragrant oil. It’s container was made of the stone alabaster. That fragrant oil was called narda, it had nothing mixed with it and was very expensive. So-then the woman broke the container of the fragrant oil and she poured the oil out over Isa’s head.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “There was a time then when Jesus was in the town of Bethany in the house of Simon, the leper who was cured. While they were eating, a woman came carrying a bottle made of alabaster stone filled with fragrant perfume which was very expensive for it was pure nard. The woman came near to Jesus, and she broke the lip of the bottle and poured the perfume on the head of Jesus.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “While plural Jesus were in Betania, they went to join-in-eating at the house of Simon whose fearful skin disease Jesus had removed. When they were eating, a woman approached Jesus carrying a bottle made of alabastro (Ilo. loan) filled-with pure nardo, a most-expensive perfume. She poured it on Jesus’ head.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “While Jesus and company were still there in Betania, they went to the house of that Simon whose leprosy had been cured. When they were now eating, a woman came who was bringing a far-from-ordinary container full of most-expensive perfume for it was first-class, called nardo. On the arrival of that woman, she opened/took-the-top-off that perfume and poured it on the head of Jesus.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Mamaindé: “… a woman came up and poured out on his head-area the fluid, the good-smelling fluid, the fluid called nardo, in order to anoint him. Her good fluid was very expensive; she poured it on his head-area. Bring the box, the stone box, the alabastor-stone, its box, and breaking its nose, she poured in on his head-area.” (In Mamaindé a stylistic format is used, in which the whole story is told in resume in each of a number of different cycles. Each cycle will focus on different aspects of the story, but will maintain certain fixed points so that the listener knows where to hang the information in the time or causal sequence. All cycles close obligatorily with an identical verbal form. — Source: Peter K. E. Kingston in Notes on Translation 1973, p. 13ff.)
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, shokuji o shiteo-rare-ru (食事をしておられる) or “having a meal” is used.
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, o-rare-ru (おられる) or “is/be present” is used.
Translations of the Greek and Ge’ez that are typically translated as “faith” in English (itself deriving from Latin “fides,” meaning “trust, faith, confidence, reliance, credence”) and “believe” (from Old English belyfan: “to have faith or confidence in a person”) cover a wide range of approaches.
Bratcher and Nida say this (1961, p. 38) (click or tap here to read more):
“Since belief or faith is so essentially an intimate psychological experience, it is not strange that so many terms denoting faith should be highly figurative and represent an almost unlimited range of emotional ‘centers’ and descriptions of relationships, e.g. ‘steadfast his heart’ (Chol), ‘to arrive on the inside’ (Chicahuaxtla Triqui), ‘to conform with the heart’ (Uab Meto), ‘to join the word to the body’ (Uduk), ‘to hear in the insides’ (or ‘to hear within one’s self and not let go’ — Nida 1952) (Laka), ‘to make the mind big for something’ (Sapo), ‘to make the heart straight about’ (Mitla Zapotec), ‘to cause a word to enter the insides’ (Lacandon), ‘to leave one’s heart with’ (Baniwa), ‘to catch in the mind’ (Ngäbere), ‘that which one leans on’ (Vai), ‘to be strong on’ (Shipibo-Conibo), ‘to have no doubts’ (San Blas Kuna), ‘to hear and take into the insides’ (Kare), ‘to accept’ (Pamona).”
Following is a list of (back-) translations from other languages (click or tap here to read more):
Limos Kalinga: manuttuwa. Wiens (2013) explains: “It goes back to the word for ‘truth’ which is ‘tuttuwa.’ When used as a verb this term is commonly used to mean ‘believe’ as well as ‘obey.'”
Ngiemboon: “turn one’s back on someone” (and trusting one won’t be taken advantage of) (source: Stephen Anderson in Holzhausen 1991, p. 42)
Mwera uses the same word for “hope” and “faith”: ngulupai (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Yala: ɔtū che or “place heart” (in John 5:24; 5:45; 6:35; 6:47; 12:36; 14:1); other translations include chɛ̄ or “to agree/accept” and chɛ̄ku or “to agree with/accept with/take side with” (source: Linus Otronyi)
Matumbi: niu’bi’lyali or “believe / trust / rely (on)” and imani or “religious faith” (from Arabic īmān [إيما]) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
Ebira: “place one’s liver on something” (source: Scholz /Scholz 2015, p. 60)
Barí: a word related to standing in a hammock. Bruce Olson (1972, p. 159f.) tells this story — click or tap here to read more)
One evening, though, Bobby began to ask questions. We were sitting around a fire. The light flickered over him. His face was serious.
‘How can I walk on Jesus’ trail?’ he asked. ‘No Motilone [speakers of Barí] has ever done it. It’s a new thing. There is no other Motilone to tell how to do it.’
I remembered the problems I had had as a boy, how it sometimes appeared impossible to keep on believing in Jesus when my family and friends were so opposed to my commitment. That was what Bobby was going through.
‘Bobby,’ I said, ‘do you remember my first Festival of the Arrows, the first time I had seen all the Motilones gathered to sing their song?’ The festival was the most important ceremony in the Motilone culture.
He nodded. The fire flared up momentarily and I could see his eyes, staring intently at me.
‘Do you remember that I was afraid to climb in the high hammocks to sing, for fear that the rope would break? And I told you that I would sing only if I could have one foot in the hammock and one foot on the ground?’
‘Yes, Bruchko.’
‘And what did you say to me?’
He laughed. ‘I told you you had to have both feet in the hammock. ‘You have to be suspended,’ I said.’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘You have to be suspended. That is how it is when you follow Jesus, Bobby. No man can tell you how to walk His trail. Only Jesus can. But to find out you have to tie your hammock strings into Him, and be suspended in God.’
Bobby said nothing. The fire danced in his eyes. Then he stood up and walked off into the darkness.
The next day he came to me. ‘Bruchko,’ he said, ‘I want to tie my hammock strings into Jesus Christ. But how can I? I can’t see Him or touch Him.’
‘You have talked to spirits, haven’t you?’
‘Oh,’ he said. ‘I see now.’
The next day he had a big grin on his face. ‘Bruchko, I’ve tied my hammock strings into Jesus. Now I speak a new language.’
I didn’t understand what he meant. ‘Have you learned some of the Spanish I speak?’
He laughed, a clean, sweet laugh. ‘No, Bruchko, I speak a new language.’
Then I understood. To a Motilone, language is life. If Bobby had a new life, he had a new way of speaking. His speech would be Christ-oriented.
Awabakal: ngurruliko: “to know, to perceive by the ear” (as distinct from knowing by sight or by touch — source: Lake, p. 70) (click or tap here to read more)
“[The missionary translator] Lancelot Threlkeld learned that Awabakal, like many Australian languages, made no distinction between knowing and believing. Of course the distinction only needs to be made where there are rival systems of knowing. The Awabakal language expressed a seamless world. But as the stress on ‘belief’ itself suggests, Christianity has always existed in pluralist settings. Conversion involves deep conviction, not just intellectual assent or understanding. (…) Translating such texts posed a great challenge in Australia. Threlkeld and [his indigenous colleague] Biraban debated the possibilities at length. In the end they opted not to introduce a new term for belief, but to use the Awabakal ngurruliko, meaning ‘to know, to perceive by the ear,’ as distinct from knowing by sight or by touch.”
Language in southern Nigeria: a word based on the idiom “lose feathers.” Randy Groff in Wycliffe Bible Translators 2016, p. 65 explains (click or tap here to read more):
What does losing feathers have to do with faith? [The translator] explained that there is a species of bird in his area that, upon hatching its eggs, loses its feathers. During this molting phase, the mother bird is no longer able to fly away from the nest and look for food for her hungry hatchlings. She has to remain in the nest where she and her babies are completely dependent upon the male bird to bring them food. Without the diligent, dependable work of the male bird, the mother and babies would all die. This scenario was the basis for the word for faith in his language.
Teribe: mär: “pick one thing and one thing only” (source: Andy Keener)
Tiv: na jighjigh: “give trust” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Luba-Katanga: Twi tabilo: “echo” (click or tap here to read more)
“Luba-Katanga word for ‘Faith’ in its New Testament connotation is Twi tabilo. This word means ‘echo,’ and the way in which it came to be adapted to the New Testament meaning gives a very good idea of the way in which the translator goes to work. One day a missionary was on a journey through wild and mountainous country. At midday he called his African porters to halt, and as they lay resting in the shade from the merciless heat of the sun. an African picked up a stone and sent it ricocheting down the mountain-side into the ravine below. After some seconds the hollow silence was broken by a plunging, splashing sound from the depths of the dark river-bed. As the echo died away the African said in a wondering whisper ‘Twi tabilo, listen to it.’ So was a precious word captured for the service of the Gospel in its Luba Christian form. Twi tabilo — ‘faith which is the echo of God’s voice in the depths of human sinful hearts, awakened by God Himself, the answer to his own importunate call.’ The faith that is called into being by the divine initiative, God’s own gift to the responsive heart! (Source: Wilfred Bradnock in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 49ff. )
J.A. van Roy (in The Bible Translator 1972, p. 418ff. ) discusses how a translation of “faith” in a an earlier translation into Venda created difficult perceptions of the concept of faith (click or tap here):
The Venda term u tenda, lutendo. This term corresponds to the terms ho dumela (Southern Sotho), and ku pfumela (Tsonga) that have been used in these translations of the Bible, and means “to assent,” “to agree to a suggestion.” It is important to understand this term in the context of the character of the people who use it.
The way in which the Venda use this term reveals much about the priority of interpersonal relationships among them. They place a much higher priority on responding in the way they think they are expected to respond than on telling the truth. Smooth interpersonal relationships, especially with a dominant individual or group, take precedence over everything else.
It is therefore regarded as bad form to refuse directly when asked for something one does not in fact intend to give. The correct way is to agree, u tenda, and then forget about it or find some excuse for not keeping to the agreement. Thus u tenda does not necessarily convey the information that one means what one says. One can tenda verbally while heartily disagreeing with the statement made or having no intention whatsoever to carry out what one has just promised to do. This is not regarded as dishonesty, but is a matter of politeness.
The term u sokou tenda, “to consent reluctantly,” is often used for expressing the fatalistic attitude of the Venda in the face of misfortune or force which he is unable to resist.
The form lutendo was introduced by missionaries to express “faith.”
According to the rules of derivations and their meanings in the lu-class, it should mean “the habit of readily consenting to everything.” But since it is a coined word which does not have a clearly defined set of meanings in everyday speech, it has acquired in church language a meaning of “steadfastness in the Christian life.” Una lutendo means something like “he is steadfast in the face of persecution.” It is quite clear that the term u tenda has no element of “trust” in it. (…)
In “The Christian Minister” of July 1969 we find the following statement about faith by Albert N. Martin: “We must never forget that one of the great issues which the Reformers brought into focus was that faith was something more than an ‘assensus,’ a mere nodding of the head to the body of truth presented by the church as ‘the faith.’ The Reformers set forth the biblical concept that faith was ‘fiducia.’ They made plain that saving faith involved trust, commitment, a trust and commitment involving the whole man with the truth which was believed and with the Christ who was the focus of that truth. The time has come when we need to spell this out clearly in categorical statements so that people will realize that a mere nodding of assent to the doctrines that they are exposed to is not the essence of saving faith. They need to be brought to the understanding that saving faith involves the commitment of the whole man to the whole Christ, as Prophet, Priest and King as he is set forth in the gospel.”
We quote at length from this article because what Martin says of the current concept of faith in the Church is even to a greater extent true of the Venda Church, and because the terms used for communicating that concept in the Venda Bible cannot be expected to communicate anything more than “a mere nodding of assent”. I have during many years of evangelistic work hardly ever come across a Venda who, when confronted with the gospel, would not say, Ndi khou tenda, “I admit the truth of what you say.” What they really mean when saying this amounts to, “I believe that God exists, and I have no objection to the fact that he exists. I suppose that the rest of what you are talking about is also true.” They would often add, Ndi sa tendi hani-hani? “Just imagine my not believing such an obvious fact!” To the experienced evangelist this is a clear indication that his message is rejected in so far as it has been understood at all! To get a negative answer, one would have to press on for a promise that the “convert” will attend the baptism class and come to church on Sundays, and even then he will most probably just tenda in order to get rid of the evangelist, whether he intends to come or not. Isn’t that what u tenda means? So when an inexperienced and gullible white man ventures out on an evangelistic campaign with great enthusiasm, and with great rejoicing returns with a list of hundreds of names of persons who “believed”, he should not afterwards blame the Venda when only one tenth of those who were supposed to be converts actually turn up for baptismal instruction.
Moreover, it is not surprising at all that one often comes across church members of many years’ standing who do not have any assurance of their salvation or even realise that it is possible to have that assurance. They are vhatendi, “consenters.” They have consented to a new way of life, to abandoning (some of) the old customs. Lutendo means to them at most some steadfastness in that new way of life.
The concept of faith in religion is strange to Africa. It is an essential part of a religion of revelation such as Christianity or Islam, but not of a naturalistic religion such as Venda religion, in which not faith and belief are important, but ritual, and not so much the content of the word as the power of it.
The terms employed in the Venda Bible for this vital Christian concept have done nothing to effect a change in the approach of the Venda to religion.
It is a pity that not only in the Venda translation has this been the case, but in all the other Southern Bantu languages. In the Nguni languages the term ukukholwa, “to believe a fact,” has been used for pisteuo, and ukholo, the deverbative of ukukholwa, for pistis. In some of the older Protestant translations in Zulu, but not in the new translation, the term ithemba, “trust”, has been used.
Some languages, including Santali, have two terms — like English (see above) — to differentiate a noun from a verb form. Biswạs is used for “faith,” whereas pạtiạu for “believe.” R.M. Macphail (in The Bible Translator 1961, p. 36ff. ) explains this choice: “While there is little difference between the meaning and use of the two in everyday Santali, in which any word may be used as a verb, we felt that in this way we enriched the translation while making a useful distinction, roughly corresponding to that between ‘faith’ and ‘to believe’ in English.”
Likewise, in Noongar, koort-karni or “heart truth” is used for the noun (“faith”) and djinang-karni or “see true” for the verb (“believe”) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
In Hungarian Sign Language “faith” is translated with a sign that refers to the gesture of clinging to God, which expresses a certainty in things unseen (see Hebrews 11:1). (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)
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®).
ontos autou en Bēthania ‘while he was at Bethany,’ ‘during his stay in Bethany’ (cf. 11.1 for Bethany).
Simōnos tou leprou ‘of Simon the Leper’: commentators suggest, with considerable probability, that this Simon was by now cured, but still retained the name of ‘the Leper’ (so Jerome, quoted by Swete).
lepros (cf. 1.40) ‘leper.’
katekeimenou autou (cf. 1.30) ‘while he was reclining at the table.’
gunē ‘woman’: here she remains anonymous; in John 12.3 she is identified as Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus.
echousa ‘having,’ i.e. ‘having with her.’
alabastron (only here in Mark) ‘alabaster’: by extension ‘a flask made of alabaster,’ described as “a vessel with a rather long neck which was broken off when the contents were used.” Lagrange suggests that the vase was perhaps made of oriental onyx, popularly called alabaster.
murou (14.4, 5) ‘of ointment,’ ‘of unguent’: the genitive defines the contents of the flask, not the material of which it was made.
nardou (only here in Mark) ‘of nard’: this genitive defines the kind of ointment in the flask. The oil was extracted from the root of the nard, a plant native to India.
pistikēs (only here in Mark) ‘pure,’ ‘genuine,’ ‘unadulterated’: the genitive further defines the ointment. The meaning of this word has been a source of speculation and disagreement. Most commentators take it to mean here ‘pure,’ ‘genuine’: others, however, take it to refer to a plant whose name, being misunderstood, was simply transliterated into Greek. Black surmises that it was the oil of the pistachio nut, which in Aramaic would have been pistaka’.
polutelous (only here in Mark) ‘expensive,’ ‘costly.’
suntripsasa (cf. 5.4) ‘breaking,’ ‘smashing.’
katecheen (only here in Mark) ‘she poured,’ ‘she poured on’: the woman broke the flask, presumably its neck, and poured the ointment on the head of Jesus.
Translation:
He must be clearly identified, whether in this verse or in one of the two preceding verses. In some instances it is best to use ‘Jesus.’
For leper see 1.40.
There is an awkward syntactic problem in this verse because of the double dependent temporal clauses while he was…, as he sat …. In some languages these must be separated, since two such clauses cannot precede the main clause, e.g. ‘Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper. While he was sitting there….’
Sat at table is equivalent to saying ‘sat eating’ or even ‘was eating.’
Alabaster jar may be translated as ‘a jar made of stone called alabaster’ or ‘an alabaster stone jar.’ ‘Stone’ must often be added in order that the borrowing ‘alabaster’ may have some significance.
Ointment is equivalent in many languages to ‘oil’ or simply ‘liquid.’
Nard must usually be borrowed, e.g. ‘a liquid called nard’ (Amganad Ifugao) or ‘ointment, very fragrant, nardo its name’ (Tzeltal), in which nardo has been borrowed from Spanish. ‘Very fragrant’ has been used in order to help explain the significance of the type of ointment, for otherwise the Tzeltal term would be understood to mean ‘medicine.’ In Huastec, the translation is ‘stone container of perfume, called nardo, very expensive.’ In Amganad Ifugao one may say ‘stone jar with a liquid called nard, smelling like flowers,’ in which the last phrase is a usual designation for any kind of perfume.
Very costly must constitute an entirely separate sentence in some languages, e.g. ‘it was very expensive’ or ‘this had cost a great deal.’
One must be very careful of the syntactic relationship of the phrase ‘over his head,’ which in some languages has been related to the breaking of the jar, implying that the jar was crushed on Jesus head.
It must refer to the liquid, not the jar, e.g. ‘poured the liquid on his head’ or ‘poured the perfume onto his head.’
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 .
A woman honored Jesus by pouring perfume on his head
In this section, Mark told how a woman honored Jesus. She did this by pouring very expensive perfume on his head while he was eating with some friends. Jesus said that what the woman did prepared his body for burial. Her action contrasted sharply with the way the Jewish leaders were plotting to arrest and kill Jesus in the previous section (14:1–2). It also contrasted with Judas’ offer to betray Jesus in the next section (14:10–11).
The events in this section happened in Bethany, which was near Jerusalem on the slope of the Mount of Olives. Before 14:3, the last reference to Jesus’ location was in 13:3, which tells us that “Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives.” Mark 11:11–12 indicates that Jesus stayed in Bethany at night and went to Jerusalem during the day.
It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
A woman pours perfume on Jesus’ head -or-
A woman honors Jesus at Bethany
There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 26:6–13 and John 12:1–8.
Paragraph 14:3–5
14:3a–b
While Jesus was in Bethany reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper: The clause While Jesus was in Bethany introduces a new story that contrasts with the story in 14:1–2. While the chief priests and elders were plotting against him in 14:1–2, Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a friend. Begin this story in a natural way in your language.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had leprosy. (New Living Translation, 1996 edition) -or-
Jesus was eating in Bethany at the house of Simon (Contemporary English Version)
From 14:4a we know that Jesus was not eating alone. In some languages it may be more natural to indicate that here. For example:
Jesus and others
Bethany:Bethany was a village on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives. It was about four kilometers from Jerusalem.
reclining at the table: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as reclining at the table is literally just “reclining” or “lying.” In this context it probably means that Jesus was lying on his side, on a low couch or cushion. His head was propped on one elbow. This was one of the positions that people of Jesus’ time used when they ate, especially if it was a special meal. However, the position is not in focus here. (According to Louw & Nida people in Bible times ate in different positions. (1) They reclined on a couch or cushions facing a low table; (2) they sat on chairs around a table; and (3) they sat on cushions around a table.)
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
• Keep the position and add an explanatory phrase. For example:
reclining at the table (New International Version) -or-
lying on his side eating
• Use a position that people normally use for eating in your culture. For example, the Revised Standard Version says:
as he sat at the table
• Omit the position and just say what Jesus was doing. For example, the Good News Bible says:
While Jesus was eating
See also the notes on 2:15a, where the Berean Standard Bible translates a similar Greek word as “dining.”
In some languages it may be natural to first mention that Jesus was eating, and then introduce what happened while he was eating. For example:
Jesus was in Bethany, eating at the home of Simon the Leper. While he was eating…
Simon the Leper: The phrase Simon the Leper refers to a man named Simon who had been sick with the disease called “leprosy.” The name Simon was a common name, so people probably added the phrase the Leper to identify him.
According to Jewish law, lepers were not allowed to visit with healthy people or to eat with them. For this reason, most scholars believe that Simon was already healed from his leprosy. In some languages it may be best to indicate this explicitly. For example:
Simon, whose leprosy was healed -or-
a man called Simon, who once had been a leper -or-
Simon, a man who had suffered from a dreaded skin disease (Good News Bible)
Leper: A Leper is a person who has a skin disease called “leprosy.” The Greek word that many English versions translate as “leprosy” refers to a variety of dreaded skin diseases. This same word occurs in 1:40a.
14:3c
a woman came with an alabaster jar: This clause indicates that a woman came to the place where Jesus was. She was carrying a beautiful jar.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
a woman came in carrying a bottle made of alabaster -or-
a certain woman brought a lovely/expensive stone vial
a woman: Mark does not indicate who this woman was. Introduce her into the story in a natural way in your language.
alabaster jar: An alabaster jar was a small, expensive container like a vial or bottle. It was made from a beautiful white and yellow stone called alabaster that came from Egypt.
Here are some other ways to translate the word alabaster:
• Borrow the word from a major language version and add a descriptive phrase. For example:
a flask/bottle made of alabaster -or-
a jar/bottle made of a beautiful stone called alabaster
If you use this option, be careful that the descriptive phrase fits smoothly into the story and does not distract the reader with unnecessary details. Interesting but unnecessary details can be put in a footnote if desired.
• Use a descriptive phrase that describes the significance of “alabaster” in the context. For example:
a beautiful bottle/vial
• Use a general term. For example:
a bottle (Revised English Bible, God’s Word)
You should not substitute a different locally-known material for “alabaster,” because this verse is describing a historical incident.
14:3d
of expensive perfume, made of pure nard: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as perfume refers here to a sweet-smelling oil. This particular perfume cost a lot of money.
Here are some other ways to translate the phrase of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard:
filled with a very expensive sweet-smelling oil made from pure nard -or-
…filled with perfume. The price of this perfume was very high because it was made from pure/undiluted nard oil.
made of pure nard: The Greek word that most English versions translate as pure probably indicates that the nard was not diluted or mixed with anything else. It was one hundred percent nard. The nard would be very expensive because it was pure.
nard: The word nard is the name of the oil from a plant called spikenard or nard.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
• Borrow the term and spell it according to the sounds of your language. For example:
nardi -or-
narade
• Borrow the term and add a descriptive phrase. For example:
an oil called nard -or-
a good-smelling oil called nard
14:3e
She broke open the jar: The woman intentionally broke or snapped the narrow neck of the jar in order to open it and easily pour out the perfume. Opening the jar in this way may also have indicated that she intended to pour out all the perfume. (A number of commentaries say that breaking the bottle also indicated that it could not be used again. None of the commentaries used in preparing these notes clarified whether there were alternate ways of opening sealed alabaster perfume flasks or whether such flasks could be resealed, so it is difficult to know whether the woman’s intention was to keep the flask from being reused.) It may be necessary to make some of the implied information explicit so that your readers understand why the woman broke the jar. For example:
She broke open the jar (New Living Translation) -or-
She opened the flask/bottle by breaking off its neck -or-
She snapped/broke off the neck/lip of the bottle
Your translation should not imply that the woman smashed the entire jar or that she broke it over Jesus’ head. It should also not imply that she broke it accidentally. In some languages it may be too awkward to clearly explain how the woman broke the jar. If that is true in your language, consider translating in a general way. For example:
She opened the bottle (God’s Word)
14:3f
and poured it on Jesus’ head: In Jewish culture people often poured oil on the head of an important guest. This showed courtesy and hospitality toward him. When the woman poured perfume on Jesus’ head, she honored him in a greater way than guests were normally honored. (In that culture women did not interrupt men who were eating except to serve them more food. So the woman showed special courage in pouring this expensive perfume on Jesus’ head during the meal.) The woman did not use ordinary anointing oil. She poured all the expensive perfume on Jesus.
In some cultures people may be confused by the action of pouring perfume on the head of a guest. It may express a wrong meaning. If this is true in your language, it may be necessary to indicate the purpose of the action. For example:
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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
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