The Greek that is translated into English as “crucify” is translated in various ways:
Naro: xgàu or “to stretch” (as is done with a skin after slaughtering in order to dry it. The word is also widely accepted in the churches.) (Source: Gerrit van Steenbergen)
Yatzachi Zapotec: “fasten him to the cross” (source for this and two above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125)
Noongar: “kill on a tree” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Apali: “nail to a tree piece put cross-wise, lift up to stand upright (for the crucified person) to die (and in some contexts: “to die and rise again”)” (source: Martha Wade)
In British Sign Language it is signed with a sign that signifies “nails hammered into hands” and “arms stretched out.” (Source: Anna Smith)
“Crucify” or “crucifixion” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Following is a painting by Wang Suda 王肅達 (1910-1963):
Housed by Société des Auxiliaires des Missions Collection – Whitworth University
(click image to enlarge)
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.
Click or tap here to see a short video clip showing how crucifixion was done in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)
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>
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 <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. ).
hōra tritē ‘the third hour’: this is the equivalent of the modern 9:00 A.M., being ‘the third hour’ from sunrise. It appears that in this chapter Mark means to divide the day into four three-hour periods: prōi (15.1), sunrise (i.e. 6:00 A.M.); hōra tritē (15.25), 9:00 A.M.; hōra hektē (15.33), 12:00 noon; hōra enatē (15.34), 3:00 P.M.; opsia (15.42), sunset (i.e. 6:00 P.M.).
kai ‘and’ is here used according to Semitic fashion, and should be translated ‘when.’
Translation:
The indigenous equivalents of the third hour are quite varied, e.g. ‘yoking up time’ (South Bolivian Quechua), ‘sun half way up’ (Copainalá Zoque), ‘when the sun is raising itself up’ (Shipibo-Conibo), ‘the sun is not very high’ (San Blas Kuna), and ‘middle of the morning’ (Piro). Of course, where time is reckoned by hours one can do one of two things: (1) use the equivalent expression such as ‘nine o’clock’ or (2) follow the Greek expression somewhat more closely, e.g. ‘three hours after sunrise.’
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 .
It was the third hour: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as the third hour refers to 9:00 a.m. According to the Jewish way of keeping time, the day began with sunrise (6:00 a.m.). So the third hour was 9:00 a.m.
You may have a specific term in your language for this time of day. If not, here are some other ways you can translate this:
in the middle of the morning -or-
when the sun was halfway up -or-
about three hours after sunrise -or-
It was nine o’clock in the morning. (Good News Bible)
when they crucified Him: The word crucified is the same word as in 15:24a. Translate it here as you did there.
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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
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