swear / vow

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The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “swear (an oath)” or “vow” in English is otherwise translated as:

  • “God sees me, I tell the truth to you” (Tzeltal)
  • “loading yourself down” (Huichol)
  • “speak-stay” (implying permanence of the utterance) (Sayula Popoluca)
  • “say what could not be taken away” (San Blas Kuna)
  • “because of the tight (i.e. ‘binding’) word said to a face” (Guerrero Amuzgo)
  • “strong promise” (North Alaskan Inupiatun) (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • “eat an oath” (Nyamwezi) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • “drink an oath” (Jju) (source: McKinney 2018, p. 31).
  • “cut taboos” (Mairasi (source: Enggavoter 2004)

In Bauzi “swear” can be translated in various ways. In Hebrews 6:13, for instance, it is translated with “bones break apart and decisively speak.” (“No bones are literally broken but by saying ‘break bones’ it is like people swear by someone else in this case it is in relation to a rotting corpse’ bones falling apart. If you ‘break bones’ so to speak when you make an utterance, it is a true utterance.”) In other passages, such as in Matthew 26:72, it’s translated with an expression that implies taking ashes (“if a person wants everyone to know that he is telling the truth about a matter, he reaches down into the fireplace, scoops up some ashes and throws them while saying ‘I was not the one who did that.'”). So in Matthew 26:72 the Bauzi text is: “. . . Peter took ashes and defended himself saying, ‘I don’t know that Nazareth person.'” (Source: David Briley)

See also swear (promise) and Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’, or ‘No, No’.

Peter denies Jesus (image)

He Qi © 2021 All Rights Reserved.

Image taken from He Qi Art . For purchasing prints of this and other artworks by He Qi go to heqiart.com .

For other images of He Qi art works in TIPs, see here.

Following is an painting by Wang Suda 王肅達 (1910-1963):

Copyright by the Catholic University Peking, China

Text under painting translated from Literary Chinese into English:
The Second Commandment
Peter swears he doesn’t know the Lord

Image taken from Chinese Christian Posters . For more information on the “Ars Sacra Pekinensis” school of art, see this article , for other artworks of that school in TIPs, see here.

Mark 14:66 - 72 in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 14:66-72 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)

Afuera en la plaza Pedro se estaba calientando las manos al fuego, y una mujer, sierva del sumo sacerdote caminó (hacia él) y lo vio y dijo: “Jesús es del pueblo de Nazaret, y tú siempre ibas de lugar a lugar con él.”

Pedro (dijo): “No lo conozco”, y caminó hacia la puerta y oyó el galló gritando.

Otra vez la sierva lo vio y dijo: “Este hombre estaba junto con Jesús, pero Pedro lo negó.”

Después las personas dijeron: “Sentimos seguros que este hombre estaba con Jesús, lo conocemos, él también es de Galilea.”

Pedro (dijo): “Este hombre Jesús, no lo conozco, de verás, en serio, si miento Dios me castigue.”

En este instante el gallo gritó por segunda vez, y Pedro lo oyó y se acordó de que Jesús recientemente lo había dicho: “Tú me negarás tres veces y después el gallo gritará por segunda vez.”

Pedro tuvo un cambio de corazón y lloró y lloró.


Outside in the square Peter was warming his hands by the fire and a woman, servant of the high priest, walked up (to him) and saw him and said: “Jesus is from the village of Nazareth and you were always traveling around with him.”

Peter (said): “I don’t know him” and he walked to the door and heard the rooster crow.

Again the servant woman saw him and said: “This man was with Jesus, but Peter denied it.”

Afterwards the people said: “We feel sure that this man was with Jesus, we know him, he is also from Galilee.”

Peter (said): “This man Jesus, I don’t know him, really, seriously, if I lie God may punish me.”

At that moment the rooster crowed for the second time, and Peter heard it and remembered what Jesus had told him just before: “You will deny me three times and then the rooster will crow for the second time.”

Peter had a change of heart and cried and cried.

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

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Mark 14:66-72 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 14:66-72 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

In the house of the high priest, where the judges, chief priests and others had gathered to judge Jesus, Peter was standing in the courtyard, warming himself by the fire. A woman, the high priest’s servant, passed by. As she passed by, she looked at Peter, looked closely and said:

— Yes, that’s right, you were with Jesus of Nazareth. It’s you.

Peter said, “No, no. I do not know him.” And he went away to another place. At that moment the rooster crowed for the first time. Peter went away to the side, but the same servant girl, passing by, saw him and began to say to everyone, “Look, this is he, this man was with Jesus.” Peter said, “No, no!!!” And he went away again to another place. And the people who had gathered there, seeing Peter, said, “Yes, indeed, it was you who was with Jesus, for you speak like a man from Galilee.”

Peter said, “No, it’s not me. I’m honest to God, I don’t know who Jesus is, no.” And at that moment the rooster crowed a second time. Peter, hearing the rooster, remembered Jesus telling him, “By the time the rooster crows twice, you will have already denied me three times!” Peter remembered these words and began to worry and cry very much.

Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):

В доме первосвященника, где собрались судьи, первосвященники и другие люди, чтобы судить Иисуса, там во дворе Петр стоял, грелся у костра. Там проходила женщина, служанка первосвященника. Когда она проходила мимо, она посмотрела на Петра, присмотрелась и сказала:

– Да, точно, ты был с Иисусом из Назарета. Это ты.

Петр сказал: «Нет, нет. Я не знаю его». И отошел в другое место. В это время петух прокричал первый раз. Петр отошел в сторону, но эта же служанка, проходя мимо, увидела его и стала всем говорить: «Вот, это он, этот человек был вместе с Иисусом». Петр сказал: «Нет же, нет!!!» И он опять отошел в другое место. И люди, которые там собрались, увидев Петра, сказали: «Да, точно, это ты был вместе с Иисусом, потому что ты говоришь, как человек из Галилеи».

Петр сказал: «Нет, это не я. Я честен перед Богом, я не знаю, кто такой Иисус, нет». И в это время прокричал петух второй раз. Петр, услышав петуха, вспомнил, как Иисус сказал ему: «К тому времени, когда петух дважды прокричит, ты уже трижды от меня отречешься!» Петр вспомнил эти слова и начал очень сильно переживать и плакать.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

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Mark 15:1-15 in Russian Sign Language >>

complete verse (Mark 14:71)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 14:71:

  • Uma: “Petrus swore and cursed himself, he said: ‘I indeed don’t know the person you’re talking about!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But Petros cursed himself and he swore. He said, ‘I really do not know the person you are talking about.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Then Peter swore a very strong oath, he said, ‘May God punish me if what I said is not true that I don’t know that person that you are talking about.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Whereupon Pedro swore-to-his-own-hurt saying, ‘May God punish-me if what I am saying is not true. I swear that I absolutely do not know the man you are talking-about.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “‘Expletive, certainly not! I swear that even if I die (Tagbanwa-style oath),’ said Pedro, ‘I really don’t know that fellow whom you mean.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

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

Translation commentary on Mark 14:71

Exegesis:

anathematizein (only here in Mark) ‘to invoke anathema,’ ‘to devote to destruction,’ ‘to put under the curse’: the verb means to pronounce anathema (Hebrew cherem), i.e. ‘devoted to destruction,’ upon someone, in this case on the speaker himself. ‘May I be accursed if (what I say is not true)!’ For instances of this cf. 1 Sam. 20.13; 2 Sam. 3.9; Acts 23.12.

omnunai (cf. 6.23) ‘to swear,’ ‘to put oneself on oath’: neither one of the two verbs here employed would suggest vulgarity or profanity on the part of Peter (cf. Gould); they are rather, on his part, expressive and solemn protestations of the truth of his assertion.

Translation:

In most societies there is some means whereby a person may put himself under a curse if his statement is not true, e.g. ‘said that he wanted God to punish him if it were not so’ (Central Pame). However, in some languages the description of such a process would take a paragraph, since curses are not normally invoked as proof of one’s veracity. In these instances, ‘declare with solemn words’ or ‘say with very strong words’ may be the closest parallel.

Curse and swear are distinct processes, even though the witness of God or supernatural sanctions are invoked in both instances. In the first case, God is asked to punish one for not telling the truth, and in the second, God is asked to be a witness of the truth, e.g. ‘God truly sees me that I don’t know the one you say’ (Tzeltal).

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 .