The Greek that is translated as “looking for testimony against Jesus” or similar in English is translated in Mezquital Otomi as “looking for two people to accuse Jesus and say the same word.” The implicit information that this refers to two concordant testimonies is made explicit to avoid the apparent contradiction in the following verse ‘many bore false witness against him.’ (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “chief priest” in English is translated in Muyuw as tanuwgwes lun or “ruler-of peace offering.” (Source: David Lithgow in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 118ff. )
Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)
Los soldados llevaron a Jesús y entraron la casa del sumo sacerdote y subieron.
Afuera en la plaza los hombres que vigilaban el templo estaban sentados alrededor del fuego. Pedro fue a sentarse y calientarse las manos al fuego.
Al mismo tiempo Jesús estaba frente al sumo sacerdote y se juntaron otros líderes de los sacerdotes y los ancianos y maestros de la ley alrededor de él y querían castigar a Jesús a morir.
Dijeron: “¿Quién es testigo en contra de Jesús?” Una persona vino a contar y criticar y lo inventó todo, y otra persona vino y contó mentiras, y vinieron uno por uno y dijeron diferentes cosas y fue un desórden.
Los sacerdotes miraraon de uno a otro: ‘No hay personas que dicen lo mismo, es difícil escoger testigos.’
Algunas otras personas se levantaron y caminaron (al frente) y hablaron una mentira:
“Oímos a Jesús diciendo que el templo de Jerusalén, que fue construido por hombres, en el futuro él, Jesús, lo quitará y lo destruyerá y en tres días reconstruyerá nuevo templo. Dice que no necesita ayuda de la gente.”
Ellos dijeron diferentes cosas y el sumo sacerdote se paró y caminó (hacia Jesús) y dijo: “Jesús, ellos (están hablando) en contra de ti y tú dices nada, ¿sabes de qué están hablando?”
Jesús estaba silencioso, callado y el sacerdote otra vez le preguntó: “¿Eres el Cristo, el hijo del Dios santo?”
Jesús (dijo): “Sí, lo soy y les advierto: en el futuro uds todos verán a Dios, el poderoso, sentado con el hijo del hombre a su lado.
Luego en el futuro uds verán con sus propios ojos que el hijo del hombre venga con las nubes, este mismo soy yo.”
El sumo sacerdote lo vio y arrancó su mantó, rompiendolo, y dijo: “Uds ven y oyen que Jesús está hablando algo fuerte e irrespetuoso contra Dios, no necesitamos más testigos.
¿Uds qué piensan?, diganme.” Los sacerdotes y los maestros de la ley y los ancianos (dijeron): “Jesús es malo, es necesario y mejor castigarlo con la muerte.”
Algunos fueron uno por uno y lo escupieron en la cara y le ataron ua venda y lo golpieron en la cara.
Dijeron: “Tú eres una profeta, ¿quién de nosotros te golpeó? Vamos, dinos.” Y lo golpearon más, y otros hombres que vigiliaban el templo fueron y lo bofetearon en la cara.
The soldiers took Jesus and they entered the house of the high priest and went up.
Outside in the square the men that kept watch over the temple were sitting around the fire. Peter went over to sit down and warm his hands by the fire.
At the same time Jesus was standing in front of the high priest and other leaders of the priests and the elders and teachers of the law gathered around him and they wanted to punish Jesus to death.
They said: “Who will be a witness against Jesus?” One person came up to tell things and criticize, making it all up, and another person came and told lies, and they came one by one and told different things, and it was a chaos.
The priests looked from one to the other: ‘There are no persons who say the same thing, it is difficult to choose witnesses.’
Some other people got up and walked (to the front) and told a lie:
˜We heard Jesus say that the temple in Jerusalem, that was built by men, in the future he, Jesus, will destroy it and in three days he will rebuild a new temple. He says he does not need help from the people.”
They said different things and the high priest got up and walked over (to Jesus) and said: “Jesus, they (are talking) against you, and you say nothing, do you know what they are talking about?”
Jesus was silent and kept quiet, and the priest asked him again: “Are you the Christ, the son of the holy God?”
Jesus (said): “Yes, I am and I tell you: in the future you will all see God, the almighty, sitting with the son of man next to him.
“Then in the future you will see with your own eyes that the Son of Man is coming on the clouds, and I am he.”
The high priest saw it and he tore his mantle open and said: “You see and hear that Jesus is saying something strong and disrespectful against God, we do not need more witnesses.
“What do you think? Tell me.” The priests and the teachers of the law and the elders (said): “Jesus is bad, it is necessary and better to punish him with death.”
Some went up one by one and they spit him in the face and they blindfolded him and hit him in the face.
They said: “You are a prophet, who of us beat you? Come on, tell us.” And they beat him some more, and other men who kept watch over the temple, went up and struck him in the face.
The chief priests, the elders, the teachers of the law gathered in the house of the high priest. There they waited for Jesus to be brought. When Jesus had been seized earlier, a disciple named Peter had secretly followed Jesus. When the crowd that had seized Jesus entered the courtyard of the high priest’s house, Peter secretly followed them and began to warm himself by the fire that was there in the courtyard. The servants of the high priest were around. Peter was secretly watching.
The high priest and the judges began to question the people. They needed proof that Jesus had committed a crime in order to condemn him to death. Many liars began to slander Jesus. But the judges understood that these accusations were not enough to condemn Jesus to death. Some liars began to testify against Jesus:
“He said that I will destroy the Temple, which was built in the distant past, but then in three days I will build it again, but it will not require the efforts of human hands.
The judges decided that these charges were not enough to condemn Jesus to death. They continued to deliberate and question the people.
Then the high priest stood up and came to Jesus and said:
— These people are accusing you. Why don’t you defend yourself?
Jesus said nothing, but remained silent. The high priest asked:
— Are you the Christ? Are you the Son of God?
Jesus answered:
— I am. You will yet see how the Son of Man will sit next to God the Father, to his right. You will see how I descend on a cloud to the earth.
The high priest became furious. He tore his clothes and shouted:
— What other evidence is needed? He blasphemes God! What will you decide, judges?
The judges decided that Jesus was guilty and should be executed. Then the crowd attacked Jesus, people began to spit at him. Then they put a bag over his head, beat him on the head and said:
— Now tell me, prophet, who hit you?
Then the guards began to beat him.
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Первосвященники, старейшины, учителя закона собрались в доме первосвященника. Там они ждали, пока приведут Иисуса. Когда до этого Иисуса схватили, ученик по имени Петр тайно последовал за Иисусом. Когда толпа, схватившая Иисуса, вошла во двор дома первосвященника, Петр тайком пошел за ней и стал греться возле костра, который был там, во дворе. Вокруг были слуги первосвященника. Петр тайно следил.
Первосвященник и судьи стали расспрашивать народ. Им нужны были доказательства, что Иисус совершил преступление, чтобы осудить его на смерть. Многие лжецы стали наговаривать на Иисуса. Но судьи понимали, что этих обвинений недостаточно, чтобы осудить Иисуса на смерть. Какие-то лжецы стали свидетельствовать против Иисуса:
— Он говорил, что вот этот Храм, который был построен в далеком прошлом, я разрушу, но потом через три дня построю его вновь, но не потребуются усилия человеческих рук.
Судьи решили, что и этих обвинений недостаточно для осуждения Иисуса на смерть. Они продолжали совещаться и расспрашивать народ.
Тогда встал первосвященник, подошел к Иисусу и сказал:
— Вот эти люди обвиняют тебя. Почему ты не защищаешься?
Иисус ничего не сказал, но продолжал молчать. Первосвященник спросил:
— Ты Христос? Ты Сын Бога?
Иисус ответил:
— Я есть. Вы еще увидите, как Сын человеческий, воссядет рядом с Богом отцом, справа от него. Вы увидите, как я спускаюсь на облаке на землю.
Первосвященник пришел в ярость. Он разодрал на себе одежду и закричал:
— Какие еще нужны доказательства? Он хулит Бога! Что вы решите, судьи?
Судьи решили, что Иисус виновен и должен быть казнен. Тогда толпа набросилась на Иисуса, люди стали плевать в него. Потом надели на голову мешок, били по голове и говорили:
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 14:55:
Uma: “At that time, the leading priests and all the religion judges [sitters] sought witnessed to accuse Yesus, so they could punish him with death. But they didn’t find his guilt.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “So-then the leaders of the priests and the councilors sought proof for accusing Isa so that they could kill him. But they couldn’t find anything to accuse him of.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The chief priests and all the elders of the Jews who were gathered there were trying to find a way to accuse Jesus falsely so that they might kill him. But they couldn’t find anything.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “As for the leaders of the priests and the other leaders, they were looking for something-of-which-to-accuse Jesus which they could use-as-a-basis-for-filing-charges-against him so that they would have-him-put-to-death. But they couldn’t find anything,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Well as for the chiefs of the priests and all those fellow members of theirs of the Sanedrin, they continued to search for evidence as proof against Jesus, so that they could get him killed. But they weren’t able to find any.” (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 ta (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential ta (祂) is used.”
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. ).
The Greek Iēsous is “only” a proper name but one with great importance. The following quote by John Ellington (in The Bible Translator1993, p. 401ff. ) illustrates this:
“In Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus Christ, Joseph is told that when Mary gives birth to a son ‘you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins’ (1:21). This name is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name [Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) which is a short form of a name meaning] ‘the Lord [Yahweh] saves.’ The name is very significant and is in itself especially dear to Christians around the world. (…) Unquestionably great importance is attached to the name of Jesus by Christians of all persuasions and backgrounds.”
While Iēsous (pronounced: /i.ɛː.suːs/) is transliterated as “Jesus” (pronounced /ˈdʒiːzəs/) in English (but was translated as “Hælend” [the “healing one”] in Old English — see Swain 2019) it is transliterated and pronounced in a large variety of other ways as well, following the different rules of different languages’ orthographies, writing systems and rules of pronunciation. The following is a (partial) list of forms of Jesus in Latin characters: aYeso, Azezi, Cecoc, Chesús, Chi̍i̍sū, Chisɔsi, Ciisahs, Ciise, Ciisusu, Djesu, Ɛisa, Ƹisa, Eyesu, Gesù, Gesû, Gesü, Ġesù, Ghjesù, Giêsu, ꞌGiê‑ꞌsu, Giê-xu, Gyisɛse, Hesu, Hesús, Hisus, Hisuw, Ià-sŭ, Iesen, Ié:sos, Iesu, Iesui, Iesusɨn, Iesusiva, Ié:sos, Ihu, Iisus, Iisussa, Ijeesu, iJisọsị, Iji̍sɔ̄ɔsi, Iosa, Íosa, Ìosa, İsa, I’sa, Isiso, Isõs, Ísu, Isus, Isusa, Iisussa, Isuthi, Itota, Îtu, Isuva, Izesu, Izesuq, Jasus, Jeeju, Jeesus, Jeesuse, Jeezas, Jehu, Jeisu, Jeju, Jejus, Jeso, Jesoe, Jesosa, Jesoshi, Jesosy, Jesu, Jesû, Jesua, Jesuh, Jesuhs, Jesuo, Jesús, Jésus, Jesúsu, Jethu, Jezed, Jezi, Jézi, Ježiš, Jezu, Jezus, Jézus, Jėzus, Jēzus, Jezusi, Jėzus, Jezuz, Jiijajju, Jíísas, Jiisusi, Jiizas, Jíìzọ̀s, Jisas, Jisase, Jisasi, Jisasɨ, Jisaso, Jisesi, Jisɛ̀, Jisos, Jisọs, Jisɔs, Jisu, Jiszs, Jizọs, Jizɔs, Jizọsi, Jizọsu, Jòso, Jusu, Jweesus, Ketsutsi, Njises, Sesi, Sisa, Sísa, Sisas, Sīsū, Sizi, Txesusu, uJesu, Ujísɔ̄si, ŵaYesu, Xesosi, ´Xesús, Xesús, Yasu, Ya:su, Ɣaysa, Yecu, Yeeb Sub, Yeeh Suh, Yeesey, Yeeso, Yeesso, Yēēsu, Yēēsu, Yehsu, Yëësu, Yeisu, Yeisuw, Yeshu, Yeso, Yesò, Yëso, Yɛso, ye-su, Yésu, Yêsu, Yẹ́sụ̃, Yésʉs, Yeswa, Yet Sut, Yetut, Yexus, Yezo, Yezu, Yiesu, Yiisa, Yiisu, Yiitju, Yis, Yisɔs, Yisufa, Yitati, Yusu, ‑Yusu, :Yusu’, Zeezi, Zezi, Zezì, Zezwii, Ziizɛ, Zisas, Zîsɛ, Zjezus, Zozi, Zozii, and this (much more incomplete) list with other writings systems: ᔩᓱᓯ, ᒋᓴᔅ, Հիսուս, ᏥᏌ, ኢየሱስ, ያሱስ, ܝܫܘܥ, Ісус, Їисъ, 耶稣, იესო, ईसा, イエス, イイスス, イエスス, 예수, येशू, येशो, ਈਸਾ, ພຣະເຢຊູ, ජේසුස්, যীশু, ଯୀଶୁ, ཡེ་ཤུ་, ‘ঈছা, இயேசு, ಯೇಸು, ພຣະເຢຊູ, ယေရှု, ઇસુ, जेजू, येसु, เยซู, យេស៊ូ, ᱡᱤᱥᱩ, ယေသှု, యేసు, ᤕᤧᤛᤢ᤺ᤴ, އީސާގެފާނު, ਯਿਸੂ, ꕉꖷ ꔤꕢ ꕞ, ⵏ⵿ⵗⵢⵙⴰ, ଜୀସୁ, يَسُوعَ,ㄧㄝㄙㄨ, YE-SU, ꓬꓰ꓿ꓢꓴ, 𖽃𖽡𖾐𖼺𖽹𖾏𖼽𖽔𖾏, ꑳꌠ, ᠶᠡᠰᠦᠰ (note that some of these might not display correctly if your device does not have the correct fonts installed).
Click or tap here to read more.
In some languages the different confessions have selected different transliterations, such as in Belarusian with Isus (Ісус) by the Orthodox and Protestant churches and Yezus (Езус) by the Catholic church, Bulgarian with Iisus (Иисус) by the Orthodox and Isus (Исус) by the Protestant church, Japanese with Iesu (イエス) (Protestant and Catholic) and Iisusu (イイスス) (Orthodox), or Lingala with Yesu (Protestant) or Yezu (Catholic). These differences have come to the forefront especially during the work on interconfessional translations such as one in Lingala where “many hours were spent on a single letter difference” (source: Ellington, p. 401).
In Literary and Mandarin Chinese where transliterations of proper names between the Catholic and Protestant versions typically differ vastly, the Chinese name of Jesus (Yēsū 耶稣) remarkably was never brought into question between and by those two confessions, likely due to its ingenious choice. (Click or tap here to see more).
The proper name of God in the Old Testament, Yahweh (YHWH), is rendered in most Chinese Bible translations as Yēhéhuá 耶和華 — Jehovah. According to Chinese naming conventions, Yēhéhuá could be interpreted as Yē Héhuá, in which Yē would be the family name and Héhuá — “harmonic and radiant” — the given name. In the same manner, Yē 耶 would be the family name of Jesus and Sū 稣 would be his given name. Because in China the children inherit the family name from the father, the sonship of Jesus to God the Father, Jehovah, would be illustrated through this. Though this line of argumentation sounds theologically unsound, it is indeed used effectively in the Chinese church (see Wright 1953, p. 298).
Moreover, the “given name” of Sū 稣 carries the meaning ‘to revive, to rise again’ and seems to point to the resurrected Jesus. (Source: J. Zetzsche in Malek 2002, p. 141ff., see also tetragrammaton (YHWH))
There are different ways that Bible translators have chosen historically and today in how to translate the name of Jesus in predominantly Muslim areas: with a form of the Arabic Isa (عيسى) (which is used for “Jesus” in the Qur’an), the Greek Iēsous, or, like major 20th century Bible translations into Standard Arabic, the Aramaic Yēšūaʿ: Yasua (يَسُوعَ). (Click or tap here to see more.)
Following are languages and language groups that use a form of Isa include the following (note that this list is not complete):
In Indonesian, while most Bible translations had already used Yesus Kristus rather than Isa al Masih, three public holidays used to be described using the term Isa Al Masih. From 2024 on the government is using Yesus Kristus in those holiday names instead (see this article in Christianity Today ).
Some languages have additional “TAZI” editions (TAZI stands for “Tawrat, Anbiya, Zabur, and Injil” the “Torah, Prophets, Psalms and Gospel”) of the New Testament that are geared towards Muslim readers where there is also a translation in the same language for non-Muslims. In those editions, Isa is typically used as well (for example, the Khmer TAZI edition uses Isa (អ៊ីសា) rather than the commonly used Yesaou (យេស៊ូ), the Thai edition uses Isa (อีซา) rather than Yesu (เยซู), the Chinese edition uses Ěrsā (尔撒) vs. Yēsū (耶稣), and the English edition also has Isa rather than Jesus.)
In German the name Jesus (pronounced: /ˈjeːzʊs/) is distinguished by its grammatical forms. Into the 20th century the grammatical rules prescribed a unique Greek-Latin declination: Jesus (nominative), Jesu (genitive, dative, vocative), Jesum (accusative), from which today only the genitive case “Jesu” is still in active use. Likewise, in Seediq (Taroko), the morphological treatment of “Jesus” also occupies a special category by not falling under the normal rule of experiencing a vowel reduction when the object-specific suffix an is added “since it was felt that the readers might resent that the name has been changed that drastically.” (Compare Msian for “Moses” (Mosi) as an object, but Yisuan for “Jesus” (Yisu).) (Source: Covell 1998. p. 249)
In Lamba the name ŵaYesu consists of a transliteration Yesu and the prefix ŵa, a plural form for “proper names when addressing and referring to persons in any position of seniority or honor.” While this was avoided in early translations to avoid possible misunderstandings of more than one Jesus, once the church was established it was felt that it was both “safe” and respectful to use the honorific (pl.) prefix. (Source C. M. Doke in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 57ff. )
In virtually all sign languages, “Jesus” is signed with the middle finger of each hand pointing to the palm (or wrist) of the other in succession (signing the nails of the cross). In the context of Bible translation this has been pointed out as theologically problematic since the “semantic connections of the original name Jesus do point towards ‘salvation,’ they do not naturally lead to crucifixion.” (Source: Phil King in Journal of Translation 1 (2020), p. 33ff.)
Following is the oldest remaining Ethiopian Orthodox icon of Jesus from the 14th or possibly 13th century (found in the Church of the Saviour of the World in Gurji, Ethiopia). As in many Orthodox icons, Jesus’ right hand forms the Greek letters I-C-X-C for IHCOYCXPICTOC or “Jesus Christ.” Another interpretation of the right hand is that it shows three fingers pointing to the Trinity, while the two other fingers point to Jesus’ two natures.
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 )
The style of the following drawing of Jesus by Annie Vallotton is described by the artist as this: “By using few lines the readers fill in the outlines with their imagination and freedom. That is when the drawings begin to communicate.” (see here )
Illustration by Annie Vallotton, copyright by Donald and Patricia Griggs of Griggs Educational Service.
