Jesus

The Greek Iēsous is “only” a proper name but one with great importance. The following quote by John Ellington (in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 401ff. ) illustrates this:

“In Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus Christ, Joseph is told that when Mary gives birth to a son ‘you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins’ (1:21). This name is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name [Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) which is a short form of a name meaning] ‘the Lord [Yahweh] saves.’ The name is very significant and is in itself especially dear to Christians around the world. (…) Unquestionably great importance is attached to the name of Jesus by Christians of all persuasions and backgrounds.”

While Iēsous (pronounced: /i.ɛː.suːs/) is transliterated as “Jesus” (pronounced /ˈdʒiːzəs/) in English (but was translated as “Hælend” [the “healing one”] in Old English — see Swain 2019) it is transliterated and pronounced in a large variety of other ways as well, following the different rules of different languages’ orthographies, writing systems and rules of pronunciation. The following is a (partial) list of forms of Jesus in Latin characters: aYeso, Azezi, Boiyesuq, Cecoc, Chesús, Chi̍i̍sū, Chisɔsi, Ciisahs, Ciise, Ciisusu, Djesu, Ɛisa, Ƹisa, Eyesu, Gesù, Gesû, Gesü, Ġesù, Ghjesù, Giêsu, ꞌGiê‑ꞌsu, Giê-xu, Gyisɛse, Hesu, Hesús, Hisus, Hisuw, Ià-sŭ, Iesen, Ié:sos, Iesu, Iesui, Iesusɨn, Iesusiva, Ié:sos, Ihu, Īhu, Iisus, Iisussa, Ijeesu, iJisọsị, Iji̍sɔ̄ɔsi, Iosa, Íosa, Ìosa, İsa, I’sa, Isiso, Isõs, Ísu, Isus, Isusa, Iisussa, Isuthi, Itota, Îtu, Isuva, Izesu, Izesuq, Jasus, Jeeju, Jeesus, Jeesuse, Jeezas, Jehu, Jeisu, Jeju, Jejus, Jesesi, Jeshu, Jeso, Jesoe, Jesosa, Jesoshi, Jesosi, Jesosy, Jesu, Jesû, Jesua, Jesuh, Jesuhs, Jesuo, Jesús, Jésus, Jesúsu, Jethu, Jezed, Jezi, Jézi, Ježiš, Jezu, Jezus, Jézus, Jėzus, Jēzus, Jezusi, Jėzus, Jezuz, Jiijajju, Jíísas, Jiisusi, Jiizas, Jíìzọ̀s, Jisas, Jisase, Jisasi, Jisasɨ, Jisaso, Jisesi, Jisɛ̀, Jisos, Jisọs, Jisɔs, Jisu, Jiszs, Jizọs, Jizɔs, Jizọsi, Jizọsu, Jòso, Jusu, Jweesus, Ketsutsi, Njises, Sesi, Sisa, Sísa, Sisas, Sises, Sīsū, Sizi, Txesusu, uJesu, Ujísɔ̄si, ŵaYesu, Xesosi, ´Xesús, Xesús, Yasu, Ya:su, Yasuuⓐ, Ɣaysa, Yecu, Yeeb Sub, Yeeh Suh, Yeesey, Yeeso, Yeesso, Yēēsu, Yehsu, Yëësu, Yeiqsul, Yeisu, Yeisuw, Yeshu, Yē shú, Yeso, Yéso, Yesò, Yëso, Yɛso, ye-su, Yésu, Yêsu, Yẹ́sụ̃, Yěsù, Yésʉs, Yeswa, Yet Sut, Yetut, Yexus, Yezo, Yezu, Yiesu, Yiisa, Yiisu, Yiitju, Yis, Yisɔs, Yisufa, Yitati, Yusu, ‑Yusu, :Yusu’, Zeezi, Zezi, Zezì, Zezuz, Zezwii, Ziizɛ, Zisas, Zîsɛ, Zjezus, Zozi, Zozii, and this (much more incomplete) list with other writings systems: ᔩᓱᓯ, ᒋᓴᔅ, Հիսուս, ᏥᏌ, ኢየሱስ, ያሱስ, ܝܫܘܥ, Ісус, Їисъ, 耶稣, იესო, ईसा, イエス, イイスス, イエスス, 예수, येशू, येशो, ਈਸਾ, ພຣະເຢຊູ, ජේසුස්, যীশু, ଯୀଶୁ, ཡེ་ཤུ་, ‘ঈছা, இயேசு, ಯೇಸು, ພຣະເຢຊູ, ယေရှု, ઇસુ, जेजू, येसु, เยซู, យេស៊ូ, ᱡᱤᱥᱩ, ယေသှု, యేసు, ᤕᤧᤛᤢ᤺ᤴ, އީސާގެފާނު, ਯਿਸੂ, ꕉꖷ ꔤꕢ ꕞ, ⵏ⵿ⵗⵢⵙⴰ, ଜୀସୁ, يَسُوعَ,ㄧㄝㄙㄨ, YE-SU, ꓬꓰ꓿ꓢꓴ, 𖽃𖽡𖾐𖼺𖽹𖾏𖼽𖽔𖾏, ꑳꌠ, ᠶᠡᠰᠦᠰ (note that some of these might not display correctly if your device does not have the correct fonts installed).

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In some languages the different confessions have selected different transliterations, such as in Belarusian with Isus (Ісус) by the Orthodox and Protestant churches and Yezus (Езус) by the Catholic church, Bulgarian with Iisus (Иисус) by the Orthodox and Isus (Исус) by the Protestant church, Japanese with Iesu (イエス) (Protestant and Catholic) and Iisusu (イイスス) (Orthodox), or Lingala with Yesu (Protestant) or Yezu (Catholic). These differences have come to the forefront especially during the work on interconfessional translations such as one in Lingala where “many hours were spent on a single letter difference” (source: Ellington, p. 401).

In Literary and Mandarin Chinese where transliterations of proper names between the Catholic and Protestant versions typically differ vastly, the Chinese name of Jesus (Yēsū 耶稣) remarkably was never brought into question between and by those two confessions, likely due to its ingenious choice. (Click or tap here to see more).

The proper name of God in the Old Testament, Yahweh (YHWH), is rendered in most Chinese Bible translations as Yēhéhuá 耶和華 — Jehovah. According to Chinese naming conventions, Yēhéhuá could be interpreted as Yē Héhuá, in which Yē would be the family name and Héhuá — “harmonic and radiant” — the given name. In the same manner, Yē 耶 would be the family name of Jesus and Sū 稣 would be his given name. Because in China the children inherit the family name from the father, the sonship of Jesus to God the Father, Jehovah, would be illustrated through this. Though this line of argumentation sounds theologically unsound, it is indeed used effectively in the Chinese church (see Wright 1953, p. 298).

Moreover, the “given name” of Sū 稣 carries the meaning ‘to revive, to rise again’ and seems to point to the resurrected Jesus. (Source: J. Zetzsche in Malek 2002, p. 141ff., see also tetragrammaton (YHWH))

There are different ways that Bible translators have chosen historically and today in how to translate the name of Jesus in predominantly Muslim areas: with a form of the Arabic Isa (عيسى) (which is used for “Jesus” in the Qur’an), the Greek Iēsous, or, like major 20th century Bible translations into Standard Arabic, the Aramaic Yēšūaʿ: Yasua (يَسُوعَ). (Click or tap here to see more.)

Following are languages and language groups that use a form of Isa include the following (note that this list is not complete):

  • Indo-Iranian languages: Persian, Dari, Central Pashto, Southern Pashto all use Eysa (عيسی or عيسىٰ for Southern Pashto), Sindhi uses Eysey (عيسيٰ), Southern Balochi Issa (ایسّا), Central Kurdish (Sorani) and Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) use Îsa (عیسای and Иса respectively), Turkmen has Isa, and Tajik Isoi (Исои — compare Iso/Исо in the Tajik Qur’an)
  • Turkic languages: Turkish uses İsa, Kazakh, Kumyk, Nogai, Crimean Tatar all have Isa (Иса), Kirghiz has Iysa (Ыйса), Uzbek has Iso (Исо — compare Iiso/Ийсо in the Uzbek Qur’an), Bashkir uses Aaisa (Ғайса), North Azerbaijani İsa, Uighur uses Eysa (ئەيسا), and Kara-Kalpak İysa (Ийса)
  • Caucasian languages: Bezhta and Lezghian use Isa (Иса), Avaric has Aisa (ГІиса), and Chechen Iza (Иза)
  • Various African languages: Somali, a Cushitic language, has Ciise, Kabyle has Ɛisa and Tahaggart Tamahaq has Yeswa (both Berber languages), the Saharan languages Central Kanuri, Manga Kanuri have Isa, the Atlantic-Congo languages Dagbani, Mampruli, and Bimoba use Yisa, and the Chadian Arabic Bible has Isa (عِيسَى)
  • In Indonesian, while most Bible translations had already used Yesus Kristus rather than Isa al Masih, three public holidays used to be described using the term Isa Al Masih. From 2024 on the government is using Yesus Kristus in those holiday names instead (see this article in Christianity Today ).
  • Some languages have additional “TAZI” editions (TAZI stands for “Tawrat, Anbiya, Zabur, and Injil” the “Torah, Prophets, Psalms and Gospel”) of the New Testament that are geared towards Muslim readers where there is also a translation in the same language for non-Muslims. In those editions, Isa is typically used as well (for example, the Khmer TAZI edition uses Isa (អ៊ីសា) rather than the commonly used Yesaou (យេស៊ូ), the Thai edition uses Isa (อีซา) rather than Yesu (เยซู), the Chinese edition uses Ěrsā (尔撒) vs. Yēsū (耶稣), and the English edition also has Isa rather than Jesus.)

In German the name Jesus (pronounced: /ˈjeːzʊs/) is distinguished by its grammatical forms. Into the 20th century the grammatical rules prescribed a unique Greek-Latin declination: Jesus (nominative), Jesu (genitive, dative, vocative), Jesum (accusative), from which today only the genitive case “Jesu” is still in active use. Likewise, in Seediq (Taroko), the morphological treatment of “Jesus” also occupies a special category by not falling under the normal rule of experiencing a vowel reduction when the object-specific suffix an is added “since it was felt that the readers might resent that the name has been changed that drastically.” (Compare Msian for “Moses” (Mosi) as an object, but Yisuan for “Jesus” (Yisu).) (Source: Covell 1998. p. 249)

In Lamba the name ŵaYesu consists of a transliteration Yesu and the prefix ŵa, a plural form for “proper names when addressing and referring to persons in any position of seniority or honor.” While this was avoided in early translations to avoid possible misunderstandings of more than one Jesus, once the church was established it was felt that it was both “safe” and respectful to use the honorific (pl.) prefix. (Source C. M. Doke in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 57ff. )

In virtually all sign languages, “Jesus” is signed with the middle finger of each hand pointing to the palm (or wrist) of the other in succession (signing the nails of the cross). In the context of Bible translation this has been pointed out as theologically problematic since the “semantic connections of the original name Jesus do point towards ‘salvation,’ they do not naturally lead to crucifixion.” (Source: Phil King in Journal of Translation 1 (2020), p. 33ff.)


“Jesus” in German Sign Language (source )

Following is the oldest remaining Ethiopian Orthodox icon of Jesus from the 14th or possibly 13th century (found in the Church of the Saviour of the World in Gurji, Ethiopia). As in many Orthodox icons, Jesus’ right hand forms the Greek letters I-C-X-C for IHCOYC XPICTOC or “Jesus Christ.” Another interpretation of the right hand is that it shows three fingers pointing to the Trinity, while the two other fingers point to Jesus’ two natures.

source (c) Jacques Mercier and Alain Mathieu

Orthodox icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )

The following is the so-called “Wales Window for Alabama.” It is a stained-glass window by the artist John Petts from Carmarthenshire, Wales, created in response to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing which took place in 1963:

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 )

The style of the following drawing of Jesus by Annie Vallotton is described by the artist as this: “By using few lines the readers fill in the outlines with their imagination and freedom. That is when the drawings begin to communicate.” (see here ; see also We All are One in Christ)

Illustration by Annie Vallotton, copyright by Donald and Patricia Griggs of Griggs Educational Service.

Other visual representation of Jesus in TIPs include several non-Western styles of art: traditional Korean art, traditional Chinese art, modern Chinese abstract art, northern and central Thailand’s popular art, Indian Hamzanama style, traditional Vietnamese art, or Japanese prints.

See also this devotion on YouVersion .

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Mark 2:1-12)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Mark 2:1-12:

When Jesus returned home to Capernaum,
such a mob crowded around the door
       that no standing room was left.

Jesus was teaching when four people arrived,
       carrying a disabled man on a mat.
Unable to squeeze through the mob,
they dug through the mud roof and let the man down
       in the middle of the room.

“Such faith!” thought Jesus. Then he said to the man,
       “My friend, your sins are forgiven.”

Some biblical scholars were there and started wondering,
“Does this guy think he’s God
       with the power to forgive sins?”

Jesus realized what was going on, so he said,
       “Is it easier to forgive this man or to heal him?
I’ll show you who has the power
       to forgive sins here and now.”

So Jesus said to the man,
       “Take your mat and head home!”

At this, the man rose to his feet, picked up his mat,
and headed home, while everyone stood there stunned.
       “Praise God!” they shouted,
       “We’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("is/be present")

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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.

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

Translation commentary on Mark 2:4

Text:

Instead of prosenegkai ‘bring to’ of the majority of editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus, Souter, Kilpatrick and Soden have proseggisai ‘approach.’

Exegesis:

mē dunamenoi ‘not being able’: the participle is causal ‘because (or, since) they were unable….’

prosenegkai (10.13) ‘bring to’ in its literal sense, not in the meaning of ‘bring (a sacrifice) to (the altar),’ as in 1.44.

ton ochlon (some 37 times in Mark; once in the plural ochloi ‘crowds’ 10.1) ‘the crowd.’ Here not in the sense of a disorganized or an unruly mob, but of the people gathered to hear Jesus speak.

apestegasan tēn stegēn ‘they unroofed the roof’ (literally).

apostegazō (only here in the N.T.) ‘remove the roof.’

stegē (only here in Mark) ‘roof’: although Mark does not specify it, the roof would be reached, of course, by the outside steps (cf. 13.15). “The roof would be flat, and not made of very thick material, perhaps rough rafters with branches laid across, and the whole plastered with mud, so that ‘to take off the roof’ and let someone down through it … would be quite easy.” (Notice that Luke 5.19 speaks of the tiled roof of Roman or Hellenistic construction; cf. Lagrange; Creed, p. 79.)

hopou ēn ‘where he was,’ i.e. just above the place where Jesus was: Manson “above the spot where Jesus was”; The Modern Speech New Testament “just over His head”; Moffatt “under which he stood.”

exoruxantes (only here in Mark) ‘digging out,’ ‘digging through.’ This verb further defines the nature of the roof. Arndt & Gingrich: “making an opening by digging through the clay of which the roof was made, and putting the debris to one side, so that it does not fall on the heads of those in the house.”

chalōsi ton krabaton ‘they let down the pallet.’

chalaō (only here in Mark) ‘let down,’ ‘lower’ (cf. Acts 9.25). How they lowered the pallet is not made clear. The general presumption is that ropes would be used: Vincent, however, is of the opinion that no ropes would be required. In any case no great distance would be involved since the roof would be quite low.

krabatos (2.9, 11, 12; 6.55) ‘pallet,’ ‘mat’: Moulton & Milligan define it: ‘the poor man’s bed or mattress,’ a word better suited to the narrative than klinē ‘bed’ in Mt. 9.2 and Lk. 5.18.

katekeito (cf. 1.30) ‘he was lying.’

Translation:

Because any reference to Jesus is several clauses removed, it is often necessary to translate ‘and when they could not get near Jesus.’

Crowd is often just ‘many people.’

To remove the roof poses not only problems for the translator but for many readers, especially those who cannot imagine a flat roof such as was common in Palestine in the time of Jesus (and still is). In many instances it is preferable to use rather generalized statements at this point, unless by some picture to be used in the text the fact of flat roofs can be made clear. The first verb may then be translated as ‘they took away part of the roof’ and the second ‘when they had made a hole’ (or ‘an open place’). Of course, the Greek describes graphically the process of digging out a hole, but this may be difficult, if not impossible, to communicate in another language, especially where people are acquainted only with very steep, thatch-covered dwellings.

Since in most areas of the world people use improvised stretchers to carry people, such a term as is used for these objects can be employed here for pallet.

Let down must often be made specific, i.e. ‘by hand’ or ‘with ropes.’ Probably the latter is preferable.

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 2:4

2:4a

Since they were unable to get to Jesus through the crowd: This part of the verse explains the reason for the action in 2:4b. Because the men could not get near Jesus by going through the crowd, they brought the paralytic to him in a different way.

Here is another way to translate this:

They could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd. So….

they were unable to get to Jesus: The phrase they were unable to get to Jesus indicates that they could not bring him all the way to Jesus. The men were unable to reach Jesus while carrying the paralyzed man.

they: The word they here refers to the people who were carrying the paralyzed man.

through the crowd: The phrase through the crowd indicates that so many people were at the door that there was no space for the men to enter.

2:4b

The houses in Capernaum and other places in Israel had flat roofs. There were ladders or stairs so that people could get onto the roof of the house. To make the roof, people put wooden beams and smaller poles and sticks across the walls. These beams and poles were covered with thatch and then with a layer of tiles that were made of burnt clay. That is the reason that the men could dig

they uncovered the roof above Him, made an opening: Here the author used two different ways to express a similar meaning. The men uncovered the roof by making an opening in it. You may need to say this only once. For example:

They made an opening in the roof
-or-
They dug through the roof

they uncovered the roof: The original readers of the Gospel of Mark would have understood that the men climbed stairs to get onto the roof. They would also have known that the roof was flat and the men could walk across it. In some languages it may be necessary to communicate some of this implied information.

Here are several ways to do this:

• Make some of the details explicit in the text. For example:

they climbed stairs onto the flat roof and uncovered it

• Use a footnote to explain how the men got onto the roof.

• Include a drawing of a Galilean home with a ladder or stairs and four men carrying a paralyzed man onto the roof.

Use an appropriate option for your translation.

2:4c

lowered the paralytic on his mat: The paralyzed man was lying on a mat when the men lowered him through the roof. The text does not say exactly how the men lowered the mat. Probably they held onto ropes that they had attached to the four corners of the mat. Then they slowly lowered ropes until the man was on the floor in front of Jesus. Describe this in a way that will not be confusing in your language.

Paragraph 2:6–12

In this section the teachers of the law reacted to Jesus’ statement that the sins of the paralytic were forgiven. They thought that Jesus was an ordinary person who could not be the Messiah.

2:6a

But: In this context the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But introduces background information. It is not indicating contrast in this case. Use the style that is natural in your language to indicate background information.

scribes: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as scribes is sometimes translated as “teachers of the law,” as in the New International Version. The original work of these men was to copy the laws of Moses by hand. In New Testament times, their main task was to study, interpret, and teach the law of Moses and related Jewish laws and traditions.

Here are some other ways to translate this term:

teachers of the Law of Moses (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
teachers of religious law (New Living Translation)
-or-
experts on the law

See how you translated this term in 1:22. See also teacher of the law in the Glossary.

there: The word there refers to the fact that the scribes were in the house with Jesus. The scribes were close enough to Jesus to see and hear what was happening.

2:6b

thinking in their hearts: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as thinking in their hearts is literally “reasoning in their hearts.” It indicates that the teachers of the law were thinking about what Jesus had just said, but they did not speak their thoughts out loud. Use a natural expression in your language to describe this.

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