sea / lake

The various Greek, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

location (of God) (Japanese honorifics)

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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 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. )

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("start")

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, hajime-rare-ru (始められる) or “start” is used.

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

Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("lower")

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 are (され) 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, oros-are-ru (下ろされる) or “lower” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Mark 4:1

Exegesis:

ochlos pleistos ‘a very large crowd,’ ‘a huge crowd’: pleistos is the superlative of polus ‘many,’ ‘much.’

sunagetai (cf. 2.2) ‘gathers together,’ ‘collects’ (cf. 3.20).

hōste auton … kathēsthai (cf. 1.27 for this construction) ‘so that he … sat.’

eis ploion embanta ‘having entered a boat’: the two clauses together may be translated as coordinate: ‘so that he entered a boat and sat (in it).’

embainō (5.18; 6.45; 8.10, 13) ‘enter’: in Mark used only in connection with a boat: ‘embark.’

en tē thalassē ‘in the sea’ (i.e. the Lake of Galilee: cf. 1.16): the words are connected with kathēsthai ‘he sat in the Lake,’ but the meaning is clear enough. Jesus was in (or, on) the Lake, seated in a boat, while the crowd was pros tēn thalassan ‘on the beach,’ ‘near the water,’ epi tēs gēs ‘on land.’

en ‘on.’

(Note: care should be taken to avoid the error into which several translations have fallen, namely, that of having Jesus sitting in the water! Most English translations say simply ‘on the water,’ no misunderstanding resulting. Some, however, use a descriptive phrase: The Modern Speech New Testament ‘a little away from the land’; Manson ‘lie off-shore’; cf. O Novo Testamento de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo. Revisdo Autorizada ‘pulling away from the beach.’)

pros tēn thalassan ‘by the sea-side’ i.e. on the shore.

Translation:

Beside the sea must be specific in some languages, i.e. ‘on the shore, along the lake,’ or ‘at the mouth of the sea’ (Conob).

It is essential that one be consistent in the size and shape of boats depicted as being used on the Lake of Galilee (cf. 1.19).

In order to avoid the common mistake of having Jesus sit down in the water, it is necessary in some languages to specify that ‘he got into a boat which was floating in the water and he sat down.’ After all, it is possible to get into a boat which has been drawn up onto the shore, hence this detailed rearranging of the semantic components is required in some languages (e.g. Chicahuaxtla Triqui, Barrow Eskimo, Central Mazahua, and Kekchi).

In a number of languages there is no ambiguous way of speaking about the crowd as ‘being beside the sea on the land.’ One must specify whether the people were seated, standing, moving about, etc. In general it is preferable to employ a word meaning ‘to be seated,’ since this is often also the most generic term indicating ‘to be in a place.’

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 .