Sabbath

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “Sabbath” in English is rendered as “day we rest” in Tzotzil, in Mairasi as “Jew’s Rest Day,” in Quiotepec Chinantec as “day when people of Israel rested,” in Shilluk as “day of God,” in Obolo as Usen Mbuban or “Holy Day,” and in Mandarin Chinese as ānxírì (安息日) or “rest day” (literally: “peace – rest – day”). (Sources: Tzotzil: Marion Cowan in Notes on Translation with Drill, p. 169ff; Mairasi: Enggavoter 2004; Quiotepec Chinantec: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.; Shilluk: Nida 1964, p. 237; Obolo: Enene Enene; Chinese: Jost Zetzsche)

In Matumbi it is translated as Sabato ya Ayahudi or “Sabbath of the Jews,” to distinguish it from the Islamic Sabbath (which is Friday) or the Christian Sabbath (which is Sunday). (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

In the old Khmer version as well as in the first new translation this term was rendered as “day of rest” (Thngai Chhup Somrak / ​ថ្ងៃ​ឈប់​សំរាក). Considered inadequate to convey its religious meaning (not only about cessation of work, but also in honor of Yahweh as the Creator), the committee for the Today’s Khmer Version (publ. 2005) decided to keep the Hebrew word and use its transliterated form Thgnai Sabath (​ថ្ងៃ​សប្ប័ទ). “The Buddhist word Thngai Seil ‘day of merits’ used by some Catholics was once under consideration but was rejected because it did not receive unanimous support.” (Source: Joseph Hong in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 233ff. )

In Spanish, the translation is either día de reposo (“day of rest”) or sábado (usually: “Saturday,” derived from the Greek and Hebrew original). Nida (1947, p. 239f.) explains that problem for Spanish and other languages in its sphere of influence: “In translation ‘Sabbath’ into various aboriginal languages of Latin America, a considerable number of translators have used the Spanish sábado, ‘Saturday,’ because it is derived from the Hebrew sabbath and seems to correspond to English usage as well. The difficulty is that sábado means only ‘Saturday’ for most people. There is no religious significance about this word as the is with ‘Sabbath’ in English. Accordingly the [readers] cannot understand the significance of the persecution of Jesus because he worked on ‘Saturday.’ It has been found quite advantageous to use the translation ‘day of rest,’ for this accurately translated the Hebrew meaning of the term and resolves the problem in connection with the prohibitions placed upon some types of activities.”

In French Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts closing of the blinds of a store:


“Sabbath” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Sabbath .

Mark 2:23-28 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 2:23-28 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

It was the Sabbath. Here was a field where wheat was growing. There was a path through the field where people were walking. Jesus and the disciples were walking along the path. The disciples plucked the ears, took the grain out of them, peeled them and ate them. A group of Pharisees saw this, and they were greatly angered.

They said to Jesus:

— Look at this! Today is the Sabbath! And your disciples are picking ears. It is forbidden to do that on the Sabbath. The law forbids it. Look at what your disciples are doing!

Jesus answered them:

— Do you know the story of David? There was a priest named Abiathar. He brought bread to the Temple of God and offered it as a gift to God. Then Abiathar and the other priests were allowed to eat that bread. Ordinary people were not allowed to eat this bread because it was only for the priests. And this is what happened to David. He was traveling with his soldiers and they were very hungry. David entered the Temple where the bread that was meant for God was lying, and he ate that bread. He also gave pieces of this bread to his soldiers because they were all very hungry. Were they allowed to do this?

Today is the Sabbath. God set this day for the people to rest. But you have turned the Sabbath into a set of harsh rules. I am the master and ruler of the Sabbath.

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

Была суббота. Вот поле, на котором росла пшеница. Через это поле шла тропинка, по которой ходили люди. Иисус и ученики шли по этой тропинке. Ученики срывали колосья, доставали из них зерна, очищали их и ели. Группа фарисеев увидела это, и они были сильно возмущены.

Они сказали Иисусу:

— Посмотри на это! Сегодня суббота! А твои ученики собирают колосья. Это запрещено делать в субботу. Закон запрещает. Ты посмотри, что делают твои ученики!

Иисус им ответил:

— Вы знаете историю о Давиде? Был священник по имени Авиафар. Он приносил в Храм Бога хлеб и приносил его в дар Богу. Потом этот хлеб разрешено было есть Авиафару и другим священникам. Обычным людям запрещено было есть такой хлеб, потому что он предназначался только для священников. И вот что случилось с Давидом. Он шел со своими воинами, они были очень голодны. Давид вошел в Храм, где лежал хлеб, предназначенный для Бога, и ел этот хлеб. Также он дал куски этого хлеба своим воинам, потому что все они были очень голодны. Им можно было это делать?

Сегодня суббота. Бог установил этот день, чтобы люди отдохнули. Но вы превратили субботу в набор суровых правил. Я есть хозяин и властелин субботы.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

<< Mark 2:18-22 in Russian Sign Language
Mark 3:1-6 in Russian Sign Language >>

Mark 2:23-28 in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 2:23-28 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)

Un sábado, el día de descanso, Jesús y sus discípulos estaban caminando en el campo y los discípulos estaban recogiendo trigo.

Los fariseos lo vieron y dijeron a Jesús: “Ellos están trabajando, tu sabes que es prohibido, según la ley de Dios el sábado es el día de descanso. ¿Cómo es que lo hacen?”

Jesús los paró (diciendo): “Mira, les explico. Hay una ley que dice que los sacerdotes pueden tomar del pan santo y comerlo, pero gente de afuera, gente extraño no puede comer el pan santo, está prohibido.

¿Uds todavía no han leído la historia de David y del sumo sacerdote de antes, Abiatar, uds no la conocen?

David y los soldados tenían hambre y David fue sólo al tabernáculo y tomó el pan santo y lo distribuyó y los soldados lo comieron.

Les pregunto: ¿Dios hizo las personas para la ley, para que el sábado a fuerzas descansaran y la obedecieran? No, al contrario, Dios dio el sábado en su gracia para ayudar a la gente.

Por eso Dios ha entregado al hijo del hombre la autoridad, él puede no hacer caso al sábado como día de descanso si personas necesitan ayuda.”


On a Saturday, the day of rest, Jesus and his disciples were walking in the fields and the disciples were gathering wheat.

The Pharisees saw it and said to Jesus: “They are working and you know that it is prohibited, according to the law of God the Saturday is the day of rest. How is is they do this?”

But Jesus stopped them (and said): “Look, I’ll explain. There is a law that the priests can take the holy bread and eat it, but people from outside, strangers, cannot eat the holy bread, it is prohibited.

“Have you not yet read the story of David and the former high priest Abiatar, do you not know it?

“David and his army were hungry and David went alone to the tabernacle and took the holy bread and handed it out and the soldiers ate it.

“Let me ask you a question: Did God make the people for the law, so that on Saturday they would obligatorily rest and obey it? No, on the contrary, God graciously gave the Saturday, to help the people.

“Therefore God has given authority to the Son of man, he can ignore that the Saturday is a day of rest if people need help.”

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

<< Mark 2:18-22 in Mexican Sign Language
Mark 3:1-6 in Mexican Sign Language >>

complete verse (Mark 2:24)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 2:24:

  • Uma: “The Parisi people who were there said to Yesus: ‘Why [in the world] do your (sing.) disciples break the rules of our (incl.) religion? They are working on the worship day!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then the Pariseo said to Isa, ‘Look. Why is it that your disciples do what is forbidden by the law on a day-of-no-work?'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Then the Pharisees said to Jesus, they said, ‘Your disciples are transgressing the commandment given to us by God. Because why are they harvesting today on the Day of Rest?'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “However there were some Pharisees who said to Jesus, ‘Look, why are your (sing.) disciples breaking the law of us Jews which forbids harvesting on the day for-resting?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When the Pariseo saw, they said to Jesus, ‘Look at what is being done by those disciples of yours! Isn’t it so that it is taboo to harvest on the Day of Rest?'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Pharisee

The Greek that is a transliteration of the Hebrew Pərūšīm and is typically transliterated into English as “Pharisee” is transliterated in Mandarin Chinese as Fǎlìsài (法利賽 / 法利赛) (Protestant) or Fǎlìsāi (法利塞) (Catholic). In Chinese, transliterations can typically be done with a great number of different and identical-sounding characters. Often the meaning of the characters are not relevant, unless they are chosen carefully as in these cases. The Protestant Fǎlìsài can mean something like “Competition for the profit of the law” and the Catholic Fǎlìsāi “Stuffed by/with the profit of the law.” (Source: Zetzsche 1996, p. 51)

In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “prayer shawl”. (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Pharisee” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts “pointing out the law.” (Source: Anna Smith)


“Pharisee” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

In French Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts the box of the phylacteries attached to the forehead:


“Pharisees” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) translates it into English as Observant. He explains (p. 302): “Pharisee has become a public, universal pejorative term for a hypocrite. Pharisees were observant of the interpretation of the Covenant Code called the ‘tradition of the elders.’ They conformed their behaviors to the interpretation. Among the various groups of Jews at the time of Jesus, they were perhaps closest to Jesus in their overall concern to make a radical commitment to the will of God (as they understood it).”

See also Nicodemus.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Pharisees .

behold / look / see (Japanese honorifics)

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 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. When the referent is God or a person or persons to be greatly honored, the honorific prefix go- (御 or ご) can be used, as in go-ran (ご覧), a combination of “behold / see” (ran) and the honorific prefix go-.

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

See also Japanese benefactives (goran).

Translation commentary on Mark 2:24

Exegesis:

hoi Pharisaioi ‘the Pharisees’: cf. 2.16.

ide (3.34; 11.21; 13.1, 21; 15.4, 35; 16.6) ‘look!,’ ‘see!’: no longer strictly an imperative of the verb but an interjection (cf. hora ‘see’ in 1.44).

ti; ‘why…?’: again a rhetorical question (cf. 2.7): this is not a request for information, but is an accusation of wrong doing). Cf. Moffatt: “Look at what…! That is not allowed.”

ho ouk exestin ‘that which is not lawful’: i.e. reaping, which the Mosaic law prohibited on the sabbath (cf. Ex. 34.21). It is to be noticed that the disciples are not accused of stealing or plundering someone else’s field; the charge has to do with work prohibited on the sabbath.

exestin (2.26; 3.4; 6.18; 10.2; 12.14) ‘it is lawful,’ ‘it is permitted,’ ‘it is proper’ (an impersonal verb).

Translation:

Said may need to be translated as ‘asked,’ because of the interrogative form of the following.

They must be rendered in some languages more specifically as ‘your disciples.’

Not lawful is a somewhat complex idea, which in a number of languages must be translated in a more descriptive manner, e.g. ‘what the law does not allow’ (Mitla Zapotec), ‘what the law says should not be done,’ ‘what the law prohibits people from doing,’ or ‘what the law says is bad,’ if specific reference is to be made to the ‘law’ as codified rules of behavior. Rather, however, than the ‘law speaking’ (which it cannot do in some languages), one can translate ‘what people read in the law should not be done.’ On the other hand, it is more satisfactory in some instances to translate ‘what people should not do’ (Toraja-Sa’dan has simply ‘that which is not done’), without attempting to identify the codified form of the commandment, though the Greek text clearly implies a challenge to the authority of the Law.

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 .