The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated/transliterated in English as “unclean spirit” or “evil spirit” is translated in Paasaal it is translated as gyɩŋbɔmɔ, which is also the term used for “demon.” Wyɩŋbɔmɔ are “beings that are in the wild and can only be seen when they choose to reveal themselves to certain people. They can ‘capture’ humans and keep them in hiding while they train the person in herbalism and divination. After the training period, which can range from a week to many years, the ‘captured’ individual is released to go back into society as a healer and a diviner. The gyɩŋbɔmɔ can also be evil, striking humans with mental diseases and causing individuals to get lost in the wild. The Pasaale worldview about demons is like that of others of the language groups in the area.” (Source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
Note that often the words for “demon” “unclean spirit” are being used interchangeably.
The Greek that is translated in English as “kneel” or “fall down” or “worship” are translated in Chichicapan Zapotec as bazuꞌnllihbi or “stand on knees.” (Source: Joseph Benton in OPTAT 1989/2, p. 65ff.)
Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)
De repente una mujer lo descubrió y se acercó a él, se arrodilló y dijo: “Mi hija, una niña, tiene un demonio adentro, por favor expulsa el demonio.”
Jesús le dijo: “Yo ayudo primero a todas las personas judías. Por ejemplo, si los niños están alrededor de la mesa comiendo pan y el padre viene, les quita el pan y lo da al perro, y el perro lo come, ¿piensas que está bien? No.”
La mujer (dijo): “Sí, tienes razón, ¿pero si por ejemplo los niños están alrededor de la mesa comiendo pan y de repente por error algo cae y el perro lo come…?”
Jesús la miró (y dijo): “Bien, el demonio ya ha salido de tu hija. Puedes irte.”
La mujer se paró y se fue, y después fue a la casa y vio que su hija estaba acostada en la cama y que el demonio ya se había ido.
La mujer que se arrodilló y lo contó (a Jesús), esta mujer no era judía, había nacido en el lugar Sirofenicia.
Suddenly a woman discovered him, went up to him, knelt down and said: “My small daughter has a demon inside, please throw the demon out.”
Jesus said to her: “I first help all the Jewish people. For example, if the children are around the table eating bread and the father comes, takes away the bread and gives it to the dog, and the dog eats it, would you think that is good? No.”
The woman (said): “Yes, you’re right, but what if for example the children are eating around the table and suddenly by accident something falls on the floor and the dog eats it…?”
Jesus looked at her (and said): “Good, the demon has already left your daughter. You can go.”
The woman got up and left, and then she went home and saw that her daughter was lying in bed and that the demon had already left her.
The woman who just knelt and told (Jesus), this woman was not Jewish, she was born in the place Syrophoenicia.
Jesus went to the city of Tyre. There he went into a house. He wanted to do it secretly so that people would not know. But the rumor about him spread quickly, and everyone soon knew that Jesus was there. There was a woman there. She was a non-Jewish woman. She came to Jesus, fell on her knees before Him and begged Him:
— “Help! A demon has possessed my daughter. She is tormented. Please come and heal her, cast out the demon.
Jesus said to her:
— I have come for the sake of the Jews, because they are God’s children, and first of all I must feed them with bread. I cannot take the bread away from the children and give it to the dogs.
The woman said:
— Yes, that is true! But when the children eat bread at the table, crumbs fall on the floor and something goes to the dogs. The dog can take those crumbs and eat them. So can I…
Jesus said to her:
— Are you ready to be satisfied with crumbs? You can go home, the demon has already come out of your daughter.
The woman hurried home, entered the house, opened the door, and saw her daughter lying quietly on the bed, smiling, with no demon in her, and she was healthy.
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Иисус пошел в город Тир. Там он зашел в один дом. Он хотел сделать это тайно, чтобы люди не знали. Но слух о Нем быстро распространялся, и все вскоре узнали, что Иисус находится там. Там была одна женщина. Она была не-еврейка. Они пришла к Иисусу, упала перед ним на колени и стала умолять Его:
— Помоги! В мою дочь вселился бес. Она мучается. Пожалуйста, приди, исцели ее, изгони беса.
Иисус сказал ей:
— Я пришел ради евреев, потому что они дети Божьи, и в первую очередь я должен накормить их хлебом. Я не могу забрать хлеб у детей и отдать его собакам.
Женщина сказала:
— Да, это так! Но когда за столом дети едят хлеб, крошки падают на полу и что-то перепадает собакам. Собака может брать эти крошки и есть. Так же и я…
Иисус сказал ей:
— Ты готова довольствоваться крошками? Ты можешь возвращаться домой, бес уже вышел из твоей дочери.
Женщина поспешила домой, вошла в дом, раскрыла дверь и видит: ее дочь спокойно лежит на кровати, улыбается, и никакого бес в ней больше нет и она здорова.
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 7:25:
Uma: “In that village, there also was a woman, her daughter was possessed. When the woman heard that Yesus had arrived in the village, she came kneeling in front of him requesting-help, she said: ‘Expel for me the demon that has possessed my child!’ Yet that woman, she was not a Yahudi person, she was a Fenisia person from the land of Siria.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “There was a woman there who had heard about Isa. When she heard that Isa was there, immediately she went there and prostrated at Isa’s feet. That woman had a girl child who was demon possessed.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “There was a woman there who had a young daughter who was afflicted with a demon. When she heard that Jesus had arrived, she went to him and bowed down before him.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “There was a woman whose young-lady child was possessed by an evil-spirit. When she heard that Jesus was there, she hurried to go to where he was. She knelt face-down before him,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “For a woman got the news straight away, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit. When she heard the news, she went at once to Jesus. On her arriving, she bowed down in front of Jesus.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).
Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.
In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.
While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”
In that system, one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and others for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.
Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”
In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)
Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”
In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )
In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)
The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.
Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are Twents as well as the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In the latter two languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).
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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