Mark 9:33 - 37 in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 9:33-37 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)

Jesus (dijo): “Vamonos” y caminaba en frente. Los discípulos que iban atrás estaban diciendo: “Yo so el primero, el líder.” “Tú no, yo soy el primero, el líder.”

Los discípulos estaban discutiendo así y llegaron al pueblo de Capernaúm y fueron a casa. Jesús les dijo: “Ahorita estaban discutiendo, ¿qué era?”

Los discípulos lo miraban: Caray, y estaban callados. Jesús les miró y se sentó y llamó a los doce discípulos que vinieran alrededor. (Dijo): “¿Uds quieren ser el primero, el líder? Deben ser entonces el último, humilde, necesitan servir a todas las personas.”

“Yo les cuento un ejemplo”, y llamó un niño y lo tomó en su regazo. “Yo les mando a que pongan atención a los niños. Eso es lo mismo como si ponen atención a mi, yo el mismo que Dios mandó que viniera, y si uds ponen atención a mi eso es lo mismo como si ponen atención a Dios.”


Jesus (said): “Let’s go” and he walked ahead of them, behind him the disciples came and they were saying: “I am the first, the leader.” “No, not you, I am the first, the leader.”

The disciples were arguing thus and they arrived at the village of Capernaum and went home. Jesus said to them: “Just now you were arguing. What was it about?”

The disciples looked at him: Oh no, and they kept quiet. Jesus looked at them and sit down and called the disciples around him. (He said): “You want to be the first, the leader? Then you must be the last, humble, you need to serve all the people.”

“I will tell you an example”, and he called a child and took it on his lap. “I tell you that you need to pay attention to the children. That is the same as paying attention to me, I who was sent by God to come, and if you pay attention to me it’s the same as paying attention to God.”

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

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Mark 9:33-37 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 9:33-37 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

The disciples and Jesus were walking along the road. Jesus went first, followed by the disciples. The disciples began to argue with each other about who was the most important. Finally they all came to a house in the town of Capernaum. In the house Jesus asked the disciples:

— As we were walking, what did you argue with each other about on the way?

The disciples were silent. Jesus sat down, called the disciples to him, and said to them:

— Those of you who want to be first must be last of all and must serve all.

Jesus took a child and placed it in the center. He embraced the child and said. If you love me, you must also be willing to love and care for this child. And the one who loves me deeply also loves my father who sent me.

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

Ученики и Иисус шли по дороге. Иисус шел первый, ученики за ним. Ученики стали спорить друг с другом, кто из них самый главный. Наконец, все они пришли в дом в городе Капернаум. В доме Иисус спросил учеников:

— Когда мы шли, о чем вы спорили друг с другом в пути?

Ученики молчали. Иисус сел, подозвал к себе учеников и сказал им:

— Тот из вас, кто хочет быть первым, должен быть последним из всех и должен служить всем.

Иисус взял ребенка и поставил его в центре. Он обнял ребенка и сказал. Если вы любите мне, то вы должны быть готовы также полюбить и этого ребенка и заботиться о нем. А тот, кто глубоко любит меня, тот любит и моего отца, который послал меня.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

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Mark 9:38-41 in Russian Sign Language >>

complete verse (Mark 9:37)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 9:37:

  • Uma: “‘Who[ever] receives a small child like this child because of his following me, it means that it is I that he has received. And who[ever] receives me, it isn’t just me whom he has received, he has also received God who sent me.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “‘If there is a person and because of his trust in me he respects/treats-according-to-custom one little child like this, he has respected/treated-according-to-custom me. And if somebody respects me, it is not only me whom he respects, but he likewise respects God, who sent me to the world.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “‘The person who, because of his faith in me, receives and takes care of any little child like this, he has received me also. And anyone who receives me, he has received also my Father God who sent me.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘Whoever receives a low (status) person like this child on-account-of his faith in me, I am who he received, and the one who receives me has also received the one who sent me.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “‘Whoever will receive one who is humble like this child because of his belief in me, I am the one he is receiving. And the one who receives me, it’s not just I whom he is receiving but also my Father who sent me.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

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. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("send")

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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, tsukawas-are-ru (遣わされる) or “send” is used.

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

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Mark 9:33-37)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Mark 9:33-37:

While at home in Capernaum, Jesus asked his followers,
       “What were you arguing about on our way here?”

They were too embarrassed to reply —
they had been arguing about greatness,
       about which of them was the greatest.

Jesus sat down and told them to gather around.
Then he spoke, “The highest place of honor
       belongs to the lowest slave!”

Then Jesus called a child from the crowd,
       placed his arm around the child, and said,
“When you welcome even a child because of me,
       you welcome both me and the God who sent me.”