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.)
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 )
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.”
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)
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.)
Germandas 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)
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)
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 .