bread, loaf

The Greek term that is translated in English as “bread” or “loaf” is translated in Samo, it is translated as “Sago,” which serves “like ‘bread’ for the Hebrews, as a generic for food in the Samo language. It is a near-perfect metonymy that has all the semantic elements necessary for effective communication.” (Source: Daniel Shaw in Scriptura 96/2007, p. 501ff.)

In Chol it is translated as waj, the equivalent of a tortilla. (Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight)

John Beekman (in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 180f. ) explains: “The word ‘bread’ in Scripture primarily occurs as either a specific term for bread (including the Lord’s Supper), or as a generic term for food. It is not surprising, however, the some aboriginal groups use something other than bread as the staff of life. The Chols, with their cultural focus in the cultivation of corn, use waj, a type of thin corn flake. Since a meal is not complete without this main item of food, the term has been extended to include any other foods which may be served along with waj. While bread is known to them, its use is limited to a few occasions during the year when it functions as a dessert. In translating this term in the Chol New Testament, consistent use has been made of the word waj whenever the function of bread as a basic food was in focus. John 6:35, “I am the bread of life,” was thus translated with this word. If the word for bread had been used, it was feared that the Chol would compare Christ to the desirable, but not absolutely necessary, dessert.”

Robert Bascom adds his thoughts to this in relation to other Mayan languages (in Omanson 2001, p. 260): “In many Mayan languages, ‘bread’ can be translated waj or kaxlan waj. The first term literally means anything made from corn meal, while the second term literally means ‘foreigner’s waj,’ and refers to the local wheat-based sweet breads which are so popular within the broader European-influenced culture of the region. On the one hand, waj would be a better dynamic equivalent in cases where ‘bread’ meant ‘food,’ but in cases where the focus is literal or the reference well-known, kaxlan waj would preserve a flour-based meaning (though in biblical times barley was more in use than wheat) and not insert corn into a time and place where it does not belong. On the other hand kaxlan waj is not the staff of life, but refers to a local delicacy. In cases such as these, it is even tempting to suggest borrowing pan, the Spanish word for ‘bread,’ but native speakers might respond that borrowing a foreign word is not necessary since both waj and kaxlan waj are native terms that cover the meaning (though in this case, perhaps not all that well).”

In Mairasi it is translated bread tubers. Tubers are the main food staple and are therefore synonymous with food. (Source: Enggavoter 2004). In Yagaria, Kâteand Yabem it is translated as “taro cake.” (Source: Renck, p. 101)

Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?

The Greek that is translated as “Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?” is translated in Teutila Cuicatec as “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread for them to eat? A man would have to work more than half a year to earn that much money!” to clarify the meaning of the two hundred denarii in a manner which will not be distorted by any fluctuations in the value of the local currency and in Balangingi as “Are we to go and buy ten thousand buns to feed them?” because in this case, a day’s wages couldn’t be used as a standard of comparison because in this culture people don’t work for wages. (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)

In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated as Gut, wir gehen für zweihundert Denare Brote kaufen und geben sie ihnen zu essen or “Well, we’ll go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat.”

Mark 6:32-44 in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 6:32-44 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 y los discípulos fueron y entraron al barco y el barco zarpó a un lugar en el campo donde no había gente.

Todas las personas que veían a Jesús (decían): “Vamonos”, y caminaban al lugar rural y lo esperaban.

El barco estaba zarpando y Jesús veía (a la gente) alrededor y dijo en si mismo: ‘No hay otra persona para ayudarlos, estas personas que me están esperando son como ovejas sin pastor. ¿Quién ayuda y cuida a los ovejas?’

Jesús sentía compasión y cuando habían salido del barco Jesús empezó a enseñar por un tiempo largo.

Después los discípulos vinieron y dijeron: “Jesús, aquí ya es tarde y no hay nada de comer, mejor que tú les digas adios, y se vayan a donde haya pueblos y compren para la comida.”

Jesús (respondió): “Uds les repartan comida.”

Los discípulos dijeron: “Si nosotros vamos y compramos un montón de pan pagamos doscientas (monedas) de plata.” Jesús (dijo): “Mira allá, ¿cuánto pan hay?” Los discípulos miraban alrededor y dijeron: “Hay cinco panes y dos peces.”

Jesús (dijo): “Por favor, diles a las personas que se senten en el suelo, en las plantas verdes, en grupos”

Los discípulos llamaban a la gente que vinieran y se sentaban en grupos de 50 y grupos de 100, 50 aquí, 100 allí.

Cuando todo estaba en órden Jesús tomó los cinco panes y los dos peces y miró hacia arriba y dijo una bendición.

Tomó el pan, lo rompía en pedazos y los echaba en una canasta y cuando estaba llena una canasta la dio a los discípulos, y ellos la recibieron y repartían el pan a la gente.

Jesús tomó los peces, los cortaba en pedazos y los echaba en una canasta, y cuando estaba llena la dio a los discípulos y ellos la tomaron y repartían los peces a la gente.

¿Cuántos había? Cinco mil hombres y además mujeres y niños, todos juntos.

Los panes y los peces que sobraban, los discípulos los ponían en canastas hasta llenarlas y contaban doce canastas de sobras.


Jesus and the disciples went and got in a boat and the boat set sail to a rural place where there were no people.

All the people who saw Jesus (said): “Let’s go”, and they walked over to the rural place and waited for him to come.

The boat was sailing and Jesus looked around (at the people) and said to himself: ‘There is no-one else to help them, these people that are awaiting me are like sheep without a shepherd. Who will help and take care of the sheep?’

Jesus felt compassion and after they had got off the boat Jesus began to teach for a long time.

Afterwards the disciples came to him and said: “Jesus, it’s late here, and there is nothing to eat, it’s better you tell them goodbye and they go to where there are villages and buy something to eat.”

Jesus (responded): “You hand out food to them.”

The disciples said: “If we go and buy a heap of bread we will pay 200 silver (coins).” Jesus (said): “Look over there, how much bread is there?” The disciples looked around and said: “There are five loaves of bread and two fish.”

Jesus (said): “Please, tell the people that they sit down on the ground, in the green plants, in groups.”

The disciples called the people to come and they sat down in groups of 50 and groups of 100, 50 here, 100 there.

When everything was done, Jesus took the five loaves of bread and the two fish, looked up and said a blessing.

He took the bread, broke it in pieces and threw the pieces in a basket and when the basket was full he gave it to the disciples and they took it and handed out the bread to the people.

Jesus took the fish and cut them in pieces and threw them in a basket and when the basket was full he gave it to the disciples and they took it and handed out the fish to the people.

How many were there? Five thousand men plus women and children, all together.

The bread and the fish that was left over the disciples put in baskets that they filled up, and they counted twelve baskets of leftovers.

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

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Mark 6:45-52 in Mexican Sign Language >>

Mark 6:30-44 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 6:30-44 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

Jesus sent the disciples out two by two to preach in different places. When the disciples came back, they told stories. Some said:

— We taught a lot!

Others said:

— We cast out demons!

Others said:

— We healed the sick!

The disciples told all these things. Jesus listened to them and said:

— You haven’t even had time to eat. Let’s go to a deserted place and you can rest there for a while.

The disciples went and got on a boat and sailed away secretly so that no one would know. But as they sailed away, the people around them saw Jesus sailing there. The people began to call out to each other, and a great multitude gathered. And they waited for Jesus on the shore. The boat came to a place, and Jesus left the boat and saw a great multitude of people gathered around.

Jesus felt sorry for them. He said:

— You are like sheep without a shepherd! There is no one to take care of you. Without a shepherd the sheep wander, and so do you.

Jesus began to teach them. As Jesus taught and taught them, it was nearing evening. The disciples came to Jesus and said:

— It’s getting evening. Let’s let the people go home. There are some who live in the surrounding villages. Let them buy food for themselves there.

Jesus said:

— No, you must feed them all.

Disciples:

— How? Where are we going to get so much bread? There are many people here, it would take about 200 denarii. That’s a lot of bread it will take.

Jesus:

— See if anyone has some food.

The disciples began to look and found some bread and fish. They came up to Jesus and said:

— Here are five loaves and two fish.

Jesus told the people to all spread out in rows — 50 rows, with 100 people in each row. The disciples went and helped the people to sit in 50 rows. Jesus took the bread and two fish. He lifted his eyes to heaven and said:

— I thank God for this food. He broke the bread and began to pass it on to the disciples so that the disciples could pass it on to the people. He did the same with the fish — Jesus passed the fish to the disciples, and the disciples passed it to the people. All the people ate and were filled, there were even pieces of bread left over. There were about 5,000 people in all. They were all full. The disciples gathered the leftover bread. They collected one full basket, then another, then another, then another, then another, and in all they collected 12 full baskets.

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

Иисус отправлял учеников по двое проповедовать по разным местам. Когда ученики возвращались, они рассказывали. Одни говорили:

— Мы много учили!

Другие говорили:

— Мы бесов изгоняли!

Третьи говорили:

— Мы больных исцеляли!

Ученики рассказывали все это. Иисус слушал их и сказал:

— У вас даже не было времени поесть. Давайте перейдем в безлюдное место, и вы можете там немного передохнуть.

Ученики пошли, сели на лодку и отплыли тайно, чтобы никто не знал. Но когда они отплыли, люди вокруг увидели, что там плывет Иисус. Люди стали звать друг друга, и собралось великое множество народа. И они ждали Иисуса на берегу. Лодка приплыла на место, Иисус покинул лодку и увидел множество людей, которые собрались вокруг.

Иисусу стало жаль их. Он сказал:

— Вы — словно овцы без пастуха! Нет никого, кто может позаботиться о них. Без пастуха овцы блуждают, так же и вы.

Иисус стал их учить. Иисус учил-учил их, время уже близилось к вечеру. Ученики подошли к Иисусу и сказали:

— Уже вечереет. Давай отпустим народ домой. Тут есть такие, которые живут в окрестных селениях. Пусть они там себе купят еды.

Иисус сказал:

— Нет, вы должны накормить их всех.

Ученики:

— Как? Где мы возьмем столько хлеба? Тут множество народа, нужно примерно 200 динариев. Очень много хлеба потребуется.

Иисус:

— Поищите, может быть, у кого-нибудь найдется немного еды.

Ученики начали искать и нашли немного хлеба и рыбы. Они подошли к Иисусу и сказали:

— Вот есть пять хлебов и две рыбины.

Иисус сказал людям, чтобы все расселись по рядам — 50 рядов, в каждом — по 100 человек. Ученики пошли и помогли людям рассесться по 50 рядов. Иисус взял хлеб и две рыбы. Поднял глаза к небу сказал:

— Благодарю Бога за эту еду. Преломил хлеб и начал передавать ученикам, чтобы ученики передавали дальше людям. Так же и с рыбой он делал — Иисус передавал рыбу ученикам, ученики передавали народу. Весь народ поел, насытился, и даже остались еще куски хлеба. Всего было около 5000 человек. Они все наелись. Ученики собрали остатки хлеба. Собрали одну полную корзину, потому вторую, третью, всего собрали полных 12 корзин.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

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Mark 6:45-52 in Russian Sign Language >>

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Mark 6:37)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding Jesus).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (Mark 6:37)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 6:37:

  • Uma: “Yesus said: ‘You feed them.’ His disciples answered back: ‘Ei’! What are we (excl.) to give them? Even two hundred silver moneys wouldn’t be enough to feed this many people.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But Isa said to them, ‘You feed them.’ They said to him, ‘Na, how (shall) this (be)? For those many people it should be the wages of a person working for eight months to buy bread to feed them.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But Jesus said, ‘You be the ones to give them something to eat.’ ‘What!’ they said. ‘Even if we had a lot of money, even two hundred pieces of denarius money, that would not be enough to buy food for all these many people.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But Jesus said to them, ‘Better (lit. even-if) you be the ones to feed them.’ Then they said, ‘Do you (sing.) mean to say that we (excl.) are to buy bread worth how-many thousands to feed-them -with?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But Jesus replied to them, ‘You be the ones to give them something to eat.’ Those disciples were saying, ‘Oh expletive, what’s to be done? Shall we (excl.) go and buy bread, what it could be bought with being what could rightly be paid in wages for work lasting eight months, for us (excl.) to give them to eat?'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.

In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.