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)

tradition

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The Greek that is translated as “tradition” in English is translated in these ways:

  • Kekchí: “the old root-trunk” (in which the life of a people is likened to a tree)
  • Central Tarahumara: “to live as the ancients did”
  • North Alaskan Inupiatun: “sayings passed down from long-ago times”
  • Navajo (Dinė): “what their fathers of old told them to follow”
  • Toraja-Sa’dan: “the ordinance maintained by the forefathers”
  • Tzeltal: “the word that has been kept from the ancients” (source for this and all above Bratcher / Nida)
  • Gumuz: “the life of your fathers” (source: Loren Bliese)
  • Obolo: “the deeds of the ground” (orọmijọn̄) (source: Enene Enene)
  • Mairiasi: “the old things that are being held-onto” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “handed-down customs” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)

elder (of the community)

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated as “elders” in English is translated in the Danish Bibelen 2020 as folkets ledere or “leaders of the people.”

Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators, explains: “The term ‘elder’ turned out to pose a particularly thorny problem. In traditional bibles, you can find elders all of over the place and they never pose a problem for a translator, they are just always elders. But how to find a contemporary term for this semi-official, complex position? This may have been our longest-standing problem. A couple of times we thought we had the solution, and then implemented it throughout the texts, only to find out that it didn’t work. Like when we used city council or village council, depending on the context. In the end we felt that the texts didn’t work with such official terms, and throughout the years in the desert, these terms didn’t make much sense. Other suggestions were ‘the eldest and wisest’, ‘the respected citizens’, ‘the Israelites with a certain position in society’, ‘the elder council’ –- and let me point out that these terms sound better in Danish than in English (‘de fremtrædende borgere,’ ‘de mest fremtrædende israelitter,’ ‘alle israelitter med en vis position,’ ‘de ældste og de klogeste,’ ‘ældsterådet’). In the end we just said ‘leaders of the people.’ After a lot of hand-wringing, it turned out that we actually found a term that worked well. So, we had to give up conveying the fact that they were old, but the most important point is that they were community leaders.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )

The German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) translates likewise as “leader of the people” (Anführer des Volkes).

disciples (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.

In these verses, Jesus’ disciples are either addressed in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-deshi-tachi (お弟子たち) with the honorific prefix o- (Matthew 17:16, Mark 9:18, Luke 9:40) or more confrontational without -o as deshi-tachi (弟子たち) (see Matthew 9:14, Matt 12:2, Matt 15:2, Mark 7:5, Luke 19:39). (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also disciple.

disciple

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The Greek that is often translated as “disciple” in English typically follows three types of translation: (1) those which employ a verb ‘to learn’ or ‘to be taught’, (2) those which involve an additional factor of following, or accompaniment, often in the sense of apprenticeship, and (3) those which imply imitation of the teacher.

Following are some examples (click or tap for details):

  • Ngäbere: “word searcher”
  • Yaka: “one who learned from Jesus”
  • Navajo (Dinė), Western Highland Purepecha, Tepeuxila Cuicatec, Lacandon: “one who learned”
  • San Miguel El Grande Mixtec: “one who studied with Jesus”
  • Northern Grebo: “one Jesus taught”
  • Toraja-Sa’dan: “child (i.e., follower) of the master”
  • Indonesian: “pupil” (also used in many Slavic languages, including Russian [ученик], Bulgarian [учени́к], Ukrainian [учень], or Polish [uczeń] — source: Paul Amara)
  • Central Mazahua: “companion whom Jesus taught”
  • Kipsigis, Loma, Copainalá Zoque: “apprentice” (implying continued association and learning)
  • Cashibo-Cacataibo: “one who followed Jesus”
  • Huautla Mazatec: “his people” (essentially his followers and is the political adherents of a leader)
  • Highland Puebla Nahuatl: based on the root of “to imitate” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Chol: “learner” (source: Larson 1998, p. 107)
  • Waorani: “one who lives following Jesus” (source: Wallis 1973, p. 39)
  • Ojitlán Chinantec: “learner” (Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
  • Javanese: “pupil” or “companion” (“a borrowing from Arabic that is a technical term for Mohammed’s close associates”)
  • German: Jünger or “younger one” (source for this and one above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): Jüngerinnen und Jünger or “female and male disciples.” Note that Berger/Nord only use that translation in many cases in the gospel of Luke, “because especially according to Luke (see 8:1–3), women were part of the extended circle of disciples” (see p. 452 and looked up at his disciples).
  • Noongar: ngooldjara-kambarna or “friend-follow” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • French 1985 translation by Chouraqui: adept or “adept” (as in a person who is skilled or proficient at something). Watson (2023, p. 48ff.) explains (click or tap here to see more):

    [Chouraqui] uses the noun “adept,” which is as uncommon in French as it is in English. It’s an evocative choice on several levels. First, linguistically, it derives — via the term adeptus — from the Latin verb adipiscor, “to arrive at; to reach; to attain something by effort or striving.” It suggests those who have successfully reached the goal of their searching, and implies a certain struggle or process of learning that has been gradually overcome. But it’s also a term with a very particular history: in the Middle Ages, “adept” was used in the world of alchemy, to describe those who, after years of labor and intensive study, claimed to have discovered the Great Secret (how to turn base metals like lead into gold); it thus had the somewhat softened meaning of “someone who is completely skilled in all the secrets of their field.”

    Historians of religion often use the term adept with reference to the ancient mystery religions that were so prevalent in the Mediterranean in the centuries around the time of Jesus. An adept was someone who, through a series of initiatory stages, had penetrated into the inner, hidden mysteries of the religion, who understood its rituals, symbols, and their meaning. To be an adept implied a lengthy and intensive master-disciple relationship, gradually being led further and further into the secrets of the god or goddess (Isis-Osiris, Mithras, Serapis, Hermes, etc.) — secrets that were never to be revealed to an outsider.

    Is “adept” a suitable category in which to consider discipleship as we see it described in the Gospels? On some levels, the link is an attractive one, drawing both upon the social-religious framework of the ancient Mediterranean, and upon certain aspects of intimacy and obscurity/secrecy that we see in the relationship of Jesus and those who followed him. The idea that disciples are “learners” — people who are “on the way” — and that Jesus is portrayed as (and addressed as) their Master/Teacher is accurate. But the comparison is unsatisfactory on several other levels.

    First, the Gospels portray Jesus’s ministry as a largely public matter — there is relatively little of the secrecy and exclusiveness that is normally associated with both the mystery cults and medieval alchemy. Jesus’s primary message is not destined for a small, elite circle of “initiates” — although the Twelve are privy to explanations, experiences and teachings that are not provided to “the crowds.” For example, in Matthew 13:10-13:

    Then the disciples came and asked him, “Why do you speak to [the crowds] in parables?” He answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’”

    Etymologically, adeptus suggests someone who “has arrived,” who has attained a superior level of understanding reserved for very few. However, what we see in the Gospels, repeatedly, is a general lack of comprehension of many of Jesus’s key teachings by many of those who hear him. Many of his more cryptic sayings would have been virtually incomprehensible in their original context, and would only make sense in retrospect, in the wake of the events of Jesus’s passion, death, and resurrection. The intense master-student relationship is also lacking: the Gospels largely portray “the disciples” as a loose (and probably fluctuating) body of individuals, with minimal structure or cohesion. Finally, there seems to be little scholarly consensus about the degree to which the mystery cults had made inroads in Roman-ruled Palestine during the decades of Jesus’s life. According to Everett Ferguson in his Backgrounds of Early Christianity.

    Although Christianity had points of contact with Stoicism, the mysteries, the Qumran community, and so on, the total worldview was often quite different….So far as we can tell, Christianity represented a new combination for its time…. At the beginning of the Christian era a number of local mysteries, some of great antiquity, flourished in Greece and Asia Minor. In the first century A.D. the vonly mysteries whose extension may be called universal were the mysteries of Dionysus and those of the eastern gods, especially Isis.

    And Norman Perrin and Dennis C. Duling note, in their book The New Testament:

    Examples of such mystery religions could be found in Greece… Asia Minor… Syria-Palestine… Persia… and Egypt. Though the mysteries had sacred shrines in these regions, many of them spread to other parts of the empire, including Rome. There is no clearly direct influence of the mysteries on early Christianity, but they shared a common environment and many non-Christians would have perceived Christians as members of an oriental Jewish mystery cult.56

    Given the sparse archaeological and literary evidence from this period regarding mystery cults in Roman Palestine, and the apparent resistance of many Palestinian Jews to religious syncretism, Chouraqui’s use of the noun adept implies a comparison between the historical Jesus and mystery cults that is doubtful, on both the levels of chronology and religious culture. Personally, I believe this choice suggests a vision of Jesus that distances him from the religious world of ancient Judaism, thus creating a distorted view of what spiritually inspired him. But the idea of the disciples as “learners” on a journey (as the Greek term suggests) is a striking one to consider; certainly, the Gospels show us the Twelve as people who are growing, learning, and developing…but who have not yet “arrived” at the fullness of their vocation.

Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) translates it into English as apprentice.

In Luang several terms with different shades of meaning are being used.

  • For Mark 2:23 and 3:7: maka nwatutu-nwaye’a re — “those that are taught” (“This is the term used for ‘disciples’ before the resurrection, while Jesus was still on earth teaching them.”)
  • For Acts 9:1 and 9:10: makpesiay — “those who believe.” (“This is the term used for believers and occasionally for the church, but also for referring to the disciples when tracking participants with a view to keeping them clear for the Luang readers. Although Greek has different terms for ‘believers’, ‘brothers’, and ‘church’, only one Luang word can be used in a given episode to avoid confusion. Using three different terms would imply three different sets of participants.”)
  • For Acts 6:1: mak lernohora Yesus wniatutunu-wniaye’eni — “those who follow Jesus’ teaching.” (“This is the term used for ‘disciples’ after Jesus returned to heaven.”)

Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.

In American Sign Language it is translated with a combination of the signs for “following” plus the sign for “group.” (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“disciples” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

In British Sign Language a sign is used that depicts a group of people following one person (the finger in the middle, signifying Jesus). Note that this sign is only used while Jesus is still physically present with his disciples. (Source: Anna Smith)


“Disciple in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

See also disciples (Japanese honorifics).

scribe

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The Greek that is usually translated as “scribe” in English “were more than mere writers of the law. They were the trained interpreters of the law and expounders of tradition.”

Here are a number of its (back-) translations:

  • Yaka: “clerk in God’s house”
  • Amganad Ifugao: “man who wrote and taught in the synagogue”
  • Navajo (Dinė): “teaching-writer” (“an attempt to emphasize their dual function”)
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “book-wise person”
  • San Blas Kuna: “one who knew the Jews’ ways”
  • Loma: “educated one”
  • San Mateo del Mar Huave: “one knowing holy paper”
  • Central Mazahua: “writer of holy words”
  • Indonesian: “expert in the Torah”
  • Pamona: “man skilled in the ordinances” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Sinhala: “bearer-of-the-law”
  • Marathi: “one-learned-in-the-Scriptures”
  • Shona (1966): “expert of the law”
  • Balinese: “expert of the books of Torah”
  • Ekari: “one knowing paper/book”
  • Tboli: “one who taught the law God before caused Moses to write” (or “one who taught the law of Moses”) (source for this and 5 above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Noongar: Mammarapa-Warrinyang or “law man” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Mairasi: “one who writes and explains Great Above One’s (=God’s) prohibitions” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Chichewa: “teacher of Laws” (source: Ernst Wendland)
  • North Alaskan Inupiatun: “teachers of law”
  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “writer”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “person who teaches the law which Moses wrote”
  • Alekano: “man who knows wisdom” (source for this and four above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
  • Saint Lucian Creole French: titcha lwa sé Jwif-la (“teacher of the law of the Jews”) (source: David Frank in Lexical Challenges in the St. Lucian Creole Bible Translation Project, 1998)
  • Chichimeca-Jonaz: “one who teaches the holy writings”
  • Atatláhuca Mixtec: “teacher of the words of the law”
  • Coatlán Mixe: “teacher of the religious law”
  • Lalana Chinantec: “one who is a teacher of the law which God gave to Moses back then”
  • Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “one who know well the law” (Source for this and four above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Huixtán Tzotzil: “one who mistakenly thought he was teaching God’s commandments”(Huixtán Tzotzil frequently uses the verb -cuy to express “to mistakenly think something” from the point of view of the speaker; source: Marion M. Cowan in Notes on Translation 20/1966, pp. 6ff.)
  • Sumau: “law-knowing men” (source: this blog post by Todd Owen)
  • German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “theologian”
  • English translation by Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023): Covenant Code scholar

In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines the signs for “expert” and “law.” (Source: Anna Smith)


“Scribe” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL , used with permission)

Mark 7:1- 2 and 5 - 17a in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 7:1-2 and 5-17a 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)

Todos los judíos y los fariseos tienen sus costumbres y tradiciones, por ejemplo no empiezan a comer antes de lavar las manos, y cuando estén limpios pueden comer.

Los fariseos y algunos maestros de la ley salieron de Jerusalén y fueron (hacia Jesús y sus disípulos) y se dieron cuenta de que los discípulos estaban comiendo pan.

Los Fariseos pensaban: No han lavado las manos, están inmundos. Y dijeron: “Jesús, ¿porqué no obedecen tus discípulos la ley? Ellos saben las costumbres y las tradiciones de la Ley.”

Vemos que los discípulos están comiendo con manos inmundas.

Jesús (dijo): “Alto, mira, les explico algo. Hace mucho el hombre Isaías escribió en un rollo que Dios dice: uds siempre están hablando sobre respeto a Dios, pero adentro sus corazones están vacios, y su adoración a Dios no sirve porque lo que personas inventaron uds lo copiaron y lo han enseñado como ley, y después (se convirtió en) costumbres y tradiciones.

Isaías tenía razón en lo que escribió: Uds mismos, fariseos y maestros de la ley, son hipócritas porque lo que Dios manda en los mandamientos de la ley uds no lo toman en serio, pero las leyes que fueron inventados por personas uds las obedecen como costumbres y tradiciones. ¡Son bien inteligentes! Uds se apartan de los mandamientos de la ley de Dios

Moisés dice que Dios manda en los mandamientos de la ley que se debe respetar a los padres, y si alguien es disrespetuoso y rebelde debe ser matado.

Pero yo veo algo diferente; uds fariseos sugieren a un hombre que diga a sus papás que no les puede ayudar con dinero porque es ocupado por el corban, que significa que da el dinero al templo, para Dios.

¿Porqué aconsejan uds, los fariseos, que no es necesario ayudar a los papás? Porque uds no valoran la palabra de Dios, no lo toman en serio, pero sí valoran sus costumbres y tradiciones como leyes. Veo que tienen muchos errores.”

Llamó a la gente a que vinieran y una multitud se acercó. (Dijo): “Por favor pongan atención. ¿Uds piensan que lo que se come y entra el estomago puede hacer el corazón sucio y separarlos de Dios? No.

Si el corazón está inmundo de adentro sí hay separación de Dios. Veanme y entiendan, uds necesitan intentar a descubrirlo.”

Jesús se despidió y se fue a casa.


All the Jews and the Pharisees have their customs and traditions, for example they don’t begin to eat until they have washed their hands, and when they are clean they can eat.

The Pharisees and some teachers of the Law went out of Jerusalem and went over (towards Jesus and his disciples) and they noted that the disciples were eating bread.

The Pharisees thought: They haven’t washed their hands, they are unclean. And they said: “Jesus, why are your disciples not obeying the Law? They know the customs and the traditions of the Law.

“We see that the disciples are eating with unclean hands.”

Jesus (said): “Stop, look, I will explain something. A long time ago the man Isaiah wrote in a scroll that God says: you are always talking about respect for God, but inside your hearts are empty and your worship is in vane, because things that people have invented, you have copied and taught them as law, and then (they have become) customs and traditions.

“Isaiah was right in what he wrote: You yourselves, Pharisees and teachers of the Law, are hypocrites because what God has ordered in the commandments of the Law you don’t take seriously, but the laws that were invented by people you obey as your customs and traditions. You are really clever! You separate yourselves from the commandments of the Law of God.

§Moses says that God in the commandments of the Law orders that people need to respect their parents, and if someone is disrespectful and rebellious he needs to be killed.

“But I say something different: you Pharisees suggest to a man that he say to his parents that he cannot help them with money because it is taken for the corban, which means that he will give the money to the temple, for God.

“Why do you, Pharisees, advise people that they don’t have to help their parents? Because you don’t value the word of God, you don’t take it seriously, but you do value your customs and traditions as laws. I see that you have many errors.”

He told the people to come and a multitude gathered. (He said): “Please pay attention. You think that what you eat and what goes down to your stomach can make your heart dirty and separate you from God? No.

“If your heart is impure on the inside that will separate you from God. Watch me and understand, you need to try and figure it out.”

Jesus said goodbye and went home.

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

<< Mark 6:53-56 in Mexican Sign Language
Mark 7:3-4 in Mexican Sign Language >>

Mark 7:1-23 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 7:1-23 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

The people of Judea strictly followed the demands of tradition. Before eating, they were to wash their hands thoroughly up to the elbows. After going to the store and the market, they had to wash their hands thoroughly. Also they had to be thorough with kitchen utensils: cauldrons, plates.

And so the Pharisees and teachers of the law came from Jerusalem. They were indignant when they saw that Jesus’ disciples were not fulfilling the demands of tradition.

In indignation they turned to Jesus:

— Behold, your disciples are not fulfilling the demands of tradition! They had not washed their hands and were eating bread. What is this?

Jesus answered them:

— You Pharisees are hypocrites. In ancient times there lived a prophet named Isaiah. He was talking about the people of his time, but they were just like the Pharisees. The prophet said that these people thought they were very pious, very proud of it, but in fact, inwardly they were empty, far from God. They thought they were pious and outwardly honored God — but it was all false. They began to invent their own rules and laws and pass them off as God’s law, as God’s commandments. That’s what you are doing now, Pharisees. You disregard God’s commandments and make up your own. You have rejected God’s law, but you demand that people obey your rules.

In ancient times Moses gave Ten Commandments. There is this commandment: “Honor your father and mother.” If a son offends his parents, according to the law he should be punished by death.

And it happens like this: old parents who have no money to feed themselves, but the son has money. But you say to such a person:

— You should not give money to old parents, you should bring it as a gift to the Temple.

That is, you encourage people not to take care of their parents. Thus, your rules and statutes abrogate the Law of God.

Jesus called the people together and said to them:

— Listen and ponder! Do you think that man is defiled by food? No! Food is outward. But evil thoughts in the heart are what defile a man and spoil him.

Jesus walked away from the crowd and went into the house. Jesus’ disciples followed him. There the disciples began to question Jesus:

— We did not understand the meaning of what you were telling.

Jesus said:

— Have you not understood? Food is external. What you eat, it will not contaminate you, because it will be digested in the stomach and come out again, it does not give you bad thoughts in your heart. But if you have bad thoughts in your heart, it contaminates you. You think bad thoughts, you start doing bad things: cunning, malice, stealing, murder, cheating, greed, malice, deceit, rudeness, slander, insult, pride, stupidity — where does it all come from? It all comes from within, from the thoughts. If thoughts are dirty, then a person is unclean.

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

Жители Иудеи строго выполняли требования традиции. Перед едой они должны были тщательно вымыть руки до локтей. После магазина и рынка должны обязательно чисто-чисто вымыть руки. Также должны были тщательно быть кухонную посуду: котлы, тарелки.

И вот фарисеи и учителя закона пришли из Иерусалима. Они возмутились, когда увидели, что ученики Иисуса не исполняли требований традиции.

В негодовании они обратились к Иисусу:

— Вот, твои ученики не исполняют требований традиции! Они не вымыли руки и стали есть хлеб. Что это такое?

Иисус им ответил:

— Вы фарисеи — лицемеры. В древности жил пророк по имени Исайя. Он говорил о людях своего времени, но они были таким же, как фарисеи. Пророк говорил, что эти люди считали себя очень набожными, очень гордились этим, но на самом деле, внутренне они пусты, далеки от Бога. Они считали себя набожными и внешне почитали Бога — но это все фальшь. Они стали придумывать свои собственные правила и законы и выдавать их за Божий закон, за Божьи заповеди. Так же и вы сейчас поступаете, фарисеи. Вы заповедями Божьими пренебрегаете, и придумываете свои собственные. Божий закон вы отвергли, а требуете, чтобы люди исполняли ваши правила.

В древности Моисей дал 10 заповедей. Есть такая заповедь: «Почитай отца и мать». Если сын оскорбляет своих родителей, по закону он должен быть наказан смертью.

А бывает так: старые родители, у которых нет денег пропитание, а у сына деньги есть. Но вы же говорите такому человеку:

— Не нужно давать денег старым родителям, нужно их принести в дар в Храм.

То есть вы побуждаете людей не заботиться о родителях. Таким образом, ваши правила и уставы отменяют Закон Божий.

Иисус созвал людей и сказал им:

— Слушайте и поразмыслите! Вы думаете, человек оскверняется пищей? Нет! Еда — это внешнее. Но злые мысли в сердце — вот, что оскверняет человека и портят его.

Иисус ушел от толпы и вошел в дом. Ученики Иисуса последовали за ним. Там ученики стали спрашивать Иисуса:

— Мы не поняли смысл того, что ты рассказывал.

Иисус сказал:

— Вы не поняли? Пища — это внешнее. То, что вы едите, это вас не испачкает, потому что это переварится в желудке и снова выйдет наружу, от этого в сердце не появляются плохие мысли. Но если в вашем сердце плохие мысли — это вас пачкает. Вы думаете плохие мысли, начинаете делать плохие дела: хитрость, злоба, воровство, убийство, измены, жадность, злоба, лукавство, грубость, клевета, оскорбление, гордость, глупость — это все откуда? Это все исходит изнутри, из мыслей. Если мысли грязные, то и человек нечист.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

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