myrrh

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “myrrh” in English is translated as “bitter medicine” in Michoacán Nahuatl and as “myrrh perfume” in Tzotzil (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.).

In Mark 15:23, Usila Chinantec translates it as “the herb myrrh which is useful so that one not feel pain in his body.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)

 

Myrrh is probably the most precious spice in the Bible. It was worth more than its weight in gold. Our experts agree that the Hebrew word mor refers to the resin of one of the Commiphora genus, either myrrha, abyssinica or schimperi, all of which grew in what is now Yemen, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Madagascar. Other kinds of myrrh may have come from India (Commiphora erythraea, Commiphora opobalsamum). A more difficult question is the meaning of the word deror in Exodus 30:23. In the other places where it occurs it means “freedom” or “liberty.” This is the basis for the word “liquid” in some versions, but there is no certainty that “free” means “liquid.” The fact that myrrh was sometimes mixed with wine may suggest that deror means “liquid” here, but on the other hand, the weight of the myrrh is given in dry measure rather than liquid measure, which argues against it.

The myrrh plant is a bush or shrub with thick thorny branches that project and bend at odd angles. The leaves come in sets of three. The fruit is oval like a plum. The wood and bark have a pleasant smell. The gum oozes naturally from the branches, though some harvesters incise the branches to increase the flow. The sap or gum is clear or yellowish brown when it comes out, but gets darker as it dries. The taste of the gum is bitter (note the similarity of mor to the Hebrew word mar meaning “bitter”). In markets the gum is often found mixed with that of the kataf bush (bisabol).
——
Special significance: God prescribed myrrh as an ingredient of the holy anointing oil (Exodus 30:23), and it is used as perfume in Esther, Psalms, Proverbs, and eight times in Song of Songs. It was brought as an expensive gift by the Magi to the new King (Matthew 2:11). As Jesus was dying on the cross, sympathetic bystanders may have offered it to him mixed with wine (Mark 15:23; see the parallel account in Matthew 27:34). Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes to prepare Jesus’ body for burial (John 19:39). In ancient Egypt myrrh was burned on the altars of the sun god, and in Persia it was attached to the crowns of kings when they appeared in public. Romans burned myrrh at funerals and cremations, which helps to explain its inclusion in the list of spices in Revelation 18:13. Today it is used in perfumes, lotions, and even in toothpaste.

Varieties of myrrh grow in the Horn of Africa and Madagascar, so people from those areas should have no difficulty finding words for it. As to whether the myrrh in Exodus 30:23 was liquid or solid, there seems to be no consensus, and the translator may be forgiven for simply ignoring the Hebrew word deror . Possible transliterations are Hebrew mor, Arabic mar, French mireh, and Spanish/Portuguese mirra.

Harvesting myrrh, Wikimedia Commons

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

See also mixture of myrrh with aloes.

wine

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that are translated as “wine” in English is translated into Pass Valley Yali as “grape juice pressed long ago (= fermented)” or “strong water” (source: Daud Soesilo). In Guhu-Samane it is also translated as “strong water” (source: Ernest L. Richert in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff. ), in Noongar as “liquor” (verbatim: “strong water”) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang), in Hausa as ruwan inabi or “water of grapes” (with no indication whether it’s alcoholic or not — source: Mark A. Gaddis), in sar as kasə nduú or “grape drink” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin), or in Papantla Totonac and Coyutla Totonac as “a drink like Pulque” (for “Pulque,” see here ) (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 169ff. ).

In Swahili, Bible translations try to avoid local words for alcoholic drinks, because “drinking of any alcohol at all was one of the sins most denounced by early missionaries. Hence translators are uncomfortable by the occurrences of wine in the Bible. Some of the established churches which use wine prefer to see church wine as holy, and would not refer to it by the local names used for alcoholic drinks. Instead church wine is often referred to by terms borrowed from other languages, divai (from German, der Wein) or vini/mvinyo (from ltalian/Latin vino/vinum). Several translations done by Protestants have adapted the Swahili divai for ‘wine,’ while those done by Catholics use vini or mvinyo.” (Source: Rachel Konyoro in The Bible Translator 1985, p. 221ff. )

The Swahili divai was in turn borrowed by Sabaot and was turned into tifaayiik and is used as such in the Bible. Kupsabiny, on the other hand, borrowed mvinyo from Swahili and turned it into Finyonik. (Source: Iver Larsen)

In Nyamwezi, two terms are used. Malwa ga muzabibu is a kind of alcohol that people specifically use to get drunk (such as in Genesis 9:21) and ki’neneko is used for a wine made from grapes (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext).

In some Hindi translations (such as the Common Language version, publ. 2015 ), one term (dākharasa दाखरस — grape juice) is used when that particular drink is in the focus (such as in John 2) and another term (madirā मदिरा — “alcohol” or “liquor”) when drunkenness is in the focus (such as in Eph. 5:18).

In Mandarin Chinese, the generic term jiǔ (酒) or “alcohol(ic drink)” is typically used. Exceptions are Leviticus 10:9, Numbers 6:3, Deuteronomy 29:6, Judges 13:4 et al., 1 Samuel 1:15, and Luke 1:15 where a differentiation between weak and strong alcohol is needed. The Mandarin Chinese Union Version (2010) translates that as qīngjiǔ lièjiǔ (清酒烈酒) and dànjiǔ lièjiǔ (淡酒烈酒), both in the form of a Chinese proverb and meaning “light alcohol and strong drink.” (Source: Zetzsche)

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about wine in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

See also proceeds from the vine / anything that comes from the grapevine, wine (Japanese honorifics), filled with new wine, and wine (Gen 27:28).

Mark 15:21 - 27 in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 15:21-27 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 hombres Alejandro y Rufo, su padre era Simon de Cirene. Él estaba caminando en el campo y se acercó a la multitud, y los soldados lo mandaron a ayudarle (a Jesús).

Simón de Cirene fue y subió la cruz en el hombro y la cargó, y la multitud caminó hacia el lugar de Gólgota, que significa ‘lugar de la calavera’.

Los soldados mezclaron mirra en una copa de vino y se la dieron a Jesús, pero él la rehusó.

Después los soldados quitaron la ropa de Jesús y la dieron a un soldado, y hicieron una apuesta, uno tiró los dado y ganó, entonces otro soldado tiró las dados y así tomaron la ropa.

En la mañana a las nueve crucificaron a Jesús y colgaron un letrera arriba de él diciendo: ‘El rey de los judíos’. Porque de esto recien antes lo habían acusado y castigado, por eso lo apodaron ‘rey de los judíos’

Jesús estaba colgado en la cruz y en dos otras cruces, a la derecha y a la izquierda, estaban dos hombres que eran rateros, ladrones.

Mucho antes, un profeta esscribió un rollo que dice: “Las personas lo insultarán, estarán en contra de él, lo apodarán ‘criminal’, y lo que fue escrito lo dice exactamente.


The men Alexander and Rufus, their father was Simon of Cyrene. He was walking in the fields and approached the multitude, and the soldiers sent him to help (Jesus).

Simon of Cyrene went and took the cross on his shoulder and carried it, and the multitude walked towards the place Golgotha, which means ‘place of the skull.’

The soldiers mixed myrrh in a cup of wine and gave the cup to Jesus, but he refused it.

Then the soldiers took Jesus’ clothes off and gave them to a soldier, and they gambled, one threw the dice and won, then another threw the dice and so they took his clothes.

In the morning at nine o’clock they crucified Jesus and they put a sign above him saying: ‘the king of the Jews’, because that’s why just before they had accused him and punished him, therefore they nicknamed him ‘king of the Jews’.

Jesus was hanging on the cross and on two other crosses, one on the left and one on the right, were two men who were villains, thieves.

Long before, a prophet wrote a scroll which says: “The people will insult him, be against him and nickname him a ‘criminal,'” and what was written says it exactly./em>

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

<< Mark 15:16-20 in Mexican Sign Language
Mark 15:28-32 in Mexican Sign Language >>

complete verse (Mark 15:23)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 15:23:

  • Uma: “There they gave Yesus anggur mixed with a chemical/medicine called mur to drink, but he didn’t want to drink it.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When Isa was there, they were about to give Isa grape juice mixed with the medicine called mira to drink. But he did not accept it.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “They tried to get Jesus to drink wine mixed with medicine called myrrh, but he wouldn’t take it.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When they arrived there, they would have given-Jesus -a-drink of alcoholic-beverage mixed-with mirra (Ilo. loan) which was said to alleviate pain. But he refused.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When they were there, they were getting Jesus to drink a drink in which they had mixed a bitter thing, but he didn’t drink it.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

receive / suffer / accept (Japanese honorifics)

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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

The concept of “receiving (glory / instruction” (also: “accept” or “suffer” is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-uke (お受け), combining “receive” (uke) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also receive (Japanese honorifics).

pronoun for "God"

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 Kouya, Godié, Northern Grebo, Eastern Krahn, Western Krahn, and Guiberoua Béte, all languages of the Kru family in Western Africa, a different kind of systems of pronouns is used (click or tap here to read more):

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 <em>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 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, but most translations, especially those published in the 21st century, 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. ).

See also first person pronoun referring to God.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Gender of God .

Translation: Chinese

在现代汉语中，第三人称单数代词的读音都是一样的（tā），但是写法并不一样，取决于性别以及是否有生命，即男性为“他”，女性为“她”，动物、植物和无生命事物为“它”（在香港和台湾的汉语使用，动物则为“牠”）。这些字的部首偏旁表明了性别（男人、女人、动物、无生命事物），而另一偏旁通常旁提示发音。

到1930年为止，基督教新教《圣经》经过整整一百年的翻译已经拥有了十几个译本，当时的一位圣经翻译者王元德新造了一个“神圣的”代词“祂”，偏旁“礻”表示神明。一般汉语读者会立即知道这字的发音是tā，而这个偏旁表示属灵的事物，因此他们明白这个字指出，三位一体的所有位格都没有性别之分，而单单是上帝。

然而，最重要的新教圣经译本（1919年的《和合本》）和天主教圣经译本（1968年的《思高圣经》）都没有采用“祂”；虽然如此，许多其他的圣经译本采用了这个字，另外还广泛出现在赞美诗和其他基督信仰的书刊中。（资料来源：Zetzsche）

《吕振中译本》的几个早期版本也使用“祂”来指称“上帝”；这个译本的《新约》于1946年译成，整部《圣经》于1970年完成。克拉默斯（Kramers）指出：“‘他’的这种新写法（即‘祂’）产生了一个小问题，就是在指称耶稣的时候，是否一律使用这个敬语代词？《吕振中译本》遵循的原则是，在称呼耶稣这个人的时候，用一般的‘他’，而在称呼耶稣神性的时候，特别是升天之后的耶稣，则用尊称‘祂’。”

Translator: Simon Wong

Translation commentary on Mark 15:23

Text:

After autō ‘to him’ Textus Receptus adds piein ‘to drink,’ which is omitted by modern editions of the Greek text.

Instead of the masculine hos ‘he’ of the majority of modern editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus, Soden, Vogels, & Souter have the neuter ho ‘it.’

Exegesis:

edidoun ‘they were giving’: the imperfect indicates an unsuccessful attempt, correctly translated by Revised Standard Version ‘they offered.’ The plural is probably impersonal, meaning ‘he was given,’ ‘he was offered.’ Who ‘they’ were is a matter of conjecture: certainly not the soldiers, so perhaps one of the women.

esmurnismenon oinon ‘wine flavored with myrrh’: it is ordinarily assumed that the mixture would act as a narcotic, but there is no clear proof of this.

smurnizō (only here in the N.T.) ‘be like myrrh,’ ‘mingle with myrrh.’

oinos (cf. 2.22) ‘wine.’

Translation:

Offered is sometimes translatable as ‘tried to give’ or ‘held out for him to take.’

Wine mingled with myrrh may be ‘wine in which myrrh had been mixed.’ Myrrh is, of course, unknown in most parts of the world, thus necessitating a borrowed word, which may be identified satisfactorily in several ways, e.g. ‘something is called myrrh’ (Barrow Eskimo), ‘a mirra herb,’ in which mirra is borrowed from the Spanish (Tzeltal), and ‘mir resin,’ in which myrrh in a borrowed form is classified as a kind of resin and thus presumed to have certain medicinal or helpful qualities.

Take it may also be translated as ‘drink it.’

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 .

SIL Translator's Notes on Mark 15:23

15:23a

they offered Him wine: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they offered Him wine means that some people attempted to give Jesus wine to drink. He did not actually drink it. The Good News Bible translates this as:

they tried to give him wine

they: It is not clear whether they refers here to the soldiers or to someone else such as Jewish women. It is recommended that you leave this general if possible.

Here is another way to translate this:

there were those/people who…

If you must specify who they refers to, it is recommended that you say “the soldiers.” (Scholars are divided in their opinion about this. Our translation advice follows the majority of English versions since “they” in English must refer to “the soldiers” in this context.)

wine: The beverage called wine is an alcoholic drink. It is made from the juice of a fruit called grapes. When grape juice ferments, it becomes wine.

In some areas, people may not be familiar with grapes or with wine. If that is true in your area, some other ways to translate wine are:

• Use a general term for an alcoholic drink.

• Use a specific term that can also be used to refer to alcoholic drinks in general. For example:

millet beer
-or-
palm wine
-or-
something like palm wine

• Use a descriptive phrase. For example:

fruit juice/water
-or-
grape juice
-or-
fermented grape juice

See how you translated wine in 2:22a.

mixed with myrrh: The word myrrh refers to the sap of a kind of tree. It had many uses and was very valuable. When myrrh was mixed with wine, it probably acted like a medicine to reduce pain. Some ways to translate myrrh are:

• Transliterate the word according to the sounds of your language. For example:

mur
-or-
muri

• Transliterate the word and add a descriptive phrase. For example:

a medicine/drug called mur

• Use only a descriptive phrase. For example:

a medicine
-or-
a drug (Contemporary English Version)

Most people will not understand the purpose of myrrh. Here are some other ways to explain the purpose in your translation:

• Make the purpose explicit in the text. For example:

wine mixed with myrrh so he would not feel so much pain
-or-
wine that had been mixed with a medicine that reduces/stops the pain called myrrh

• Explain the purpose in a footnote. The footnote could say:

The myrrh and wine together acted as a medicine to reduce the pain of the person who was crucified.

15:23b

He did not take it: The phrase He did not take it indicates that Jesus refused to drink the wine mixed with myrrh. According to Matthew 27:34, he took a taste of the wine and then refused to drink it. If possible, translate the phrase here in a way that allows for the fact that Jesus tasted the wine but did not drink it.

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