The Greek that is translated in English as “beside the sea” or “seaside” is translated in Q’anjob’al with the existing idiom “mouth of the sea.” (Source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. )
Jesus teaching from a boat (image)
Hand colored stencil print on momigami by Sadao Watanabe (1965).
Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe. For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.
Following is a painting by Xu Jihua 徐濟華 (1912-1937) (housed in the Société des Auxiliaires des Missions Collection – Whitworth University):
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.
teach
boat, ship
The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated “boat” or “ship” in English is translated in Chichimeca-Jonaz as “that with which we can walk on water” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.), in Chitonga as a term in combination with bwato or “dugout canoe” (source: Wendland 1987, p. 72), and in Tangale as inj am or “canoe-of water” (inj — “canoe” — on its own typically refers to a traditional type of carved-out log for sleeping) (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
In Kouya it is translated as ‘glʋ ‘kadʋ — “big canoe.”
Philip Saunders (p. 231) explains how the Kouya team arrived at that conclusion:
“Acts chapter 27 was a challenge! It describes Paul’s sea voyage to Italy, and finally Rome. There is a storm at sea and a shipwreck on Malta, and the chapter includes much detailed nautical vocabulary. How do you translate this for a landlocked people group, most of whom have never seen the ocean? All they know are small rivers and dugout canoes.
“We knew that we could later insert some illustrations during the final paging process which would help the Kouya readers to picture what was happening, but meanwhile we struggled to find or invent meaningful terms. The ‘ship’ was a ‘big canoe’ and the ‘passengers’ were ‘the people in the big canoe’; the ‘crew’ were the ‘workers in the big canoe’; the ‘pilot’ was the ‘driver of the big canoe’; the ‘big canoe stopping place’ was the ‘harbour’, and the ‘big canoe stopping metal’ was the ‘anchor’!”
In Lokạạ it is translated as ukalangkwaa, lit. “English canoe.” “The term was not coined for the Bible translation, but rather originated in colonial times when the English arrived in Nigeria on ships. The indigenous term for a canoe was modified to represent the large, ocean-going ship of the English.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
See also ships of Tarshish, harbor, anchor, and sailor.
Mark 4:1-9 in Russian Sign Language
Following is the translation of Mark 4:1-9 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:
Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество
Jesus came to the Lake of Galilee again. Many people followed Jesus. Jesus was teaching the people and there were more and more people. There were so many people that Jesus didn’t even have anywhere to stand. He was by a lake. There was a boat on the lake. Jesus got into the boat and the people crowded on the shore to listen to Jesus’ words. Jesus began to speak. He taught the people in parables.
Jesus said:
— Listen! There was a sower who sowed seeds. The seeds went to different places. The first place. There was a road nearby. Some of the seeds fell on the road. Birds saw them, flew in, pecked them all up.
Second place: rocky soil. A little bit of earth on top, mostly rocks. The seeds that fell here sprouted a little, but they couldn’t take root because the rocks were in the way. And then the sun came up, it got hot, and the sprouts dried up. The third place is where a lot of weeds grew. The seeds that fell here sprouted, but the weeds killed them, and they could not grow, but withered. The fourth place: good soil. The seeds that fell here grew and gave a bountiful harvest. Some yielded 30 times as much, some 60 times as much, and some 100 times as much. Those of you who ponder this will understand. [See also Costa Rica Sign Language under Let anyone with ears to hear listen]
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Иисус снова пришел к Галилейскому озеру. За Иисусом следовало множество народа. Иисус учил народ, а людей становилось все больше. Народу было так много, что Иисус даже некуда было встать. Он был возле озера. На озере была лодка. Иисус встал в лодку, а народ столпился на берегу, чтобы послушать слова Иисуса. Иисус начал говорить. Он учил народ притчами.
Иисус сказал:
— Послушайте! Вот был сеятель, который сеял семена. Семена попали в разные места. Первое место. Там рядом проходила дорога. Некоторые семена упали на дорогу. Птицы увидали, прилетели, склевали семена полностью.
Второе место — каменистая почва. Немного земли сверху, а в основном — камни. Семена, которые упали сюда, немного проросли, но корни пустить не смогли, потому что камни мешали. И вот взошло солнце, стало припекать, и ростки высохли. Третье место — там, где росло множество сорняков. Семена, которые сюда упали, проросли, но сорняки их погубили, и они не смогли вырасти, но тоже завяли. Четвертое место — хорошая почва. Семена, которые сюда упали, выросли и дали обильный урожай. Некоторые дали урожай в 30 раз больше, некоторые в 60, а некоторые в 100 раз больше. Тот из вас, кто обдумает это, поймет.
Back-translation by Luka Manevich
<< Mark 3:31-35 in Russian Sign Language
Mark 4:10-12 in Russian Sign Language >>
Mark 4:1-9 in Mexican Sign Language
Following is the translation of Mark 4:1-9 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)
Jesús empezó a explicar y muchas personas venían, cerca del lago, y Jesús caminó a un barco y se sentó.
Dijo: “Por favor, pongan atención” y les explicó una historia, que es como un ejemplo.
En un campo con tierra buena un hombre estaba arando y después sembró semillas.
Allá en el camino, donde la tierra está dura, algunas semillas cayeron por accidente y los pájaros los comieron y acabaron todo.
Por allá había piedras en la tierra y una capa delgada de tierra, muy poco. Las semillas cayeron y las plantas crecían rápidamente, pero no podían profundizar los raíces porque sólo había piedras abajo de la tierra, y con el fuerte calor del sol las plantas marchitaban.
En otra parte había malas hierbas que cubrían la tierra, y las semillas cayeron en la tierra, y las plantas crecían pero no maduraron.
En otra parte la tierra era buena y las semillas cayeron y las plantas crecían y maduraron 30 y en otro lugar 60 plantas maduraron, y en otro lugar 100 plantas maduraron.
Cuando había acabado la historia Jesús dijo: “Esta historia que ahorita me veían (contar), uds necesitan intentar a resolverlo.”
Jesus began to explain and many people came to him, near the lake, and Jesus walked over and sat down in a boat.
He said: “Pay attention please” and he explained them a story, which is like an example.
“In a field with good soil a man was plowing and then sowed seeds.
“There on the road, where the ground is hard, some seeds fell by accident and the birds came and ate them all.
“In another place there were stones in the ground and only a thin layer of soil, very little. The seeds fell and the plants quickly grew, but they could not put down their roots because there were only rocks in the ground, and when the sun got very hot the plants withered.
“In another part there were weeds that covered the ground and the seeds fell on the ground and the plants grew but did not ripen.
“In another place the soil was good and the seeds fell and the plants grew and 30 ripened, and in another place 60 ripened and in another place 100 ripened.”
When the story was finished Jesus said: “This story that you’ve just seen me (tell), you need to try and work it out.” [See also Costa Rica Sign Language under Let anyone with ears to hear listen]
Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios
<< Mark 3:20-35 in Mexican Sign Language
Mark 4:10-20 in Mexican Sign Language >>
complete verse (Mark 4:1)
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 4:1:
- Uma: “One time, Yesus was also teaching on the edge of the lake. Very many people gathered around him. Because of the many people, that is why he went and got on a boat on the water, he sat in it and the many people stood on the shore.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “Isa returned again to teach there at the shore of lake Jalil. Very many people gathered there to him, therefore he got-into and sat in a boat on the lake. The crowds of people were there at the shore of the lake on the bank.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “One day at that time, Jesus taught again at the lakeshore. There were very many people gathered to him, and because of this he got into a boat near the shore and sat down. The people, they were there on the shore listening to him.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “On one-occasion, Jesus went again to teach on the edge of the lake. Because the people who were crowding-around him were in-a-large-group, he went to sit in the boat while-simultaneously the many-people stayed on the edge of the lake.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “Jesus again taught there on the shore of the Lake of Galilea. Really many again were the people who gathered around. What Jesus did was he got into a boat which was floating. That crowd of people were there on the edge of the lake.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
location (of God) (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, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-moto (みもと) referring to the location (of God) in the referenced verses.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
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