Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )
For purchasing artworks by Kateryna Shadrina go to IconArt Gallery .
The Greek that is translated as “betray” in English does not have an immediately corresponding term in Tado. The term that was chosen there was “sell.” (Source: Budy Karmoy in this blog post )
The Hebrew and the Greek that is usually directly translated as “kiss” in English is translated more indirectly in other languages because kissing is deemed as inappropriate, is not a custom at all, or is not customary in the particular context (see the English translation of J.B. Phillips [publ. 1960] in Romans 16:16: “Give each other a hearty handshake”). Here are some examples:
Pökoot: “greet warmly” (“kissing in public, certainly between men, is absolutely unacceptable in Pökoot.”) (Source: Gerrit van Steenbergen)
Pitjantjatjara: “when you meet/join up with others of Jesus’ relatives hug and kiss them [footnote], for you are each a relative of the other through Jesus.” Footnote: “This was their custom in that place to hug and kiss one another in happiness. Maybe when we see another relative of Jesus we shake hands and rejoice.” (esp. Rom. 16:16) (source for this and two above: Carl Gross)
Kamba: “greet with the greeting of love” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Mende: “embrace” (“greet one another with the kiss of love”: “greet one another and embrace one another to show that you love one another”) (source for this and two above: Rob Koops)
Gen: “embrace affectionately” (source: John Ellington)
Kachin: “holy and pure customary greetings” (source: Gam Seng Shae)
Kahua: “smell” (source: David Clark) (also in Ekari and Kekchí, source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Chichewa: “suck” (“habit and term a novelty amongst the young and more or less westernized people, the traditional term for greeting a friend after a long absence being, ‘clap in the hands and laugh happily'”)
Medumba: “suck the cheek” (“a novelty, the traditional term being ‘to embrace.'”)
Elhomwe: “show respect by hugging” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Balinese: “caress” (source for this and three above: Reiling / Swellengrebel; Vidunda: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Tsafiki: earlier version: “greet in a friendly way,” later revision: “kiss on the face” (Bruce Moore [in: Notes on Translation 1/1992, p. 1ff.] explains: “Formerly, kissing had presented a problem. Because of the Tsáchilas’ [speakers of Tsafiki] limited exposure to Hispanic culture they understood the kiss only in the eros context. Accordingly, the original translation had rendered ‘kiss’ in a greeting sense as ‘greet in a friendly way’. The actual word ‘kiss’ was not used. Today ‘kiss’ is still an awkward term, but the team’s judgment was that it could be used as long as long as it was qualified. So ‘kiss’ (in greeting) is now ‘kiss on the face’ (that is, not on the lips).)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated as heiliger Kuss or “holy kiss” in the epistles. The translators note (p. 62): “It is possible that this is an early practice in which Christians communicate the Holy Spirit to one another or rekindle it.”
It was a man named Judas. He was one of the 12 disciples. He was approaching. And with him was a large crowd of people with swords, spears, and wooden clubs. Why were they walking with Judas? The leaders, the high priests, and the teachers of the law had assigned these people to follow Judas, the real traitor. He had agreed with them that whoever he kissed should be seized and tied up. That was his agreement with them. Judas approached Jesus, greeted him as “teacher,” and kissed him on the cheek. And immediately the people around Judas attacked Jesus. One of the disciples, who was standing next to Jesus, cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant.
Jesus said to the crowd:
— Why did you attack me? Am I a robber? Why do you need swords, wooden stakes? If you decided to seize me, when I taught openly in the temple before, why didn’t you seize me then? What is happening now was definitely written in the Scriptures in ancient times.
The disciples, seeing all this, ran away in fear. Jesus was left alone. The crowd seized him. There was a young man there. He had only a cloak on his naked body. He was watching Jesus. They seized the young man, but he wriggled away, threw off his cloak, and ran away naked. And the crowd led Jesus away.
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Иисус сказал ученикам:
— Вон приближается человек.
Это был человек по имени Иуда. Он был один из 12 учеников. Он приближался. А вместе с ним шла большая толпа народу с мечами, копьями, а также деревянными дубинами. Почему они шли вместе с Иудой? Начальники, первосвященники и учителя закона поручили этим людям следовать за Иудой, настоящим предателем. Он договорился с ними, что тот человек, которого он поцелует, его нужно схватить и связать. Так он с ними условился. Иуда подошел к Иисусу, поприветствовал «учитель» и поцеловал в щеку. И тут же люди вокруг Иуды напали на Иисуса. Один ученик, который стоял рядом с Иисусом, отсек слуге первосвященника ухо.
Иисус сказал толпе:
— Почему вы напали на меня? Разве я разбойник? Зачем вам мечи, деревянные колья? Если вы решили схватить меня, то ведь и раньше в храме я открыто учил, почему же вы меня не хватали? То, что происходит сейчас, точно было написано в Писании еще в древности.
Ученики, видя все это, в страхе разбежались. Иисус остался один. Толпа схватила его. Там был один юноша. Из всей одежды у него был только плащ, надетый на голое тело. Он наблюдал за Иисусом. Юношу схватили, но он вывернулся, сбросив плащ, и убежал голый. А толпа повела Иисуса.
Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)
Los líderes de los sacerdotes, los maestros de la ley y los ancianos mandaron a los soldados a que fueran en grupo llevando espadas y bastones, y todos fueron.
Un discípulo, Judas, les había advertido antes: “Al que yo me acerco y beso, este es Jesús, uds arrestenlo y llevenlo, y vigilenlo.
Allá Jesús estaba hablando y platicando y se volvió a ver a Judas que vino y se acercó diciendo “Maestro” y lo besó.
Las personas arrestaron a Jesús.
El siervo del sumo sacerdote, una persona sacó su espasa y lo agredió y quitó la oreja del siervo. Después Jesús dijo: “Yo diario iba al templo de Jerusalén y estaba enseñando en la plaza afuera, uds me veían pero jamás me han arrestado, ¿porqué ahora me arrestan?
Hace mucho un profeta lo ha escrito en el rollo, y lo que dijo (se ha cumplido) exactamente. ¿Porqué traen espadas y bastones de madera? ¿Parezco igual que un ratero, un ladrón?”
Los soldados lo arrestaron y se fueron llevandolo y todos los discípulos lo dejaron y se piraron y esparcieron.
Un hombre jóven que estaba envuelto en una sábana siguió al grupo, y los soldados lo vieron y lo arrestaron, pero el hombre dejó la sábana con ellos y se piró corriendo completamente desnudo.
The leaders of the priests, the teachers of the law and the elders sent soldiers out and they went as a group carrying swords and wooden rods.
One disciple, Judas, had warned them before: “The one that I approach and kiss, that is Jesus, you arrest him and take him away, and keep watch.”
Over there Jesus was talking and he turned around to see Judas coming, he approached him and said: “Teacher” and kissed him.
The people arrested Jesus.
The servant of the high priest, a person drew his sword and attacked him and cut off the ear of the servant. Then Jesus said: “Daily I went to the temple in Jerusalem and was preaching in the square outside, you saw me but you have never arrested me. Why are you arresting me now?
Long ago a prophet has written it in the scroll and what he said (has come to pass) exactly. Why do you bring swords and wooden rods? Do I appear to be a pickpocket, a thief?”
The soldiers arrested him and took him away and all the disciples left him and they went away and scattered.
A young man who was wrapped in a sheet followed the group, and the soldiers saw him and arrested him, but the man left the sheet in their hands and ran off completely naked.
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 14:44:
Uma: “Yudas had already told them the sign so that they would knew which one was Yesus, he said: ‘The one whom I will kiss, he’s the one. Catch him and take him off, guard him well.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “They had been given a sign by Judas. He had hep said to them, ‘Whoever I kiss, he is the person. Seize/arrest him and take him away and watch him well.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Judas, their guide to Jesus, had told them before what the sign would be for them to recognize Jesus. He said, ‘The person whom I kiss is the one you are looking for. Arrest him and guard him carefully as you take him.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “There was a sign that Judas had agreed-on-with his accompanying-group so that that’s how-they -would-recognize Jesus. He said, ‘The one I will kiss, that’s whom you are to arrest. Carefully guard/watch him in taking-him -away.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “While they were still on their way, Judas had already said to those companions of his what he would do. He said, ‘Now whoever I kiss, that’s the one we (incl.) have come for. Arrest him at once and take him along carefully.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
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 tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”
In that system, one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and others 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: “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. Other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are Twents as well as Indonesian and Malay. In the latter two 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. ).
dedōkei ‘he had given’: the pluperfect has here its full force.
ho paradidous auton (cf. v. 10) ‘he who delivered him.’
sussēmon (only here in the N.T.) a prearranged ‘sign,’ ‘signal.’
philēsō (only here in Mark) ‘I shall kiss’ (cf. for this meaning of phileō ‘love’).
kratēsate auton (cf. 1.31) ‘you are to seize him,’ ‘you arrest him.’
apagete (14.53; 15.16) ‘you are to lead (him) away’: the verb is used of prisoners or condemned men being taken away under guard .
asphalōs (only here in Mark) ‘safely.’
Translation:
The betrayer is often rendered as ‘the one who was going to betray Jesus.’
Given them a sign may need to be shifted to ‘give the crowd a sign’ for otherwise them will refer to the immediately preceding third person plural referents, namely, the chief priests, the scribes and the elders.
In most languages there are ways of describing a secret sign which is given to persons in advance of an event. However, in some cases one must simply describe the circumstance, e.g. ‘he had already told them how he was going to do’ (Tabasco Chontal).
Kiss constitutes a problem, not only because kissing is not practiced in many parts of the world, but even where it is, there is a tendency to associate kissing with strictly sexual practices. In order to avoid a wrong connotation one may add a classifying expression, e.g. ‘shall greet by kissing.’
Part of the difficult with the word kiss may be avoided if one does not imply the necessity of kissing on the mouth, for undoubtedly the kiss by Judas was on the cheek, since this would be the normal manner of greeting. In one early translation the rendering ‘kiss (literally ‘suck’) on the mouth’ was very offensive, but a shift which meant only ‘to suck’ was considered quite acceptable, when it was accompanied by a classifying phrase ‘greeted him by sucking.’ In Amganad Ifugao a solution has been found in the expression ‘the one I shall greet by smelling his face.’ The Amganad Ifugao people do not themselves kiss, but they call foreign kissing ‘smelling the face.’
Safely is surprisingly difficult to render literally. Certainly, the safety implied was not a matter of Jesus’ own safety, as some translations have declared. Rather, it was a caution for the men to guard Jesus carefully lest he do something which would thwart their purposes. In Tzeltal this type of action is described as ‘lead him away between persons,’ that is, guarded on all sides. In other instances, ‘guard him carefully’ would be an equivalent of the Greek term asphalōs.
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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