Mark 14:49 – TIPs

teach

The Greek that is translated as a form of “teach” is translated with some figurative phrases such as “to engrave the mind” (Ngäbere) or “to cause others to imitate” (Huichol). (Source: Bratcher / Nida)

In Noongar it is translated as karni-waangki or “truth saying” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

scripture

The Greek that is translated “scripture” or “scriptures” in English is translated as “God’s word which people wrote” in Guerrero Amuzgo (source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125) and “paper writings” in Copainalá Zoque (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.).

While the term “Bible,” often used as a synonym, does not appear in the Bible itself, there’s an interesting translation of that word in Dehu. Missionaries had translated “Bible” as “Container of the Word” until they realized that this was also used for “penis sheath.” (Source: Clifford 1992, p. 87)

For other translations of scripture see all scripture is inspired by God and examined the scriptures.

Mark 14:43 - 52 in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 14:43-52 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)

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.

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

<< Mark 14:32-42 in Mexican Sign Language
Mark 14:53-65 in Mexican Sign Language >>

Mark 14:43-52 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 14:43-52 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:

Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

Jesus said to his disciples:

— There goes a man approaching.

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.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

<< Mark 14:32-42 in Russian Sign Language
Mark 14:53-65 in Russian Sign Language >>

synagogue, temple (inner), temple (outer)

In many English translations the Greek terms “hieron” (the whole “temple” in Jerusalem or specifically the outer courts open to worshippers) and “naos” (the inner “shrine” or “sanctuary”) are translated with only one word: “temple” (see also for instance “Tempel” in German [for exception see below] and “tempel” in Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans).

Other languages make a distinction: (Click or tap here to see more)

Navajo (Dinė): “house in which worship is carried out” (for naos)
Balinese: “inner part of the Great Temple” (“the term ‘inner part’ denoting the hindmost and holiest of the two or three courts that temples on Bali usually possess”) vs. “Great Temple”
Telugu: “womb (i.e. interior)-of-the-abode” vs. “abode”
Thai: a term denoting the main audience hall of a Buddhist temple compound vs. “environs-of-the-main-audience-hall”
Kituba: “place of holiness of house-God Lord” vs. “house-God Lord”
Shipibo-Conibo: “deep in God’s house” vs. “God’s house” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “inner court of the temple” (Tempelinnenhof) vs. “temple”

Languages that, like English, German, Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans, don’t make that distinction include:

Mandarin Chinese: “聖殿 Shèng diàn” (“holy palace”)
Loma: “the holy place”
Pular: “the sacred house” (source for this and the one above: Bratcher / Nida)
Zarma: “God’s compound”
Eastern Highland Otomi: “big church of the Jews”
Yatzachi Zapotec: “big house on top (i.e. most important)”
Toraja-Sa’dan: “house that is looked upon as holy, that is sacred, that is taboo and where one may not set foot” (lit. “house where-the-belly-gets-swollen” — because taboo is violated — using a term that is also applied to a Muslim mosque) (source for this and the three above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Mairasi: Janav Enggwarjer Weso: “Great Above One’s (God’s) House” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Noongar: Maya-maya-Kooranyi: “Sacred House” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Huehuetla Tepehua: “the big church of the Israelites”
Aguaruna: “the house for talking to God” (source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
Guhu-Samane: “festival longhouse of God” (“The biiri, ‘festival longhouse’, being the religious and social center of the community, is a possible term for ‘temple’. It is not the ‘poro house’ as such. That would be too closely identified with the cult of poro. The physical features of the building, huge and sub-divided, lend it further favor for this consideration. By qualifying it as ‘God’s biiri’ the term has become meaningful and appropriate in the context of the Scriptures.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. )
Enga: “God’s restricted access house” (source: Adam Boyd on his blog )

Another distinction that tends to be overlooked in translations is that between hieron (“temple” in English) and sunagógé (“synagogue” in English). Euan Fry (in The Bible Translator 1987, p. 213ff. ) reports on this:

“Many older translations have simply used transliterations of ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ rather than trying to find equivalent terms or meaningful expressions in their own languages. This approach does keep the two terms separate; but it makes the readers depend on explanations given by pastors or teachers for their understanding of the text.

“Translators who have tried to find meaningful equivalents, for the two terms ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ have usually made a distinction between them in one of two ways (which focus on the contrasting components of meaning). One way takes the size and importance of the Temple to make a contrast, so that expressions such as ‘sacred meeting/ worship house of the Jews’ and ‘big sacred meeting/worship house of the Jews’ are used. The other way focuses on the different nature of the religious activity at each of the places, so that expressions such as ‘meeting/worship house of the Jews’ and ‘sacrifice/ceremony place of the Jews’ are used.

“It is not my purpose in this article to discuss how to arrive at the most precise equivalent to cover all the components of meaning of ‘temple’. That is something that each translator really has to work through for himself in the light of the present usage and possibilities in his own language. My chief concern here is that the basic term or terms chosen for ‘temple’ should give the reader of a translation a clear and correct picture of the location referred to in each passage. And I am afraid that in many cases where an equivalent like ‘house of God’ or ‘worship house’ has been chosen, the readers have quite the wrong picture of what going to the Temple or being in the Temple means. (This may be the case for the word ‘temple’ in English too, for many readers.)”

Here are some examples:

Bambara: “house of God” (or: “big house of worship”) vs. “worship house” (or: “small houses of worship”)
Toraja-Sa’dan: “house where-the-belly-gets-swollen” (see above) vs. “meeting house for discussing matters concerning religious customs” (and “church” is “house where one meets on Sunday”)
Navajo (Dinė): “house in which worship is carried out” vs. “house of gathering” (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida)

Bangandu: “the great house of God” vs. “house of prayer” (Source: Ervais Fotso Noumsi in Le Sycomore, 16/1, 2022 )

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Herod’s temple (source: Bible Lands 2012)

Click or tap here to see a short video clip showing synagogues in New Testament times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

complete verse (Mark 14:49)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 14:49:

Uma: “Every day I was with you in the House of God teaching, why didn’t you catch me then? But this must happen, so that what is written in the Holy Book happens.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Every day I was there teaching/preaching in the temple. You were there but you did not seize me there. But,’ he said, ‘all that is written in the holy-book has to be fulfilled.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Everyday I was with you in the House of God teaching, and you did not seize me. However, this is taking place for the prophecies in the written word of God are being fulfilled.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Daily emphatically I was in the Temple teaching you, but you didn’t arrest me. But all these-things have happened in order that what God caused-to-be-written will be fulfilled.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Daily I was teaching there in the Templo but you didn’t arrest me there. However it’s necessary that the written word of God be fulfilled.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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 choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)