Following is the translation of Mark 6:14-16 into Mexican Sign Language with back-translations into Spanish and English underneath (note that verses 14-16 are located after verse 29 in Mexican Sign Language):
Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)
Después de un tiemo el Rey Herodes oía que el nombre de Jesús era famoso.
Veía (lo que se decía alrededor); algunas personas decían: “Jesús puede hacer milagros. ¿Cómo es? Pensamos que es Juan el Bautista que ha resucitado y vive otra vez, por eso, Jesús es él mismo.”
Otras personas (decían): “No, él es Elías” y otras personas lo veían (y decían): “No, él es un profeta de hace mucho, Jesús es como un profeta.”
El Rey Herodes veía las diferentes opiniones y pensaba: “No, yo creo que él es Juan el Bautista, porque fue decapitado y murió, él ha resucitado y vive otra vez, por eso es el mismo.”
After a time King Herod heard about the name of Jesus, which became famous.
He saw (what people around said); some people said: “Jesus can do miracles, how is that? We think he is John the Baptist who has risen and lives again, that’s why, Jesus is John himself.”
Other people (said): “No, he is Elijah” and other people who saw him (said): “No, he is a prophet from long ago, Jesus is like a prophet.”
King Herod saw the different opinions and thought: “No, I believe he is John the Baptist because he was beheaded and died, he has risen and is alive again, that’s why he’s the same.”
While translating Mark 6:14-16 into Enga the translators had to decide on the nature of evidence that is quoted here.
Adam Boyd on his blog) explains: “”When drawing conclusions in Enga, a person has to state whether the evidence for the conclusion is visual or non-visual. So, for example, with King Herod, it is clear that his conclusion that Jesus was John the Baptist was based on non-visual evidence, namely, the reports that he had been hearing. But what about the other people who concluded that Jesus was Elijah or one of the prophets? Were their conclusions based on seeing Jesus in action or were their conclusions based only on reports that they had heard about Jesus. The text of Scripture doesn’t tell us, but in Enga, we are required to answer this question. So we decided that the reports of others were based on visual evidence, assuming that the reports had come, at least initially, from people who had been eye-witnesses of Jesus’ miraculous works.”
The region of Galilee. King Herod ruled there. Earlier he had captured and imprisoned the messenger John. For what reason? King Herod had a brother named Philip. Philip had a wife named Herodias. Herod stole his brother’s wife and married Herodias. The messenger John rebuked Herod directly and said, “What have you done?”
King Herod did not like this, and he put John in prison. Herodias, the king’s wife, hated John and wanted to kill him. But she could not do it because the king feared John. The king saw that John was righteous. So the king did not want to kill him, even though he put him in prison. Although John rebuked the king directly, yet the king liked to listen to John.
Some time later it was Herod’s birthday. The king had gathered many guests, men of nobility and wealth, people famous in Galilee, and military leaders. They were all feasting at the table.
The daughter of Herodias, Herod’s wife, came. She danced very beautifully. All the guests admired, and the king himself admired. The king said:
— Ask of me whatever you wish! I’ll give you everything. I promise to give you half of my kingdom.
Herodias’ daughter went to her mother and asked her:
— The king has promised me half of the kingdom. What shall I ask of him?
Herodias said:
— I want John’s head cut off. Go and demand of King Herod that John’s head be brought on a platter.
The girl went and demanded of the king:
— Bring me the head of John the messenger on a platter!
Herod was saddened. He thought:
— I wanted to preserve John’s life. But I promised before many witnesses, and I cannot cancel my promise. So the king ordered the soldiers to cut off John’s head and bring the head on a platter. The soldiers obeyed and went to the prison and cut off John’s head and brought the head on a platter. The daughter took the platter with the head and carried it to her mother.
The disciples who used to follow John the messenger heard that his head had been cut off. They came and asked for John’s body, took the body, wrapped it and buried it. After a while, King Herod heard about Jesus, because the name Jesus became known all over the neighborhood, because Jesus worked miracles, healed people, made them well. Some people said:
— This is John the messenger, who died and now is risen.
And others said:
— This is the prophet Elijah.
And others said:
— No, this is a different prophet.
They all said different things. But King Herod thought:
— I am sure that Jesus is John the messenger, whom I had executed, and now he has risen again.
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Область Галилея. Там правил царь Ирод. Ранее он схватил и посадил в тюрьму вестника Иоанна. По какой причине? У царя Ирода есть брат по имени Филипп. У Филиппа была жена по имени Иродиада. Ирод увел у брата жену и женился на Иродиаде. Вестник Иоанн прямо обличал Ирода и говорил: «Что ты сделал?!»
Царю Ироду это не нравилось, и он посадил Иоанна в тюрьму. Жена царя Иродиада ненавидела Иоанна и хотела его убить. Но это у нее не получалось, потому что царь опасался Иоанна. Царь видел, что Иоанн был праведным. Поэтому царь не хотел его убивать, хотя и посадил в тюрьму. Хотя Иоанн обличал царя прямо, однако царю нравилось слушать Иоанна.
Через какое-то время был день рождения Ирода. Царь собрал множество гостей, людей знатных и богатых, известных в Галилее, военачальников. Они все пировали за столом.
Пришла дочь Иродиады, жены Ирода. Она очень красиво танцевала. Все гости восхищались, и сам царь восхищался. Царь сказал:
— Проси у меня, что пожелаешь! Я тебе все дам. Обещаю, что подарю тебе половину моего царства.
Дочь Иродиады пошла к своей матери и спросила у нее:
— Царь обещал мне половину царства. Что мне попросить у него?
Иродиада сказала:
— Я хочу, чтобы Иоанну отрубили голову. Иди и требуй у царя Ирода, чтобы голову Иоанна принесли на блюде.
Девушка пошла и потребовала от царя:
— Принесите мне голову Иоанна-вестника на блюде!
Ирод опечалился. Он подумал:
— Я хотел сохранить жизнь Иоанна. Но я обещал перед многими свидетелями, и отменить свое обещание я не могу. И царь приказал солдатам отрубить Иоанну голову и принести голову на блюде. Солдаты повиновались, пошли в тюрьму и отрубили голову Иоанну и принесли на блюде голову. Дочь взяла блюдо с головой и понесла матери.
Ученики, которые раньше следовали за Иоанном-вестником, услышали, что ему отрубили голову. Они пришли и попросили тело Иоанна, забрали тело, запеленали и похоронили. Спустя какое-то время, царь Ирод услыхал об Иисусе, потому что имя Иисус стало известно по всей округе, ведь Иисус творил чудеса, исцелял людей, делал их здоровыми. Некоторые говорили:
— Это Иоанн-вестник, который умер, а теперь воскрес.
А другие говорили:
— Это пророк Илия.
А третьи говорили:
— Нет, это другой пророк.
Все говорили по-разному. Но царь Ирод подумал:
— Я уверен, что Иисус — это Иоанн-вестник, которого я казнил, а теперь он воскрес.
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 6:15:
Uma: “But others said: ‘That Yesus, he is the prophet Elia of long ago.’ Yet others said: ‘He is indeed a prophet, like a prophet of long ago.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But others said also, ‘That is perhaps Nabi Eliyas.’ And there were still others who said, ‘Perhaps he is a nabi hep, like the prophets (nabi) of old.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But some said, ‘Jesus is the long ago prophet Elijah.’ And others said, ‘Jesus really is a prophet like the former prophets of God long ago.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Others also, they said that (he was) Elias who had-come-to-life again, and yet others, they said, ‘This is a prophet like the prophets in old-times.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Others said, ‘It’s Elias.”He’s a prophet, like those prophets of the past,’ was the suspicion of others.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The name that is transliterated as “Elijah” in English means “God-LORD,” “strength of the LORD,” “my God is YHWH.” “the LORD God.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
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 )
Eugene Nida wrote the following about the translation of the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek terms that are typically translated with “prophet” in English:
“The tendency in many translations is to use ‘to foretell the future’ for ‘prophesy,’ and ‘one who foretells the future’ for ‘prophet.’ This is not always a recommended usage, particularly if such expressions denote certain special native practices of spirit contact and control. It is true, of course, that prophets of the Bible did foretell the future, but this was not always their principal function. One essential significance of the Greek word prophētēs is ‘one who speaks forth,’ principally, of course, as a forth-teller of the Divine will. A translation such as ‘spokesman for God’ may often be employed profitably.” (1947, p. 234f.)
Following is a list of (back-) translations from other languages (click or tap for details):
Ayutla Mixtec: “one who talks as God’s representative”
Isthmus Mixe: “speaker for God” (source for this and two above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Mezquital Otomi / Paasaal: “God’s messenger” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff. and Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
Noongar: Warda Marridjiny or “News Traveling” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Kutu: mtula ndagu or “one who gives the prediction of the past and the future” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ebira: ọnịsẹ, a neologism that combines the prefix ọn for “a person” with ịsẹ for “prediction” (source: Scholz /Scholz 2015, p. 49)
French 1985 translation by Chouraqui: inspiré or “inspired one” (“someone in whom God has breathed [Latin: in + spiro]) (source: Watson 2023, p. 45)
In Ixcatlán Mazatec a term is used that specifically includes women. (Source: Robert Bascom)
“In some instances these spiritual terms result from adaptations reflecting the native life and culture. Among the Northern Grebo people of Liberia, a missionary wanted some adequate term for ‘prophet,’ and she was fully aware that the native word for ‘soothsayer’ or ‘diviner’ was no equivalent for the Biblical prophet who spoke forth for God. Of course, much of what the prophets said referred to the future, and though this was an essential part of much of their ministry, it was by no means all. The right word for the Gbeapo people would have to include something which would not only mean the foretelling of important events but the proclamation of truth as God’s representative among the people. At last the right word came; it was ‘God’s town-crier.’ Every morning and evening the official representative of the chief goes through the village crying out the news, delivering the orders of the chief, and announcing important coming events. ‘God’s town-crier’ would be the official representative of God, announcing to the people God’s doings, His commands, and His pronouncements for their salvation and well-being. For the Northern Grebo people the prophet is no weird person from forgotten times; he is as real as the human, moving message of the plowman Amos, who became God’s town-crier to a calloused people.” (source: Nida 1952, p. 20)
In British Sign Language it is is translated with a sign that depicts a message coming from God to a person (the upright finger) and then being passed on to others. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Prophet” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
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 6:14-29:
Jesus became so famous that some people claimed,
“He’s John Dipper come back to life.” Others disagreed,
“No, he’s one of the ancient prophets now returned.”
Governor Herod had previously executed John Dipper,
but still Herod thought Jesus was John
alive and kicking once again. So the
Here’s the story: Herod had earlier married Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip,
but John had vigorously and publicly objected.
Herod wanted to make Herodias happy,
so he had John thrown in prison.
However, Herodias wasn’t finished with John,
but she was absolutely helpless —
Although Herod was afraid of John,
he often went to him for advice,
but always returned frustrated and confused.
At last, Herodias got her big chance,
when her daughter danced
at the birthday party Herod had thrown for himself.
His public officials and military officers had been invited,
and her dancing pleased them so much
that Herod promised her whatever she wanted.
She was a momma’s girl and hurried off to Herodias,
who told her to ask for delivery on a platter
the head of John Dipper.
When Herod was informed, he immediately performed
and ordered John Dipper to be decapitated.
Then his head was displayed on a platter.
When John’s followers learned of his fate,
they took his body and placed it in a tomb.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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