6But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him.
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)
Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.
As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.
Here, angels address people with the formal pronoun, expressing respect.
In most Dutch as well as in Western Frisian and Afrikaans translations, the angels are addressing people with the informal pronoun.
Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)
María Magdalena antes tenía adentro siete demonios que Jesús había expulsado.
El sábado descansaron hasta la noche (y entonces) María Magdalena, María y Salome se fueron a comprar perfume para ungir y frotar el perfume en el cuerpo muerto de Jesús.
El domingo, temprano en la mañana Jesús resucitó y primero encontró a María Magdalena, ella vio con sus propios ojos que Jesús estaba vivo otra vez y se fue.
Después de la salida del sol las otras mujeres estaban en camino para ir a la tumba, y mientras caminaban dijeron: “¿Cómo vamos a quitar la piedra? ¿Quién nos va a ayudar a rodar la piedra?”
Continuaron en el camino y vieron que la piedra fue revuelta, y fueron y entraron y vieron a un hombre jóven con ropa blanca sentado.
Las mujeres se asustaron y el ángel dijo: “No tengan miedo, uds buscan a Jesús de Nazarét, que fue crucificado y murió, ya se ha levantado, su cuerpo no está, miren.
Ahorita vayanse y adviertan a los discípulos y a Pedro diciendo: “Recuerden que recien antes Jesús les ha dicho: ‘voy a Galilela y uds también vayan a Galilea a ver a Jesús.'”
Las mujeres tenían miedo y estaban nerviosas y huyeron caminando, y no decían nada y se fueron.
Mary Magdalene before had seven demons inside her that Jesus had thrown out.
On Saturday they rested till nighttime and (then) Mary Magdalene, Mary and Salome went off to buy perfume to anoint and rub the perfume onto Jesus’ dead body.
On Sunday, early in the morning Jesus rose and first met Mary Magdalene, who saw with her own eyes that Jesus was alive again and went off.
After sunrise the other women were on their way to go to the tomb, and while they walked they said: “How are we going to take away the stone? Who will help us to roll the stone away?”
They went on and saw that the stone had been rolled away, and they went over and entered and saw a young man with white clothes sitting there.
The women were frightened and the angel said: “Do not be afraid, you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified and died, he has already risen, his body is not here, look.
Now go and warn the disciples and Peter saying: “Remember that not long ago Jesus has told you: ‘I go to Galilee and you must also go to Galilee to see Jesus.'”
The women were afraid and nervous and they fled, walking away and they said nothing about it and left.
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.
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 16:6:
Uma: “The young man said: ‘Don’t be amazed! You are searching for Yesus the Nazaret person, who died crucified. He has come back alive! He isn’t here any more. See the place he was put the other day [lit., yesterday].” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “He said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. I know you look for Isa, the man from Nasaret who was nailed to the post. He is no longer here. He is alive again. Look where he was laid.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The person spoke, he said, ‘Don’t be afraid. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was nailed to the cross, but he is no longer here for he is risen. Come see where he was laid.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Then he said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. I know that you are looking-for Jesus from-Nazaret who was nailed to the cross. But he isn’t here, because he came-to-life again. Look! This is where-he-was-placed.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “‘Don’t be afraid,’ said that man. ‘Probably you are looking for Jesus the Nazaretanen who was nailed to a cross. He is no longer here, for he was made alive again. Look at where he was laid out.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, yomigae-rare-ru (よみがえられる) or “resurrect” is used.
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, o-rare-ru (おられる) or “is/be present” is used.
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 tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (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. ).
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