He gave sight to the physically and spiritually blind (image)

“In the religious cultures of Asia, it is often believed that people are blind because of their past karma. The blind often resort to begging in order to survive. Here the blind man stretches out his arms in a polite way to receive a donation but instead he connects with a healing touch. The onlookers are shocked to see Jesus making physical connection with a lowly beggar with bad karma.”

Drawing by Sawai Chinnawong who employs northern and central Thailand’s popular distinctive artistic style originally used to depict Buddhist moral principles and other religious themes; explanation by Paul DeNeui. From That Man Who Came to Save Us by Sawai Chinnawong and Paul H. DeNeui, William Carey Library, 2010.

For more images by Sawai Chinnawong in TIPs see here.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Divine Power in Mark 8 .

Mark 8:22-26 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 8:22-26 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

Jesus and his disciples came by boat to the village of Bethsaida. The people recognized that he was there, so they brought a blind man to him and asked him:

— Touch him!

Jesus took the blind man aside, moistened the blind man’s eyes with saliva and put his hands to his eyes and asked him:

— Do you see anything?

The blind man opened his eyes and saw everything around him as if in a fog. He said:

— I see as if trees were here. Or maybe it’s people walking around . . ..

Jesus put His hands on the blind man’s eyes once more, and the blind man finally received his sight and began to see everything with clear eyes. He rejoiced greatly.

Jesus said to the man:

— Go home and do not return to the village.

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

Иисус с учениками на лодке прибыли в селение Вифсаида. Люди узнали, что он здесь, и привели к нему слепого и попросили:

— Коснись его!

Иисус отвел слепого в сторону, смочил глаза слепого слюной и приложил к его глазам свои руки и спросил у него:

— Видишь ли ты что-нибудь?

Слепой открыл глаза и видел все вокруг, как будто в тумане. Он сказал:

— Я вижу, как будто деревья здесь. А может, это и люди ходят…

Иисус еще раз приложил свои руки к глазам слепого, и тот прозрел окончательно и стал все видеть ясными глазами. Он очень обрадовался.

Иисус сказал этому человеку:

— Иди домой, а в деревню не возвращайся.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

<< Mark 8:14-21 in Russian Sign Language
Mark 8:27-30 in Russian Sign Language >>

Mark 8:22 - 26 in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 8:22-26 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 en el barco llegaron al pueblo Betsaida. Allá había un hombre ciego y la gente lo ayudaron guiandolo hacía Jesús. Dijeron: “Jesús, por favor, pon tus manos sobre él y sanalo.”

Jesús cabeceó y guió el hombre y fueron los dos aparte. Estaban parados frente a la otra y Jesús escupió en los ojos del hombre y puso las manos en sus ojos. Jesús dijo: “¿Puedes ver?”

El hombre miró pero no vio bien, era borroso, las personas caminando parecían árboles moviendo. Jesús otra vez puso las manos en los ojos del hombre y el hombre miró, no vio bien, se esforzó pero era borroso, abrió los ojos y vio bien.

Jesús dijo: “Ahorita no vayas al pueblo, mejor vayas a casa.”


Jesus and the disciples in the boat arrived at the village of Betsaida. There was a blind man there and the people helped him by guiding him towards Jesus. They said: “Jesus, please, lay your hands on him and heal him.”

Jesus nodded and took the man and the two of them went away from the rest. They stood opposite each other and Jesus spit on the man’s eyes and laid his hands on his eyes. Jesus said: “Can you see?”

The man looked but he did not see well, it was blurry, the people walking looked like trees moving. Again Jesus put his hands on his eyes and the man looked, did not see well, he tried hard but it was blurry, opened his eyes wide and saw well.

Jesus said: “Don’t go into the village right now, you had better go home.”

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

<< Mark 8:10b-21 in Mexican Sign Language
Mark 8:27-30 in Mexican Sign Language >>

complete verse (Mark 8:22)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 8:22:

  • Uma: “From there, they arrived in the village of Betsaida. In that village, there were some people who brought a blind person to Yesus. They requested that he put-hands-on him.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then they arrived in the town Betsaida. Some people came to him bringing a blind person and they begged Isa asking him to touch him.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And they came to the village of Bethsaida, and there were some people there who brought Jesus a blind person. And they begged Jesus to touch him and heal him.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When they arrived in Betsaida, some (people) brought a man who was blind to Jesus. They entreated him to lay-hands-on him so that he would get-well.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Jesus and company arrived at Betsaida. Some people arrived who were bringing a blind (person). They were asking Jesus for help that he would if possible/acceptable touch/put-his-hand-on him.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Japanese benefactives (sawatte)

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 choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

Here, sawatte (さわって) or “touch” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Mark 8:22

Exegesis:

kai erchontai eis Bethsaidan ‘and they come to Bethsaida’: this is presumably the same Bethsaida referred to in 6.45.

kai pherousin autō tuphlon ‘and they bring a blind man to him’: another example of the impersonal plural: ‘people brought…,’ ‘men brought….’

pherō (cf. 1.32) ‘bring.’

tuphlos (8.23; 10.46, 49, 51) an adjective, ‘blind,’ used as a noun: ‘a blind man.’

The other words have already been dealt with: parakaleō (1.40) ‘beg,’ ‘plead’; hina (5.10, 18) ‘that,’ indicating content, not purpose; haptomai (1.41) ‘touch.’

Translation:

They must be so translated as to refer to Jesus and the disciples. Him may require translation by the word ‘Jesus’ if the reference is to be clear in some languages.

Bring may require a very special type of corresponding form, e.g. ‘led,’ ‘directed,’ or ‘showed the way.’

Note that the people are the ones who requested Jesus to touch the blind man. Touch in this case would probably be either with the finger or the hand. In Huautla Mazatec the reference must be quite specific, e.g. ‘And Jesus and the disciples arrived at the village of Bethsaida. The people brought to him a man who was blind. They asked Jesus to touch that person.’ The problems in Huautla Mazatec are especially acute because of a lack of grammatical distinctions in number and gender.

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 .