Mark 9:13 – TIPs

Elijah (one like Elijah)

The Greek that is translated in these verses as “Elijah” is translated in Yatzachi Zapotec and Mezquital Otomi as “One like Elijah.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)

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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Mark 9:14-29 in Russian Sign Language >>

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

<< Mark 9:1 in Mexican Sign Language
Mark 9:14-29 in Mexican Sign Language >>

complete verse (Mark 9:13)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 9:13:

Uma: “But as for the prophet Elia, I tell you that Elia has already come, but the leaders of our village opposed him according to their desires, like what is written in the Holy Book.’n” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But I tell you,’ said Isa, ‘Eliyas has already come and the people already did to him whatever they wanted to, as is written in the holy-book about him.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The appearance of Elijah has already been fulfilled. They tormented him according to their desire to do to him for this is the prophesy which we can read in the written word of God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “But I say also to you that Elias already came, and people did whatever (implies bad) to him, just as God caused-to-be-written about him.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But this which I will say to you really is true, that Elias has already come here, and they did to him all they wanted to do, according to what was said in the writing concerning him.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

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.

source

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 .

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.

In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)