Mark 16:1-8 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 16:1-8 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

The Sabbath had already ended, and the next day had come. Three women — Mary Magdalene, another Mary, she has a son James, and the third Salome, they went to the market and bought aromatic oils. They planned to go to the tomb of Jesus to anoint his body. This was the custom of the Jews — to rub the body of the dead with aromatic oils. Early in the morning, on Sunday, when the sun had just risen, they went to the tomb. On the way, they talked among themselves:

— There is such a big stone blocking the entrance to the tomb! We cannot move it! Who will help us? We ourselves do not have enough strength to move it!

So they talked among themselves. But when they came to the tomb, they saw that this huge stone was lying to the side, and the passage was open. They entered the tomb and were very afraid, seeing that there was a young man there. He was dressed in snow-white clothes and was sitting on the right side. The women were very afraid. The young man said:

— Do not be afraid! I know you are looking for Jesus from the city of Nazareth. Jesus was crucified, buried in this place, but now he is not here! Jesus has risen from the dead, he is alive. You go and tell his disciples and Peter that Jesus has already gone to Galilee, and there you will see him.

Those three women were very afraid, trembled with fear and quickly ran from that place. They could not tell the disciples anything, they were so afraid.

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

Суббота уже закончилась, наступил следующий день. Три женщины — Мария Магдалина, еще одна Мария, у нее сын Иаков, и третья Саломея, они пошли на рынок и купили ароматных масел. Они планировали пойти к гробнице Иисуса, чтобы намазать его тело. Такой был обычай у иудеев — натирать тело умершего ароматными маслами. Ранним утром, в воскресенье, когда только взошло солнце, они пошли к гробнице. По пути они между собой разговаривали:

— Там такой большой камень закрывает вход в гробницу! Мы не можем его отодвинуть! Кто нам поможет? У нас самих нет столько сил, чтобы его отодвинуть!

Так они говорили между собой. Но когда они пришли к гробнице, то увидели что этот огромный камень лежит в стороне, а проход открыт. Они вошли в гробницу, и очень испугались, увидев, что там был юноша. Он был в белоснежной одежде и сидел с правой стороны. Женщины испугались очень сильно. Юноша сказал:

— Не бойтесь! Я знаю, вы ищете Иисуса из города Назарета. Иисус был распят, погребен вот на этом месте, но сейчас его здесь нет! Иисус воскрес из мёртвых, он живой. Вы же идите и скажите его ученикам и Петру, что Иисус уже отправился в Галилею, и там вы его увидите. Те три женщины очень сильно испугались, задрожали от страха и быстро побежали из этого места. Они не смогли ничего рассказать ученикам, так сильно они боялись.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

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Mark 16:9-20 in Russian Sign Language >>

Resurrection of Jesus

The following is a stained glass window from 1855 by artist H. Beiler over the altar of the Evangelische Stadtkirche Bad Rappenau, Bad Rappenau, Germany:

Photo by Llez, hosted by Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )

fat, oil

The different Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek terms that are translated as “(olive) oil” and “(animal) fat” in English are translated in Kwere with only one term: mavuta. (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Mary the mother of James and Joses/Joseph

The name that is transliterated as “Mary” in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with a sign that combines the letter M and “witness” (because she witnessed the crucifixon). (Source: Missão Kophós )


“Mary” in Libras (source )

More information on Mary, mother of James.

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

complete verse (Mark 16:1)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 16:1:

  • Uma: “After the worship day was past, Maria Magdalena, Maria the mother of Yakobus, and Salome, they went to buy fragrant stuff. Their intention was to go oil Yesus’ body with the fragrant stuff.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “After the Saturday was over, the day of-no-work, Mariyam the woman from Magdala, and Salome, and Mariyam the mother of Yakub bought ointment (fragrant) in order to go there and treat-with-ointment the body of Isa.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when the Day of Rest was finished, Mary of Magdala, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices, for they were going to the grave to annoint the body of Jesus.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When the day for-resting was finished, Maria Magdalena, Salome and Maria the mother of Santiago went to go buy perfume in order that they would go and rub-it on Jesus’ corpse.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When the sun had set on that Day of Rest, Maria Magdalena, Maria the mother of Santiago, and Salome went to buy perfume to pour on the body of Jesus.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

start of sections in Mark with the Greek καὶ

One of the distinctions of the gospel of Mark is a breathlessness of telling the story of Jesus. One way that is achieved is by using the Greek kai, normally “and” in English, at the beginning of sections. Different versions and languages have found their own ways of translating it, but the German translation by Walter Jens (publ. 1990, 1998) is unique by consistently using Und ich erzähle or “And I’m telling (you)” for every such occurrence of kai.

Translation commentary on Mark 16:1

Exegesis:

diagenomenou tou sabbatou ‘the sabbath having passed’: this would be any time after 6:00 P.M. on Saturday, when the first day of the week would begin. In the context, it would have been Saturday evening when the women bought the spices.

diaginomai (only here in Mark) ‘to go through’: of time, ‘to pass,’ ‘to elapse.’

For Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James cf. 15.40.

ēgorasan (cf. 6.36) ‘they bought.’

arōmata (only here in Mark) ‘spices,’ ‘aromatic oils (or, ‘salves’)’: used in the Jewish practice of anointing the dead, for burial.

aleipsōsin (cf. 6.13; cf. murizō in 14.8) ‘they might anoint’: it is to be noticed that this is an anointing, and not the (Egyptian) art of embalming. Therefore Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale pour embaumer and O Novo Testamento de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo. Revisdo Autorizada para … embalsamá-lo may be misleading.

Translation:

The phrase and Salome may require a transposition in order to avoid the meaning of Mary being the mother of both James and Salome, e.g. ‘Mary from Magdala, Salome, and Mary the mother of James.’

Spices must not be translated in such a way as to refer only to spices used as condiments, a not infrequent error. In Tzeltal the proper equivalent is ‘fragrant medicines,’ in which ‘medicines’ is a general term for any kind of ointment or salve, regardless of its function. In Navajo, the only phrase which may be employed is ‘herbs for anointing,’ in which ‘herbs’ covers all types of substances derived from plants. In Amganad Ifugao a descriptive equivalent is ‘sweet-smelling things.’

Evidently the buying of the spices took place in the evening after the sabbath had ended at sundown, but the actual going to the tomb was early the following morning.

Anoint him is ‘anoint his body’ in many languages; otherwise there is an implicit reference to Jesus as still living.

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 .