Mark 9:2 - 13 in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 9:2-13 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)

Seis días después Jesús llamó a que vinieran Pedro, Jacobo y Juan. Jesús subió y los tres discípulos fueron con él a un lugar en las montañas donde no había gente.

Los discípulos vieron con sus propios ojos que la cara y la ropa de Jesús se cambiaron a un blanco brilloso, no blanco como ropa lavada, sino diferente, un blanco muy brilloso que brillaba sobre ellos.

Vieron Elías y Moisés hablando con Jesús. Los tres discípulos se asustaron y se volvieron miedosos.

Pedro quería decir algo pero no sabía cómo. Dijo: “Maestro, está bien, suficiente, nosotros tres tiremos ramas de los árboles y hagamos tres tiendas para uds, ¿qué te parece?”

Vieron una nube bajando y la voz de Dios (dijo): “Este es mi hijo amado, pongan atención a él, Jesús.” Y la nube desapareció.

Los discípulos vieron sólo a Jesús parado. Después Jesús bajó caminando y los tres discípulos bajaron también.

Jesús les advirtió: “Lo que vieron ahorita no lo cuenten a otras personas, guarden silencio, es un secreto.

Cuando vean al Hijo de Hombre resucitado del muerto, pueden contarlo, ahorita todavía no lo cuenten.”


Six days later Jesus called Peter, James and John to come and he walked up and the three disciples went with him to a place in the mountains where there were no people.

The disciples saw with their own eyes that the face and the clothes of Jesus changed to a shining white, not white like clothes that have been washed, but different, a very shining white that shone on them.

They saw Elijah and Moses talking with Jesus. The three disciples were shocked and became afraid.

Peter wanted to say something but did not know how. He said: “Teacher, it is well, sufficient, let us three break branches from the trees and make three tents for you, what do you think?”

They saw a cloud coming down and the voice of God (said): “This is my beloved son, pay attention to him, Jesus.” And the cloud disappeared.

The disciples saw only Jesus standing there. Then Jesus walked down and the three disciples went down as well.

Jesus warned them: “That which you just saw, don’t tell it to other people, keep silent, it is a secret.

“When you see the Son of Man risen from the dead you can tell, but right now don’t tell it yet.”

The three disciples agreed to keep it secret and Jesus walked on down, and the disciples also went down. They said to each other: “What would resurrection mean?” “I don’t understand.” “Me neither.”

As they were walking they thought of something and said: “Jesus, we ask you, why do the teachers of the Law tell us that Elijah will come first and then the Christ?”

Jesus (answered): “This is true, first comes Elijah to prepare things and make them ready for Christ to come.”

“But Elijah has already come and the people were against him and Elijah suffered exactly as is written in the scroll.

“In the same way the Son of Man will suffer and be rejected by the people.”

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

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Mark 9:9-13 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 9:9-13 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

After the transfiguration with Jesus on the mountain, he and his three disciples were on their way back. Jesus said to them:

— I am the Son of Man. People will kill me. I will be dead, but then I will rise again, then you can claim that I am the Son of God.

The disciples agreed. But they were confused and spoke among themselves:

— It is not clear… He will die and then rise again? What does it mean?

The disciples asked Jesus:

— Why does the Scripture say that Elijah must appear first? Is this true?

Jesus answered:

— Yes! Elijah must come first. And it has already happened. Elijah came and spoke to the people, preparing them to meet the Lord, but they rejected him. Elijah suffered much and was killed – just as the Scripture says. And the Scripture also says that when the Son of Man, which is me, comes, people will reject him, cause him much suffering, and he will be humiliated.

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

После того как на горе с Иисусом было преображение, он и три его ученика возвращались обратно. Иисус сказал им:

— Сын человеческий — это я! Люди убьют меня, я буду мертв, но потом я воскресну, вот тогда вы можете говорить, что Сын Божий — это я.

Ученики согласились. Но они были смущены и между собой говорили:

— Непонятно это… Умрет, а потом воскреснет? Что это значит?

Ученики спросили Иисуса:

— Почему в Писании говорится, что сначала должен явиться Илия? Правда ли это?

Иисус ответил:

— Да! Первым должен прийти Илия. И это уже случилось. Илия приходил, обращался к людям, готовил их к встрече с Господом, но они отвергли его. Илия много пострадал и был убит, — как и написано в Писании. И еще в Писании сказано, что когда Сын человеческий, то есть я, придет, люди отвергнут его, причинят ему множество страданий, и он будет унижен.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

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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” and in the 1964 translation by Helmut Riethmüller: “theologian of scriptures” (Schrifttheologe)
  • 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)

Elijah

The name that is transliterated as “Elijah” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “whirlwind” (according to 2 Kings 2:11) (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )


“Elijah” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

Click or tap here to see how other sign languages are translating “Elijah”

In American Sign Language it is translated with a depiction of being taken up to heaven with a chariot of fire. (Source: ASL Sign Language Directory )


“Elijah” in American Sign Language (source )

Likewise in Estonian Sign Language, but with a different sign (source: Liina Paales in Folklore 47, 2011, p. 43ff.)


“Elijah” in Estonian Sign Language (source )

In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “fire” (referring to 1 Kings 18:38). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Elijah” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

Following is a Russian Orthodox icon of Elijah from the late 13h century.

 
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 )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Elijah .

complete verse (Mark 9:11)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 9:11:

  • Uma: “They asked Yesus, they said: ‘Why do the religion teachers say that the prophet Elia first must come, and only then will the Redeemer King come? ‘” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Na, they asked Isa, they said, ‘Why do the teachers of the religious law say that Nabi Eliyas should come here ko’ first and then Almasi?'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And they asked Jesus, they said, ‘Why do the teachers of the law say that the ancient prophet long ago, Elijah, will first appear and then the king chosen by God?'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “They asked him, ‘Why do the teachers of the law teach that Elias must come before (lit. precede to come) the Messiah?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And then they questioned Jesus. They said, ‘Why is it said by the explainers of law that it’s necessary they-say that Elias first will return who was that prophet of the past, that he will go ahead of the promised Cristo?'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 9:11

Text:

Before hoi grammateis ‘the scribes’ Tischendorf and Soden have hoi Pharisaioi kai ‘the Pharisees and,’ which is omitted by all other editions of the Greek text.

Exegesis:

hoti ‘why?’: interrogative, as in 2.16.

For hoi grammateis ‘the scribes’ cf. 1.22; dei ‘it is necessary’ cf. 8.31.

Translation:

For scribes see 1.22.

First must in some languages be grammatically related to the subject Elijah, rather than to the verb, e.g. ‘that Elijah will be the first to come.’ The only alternative in certain languages is to say ‘Elijah will come before anything else happens.’ Whichever expression is employed there is a degree of obscurity, even as there is in the Greek text itself.

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 .

SIL Translator's Notes on Mark 9:11

9:11a–b

Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?: This is a real question. The disciples asked this question because they were confused. They had just seen Elijah on the mountain. They knew that Jesus was the Christ. They also knew about the prophecy that Elijah would come to preach before the Christ came. So they did not understand the prophecy in relation to Jesus.

Here are some other ways to translate this question:

Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes? (New Living Translation)
-or-
Are the teachers of the law correct in saying that it is necessary that Elijah come first before the Messiah comes? And if so, why has he not yet come?

the scribes: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the scribes refers to men who studied, interpreted, and taught the law of Moses. They are called scribes because the original work of these men was to copy the laws of Moses by hand. In New Testament times, this was no longer their main task. Instead, it was to teach the law. Here are some other ways to translate this term:

teachers of the law of Moses (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
teachers of religious law (New Living Translation)
-or-
experts on the law

See how you translated this phrase in 1:22c or 8:31c. See teacher of the law in the Glossary.

Elijah must come first: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as must is literally “it is necessary.” The Scripture said that Elijah would come first. Therefore, it was necessary for him to come.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

it is necessary for Elijah to come first
-or-
it is required that Elijah come first

come: In this context, the verb come means “return to earth.” God took Elijah directly to heaven before the prophecy, but the prophecy indicates that he would come back to Israel. For example:

come to earth again
-or-
return to Israel

first: In this context, the word first means “before the Christ comes.”

Here are some other ways to translate this:

before the Christ does
-or-
before the Christ comes

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