against an adverse wind / battered by the ways

The Greek that is translated as “against an adverse wind” or “battered by the ways” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with the nautical phrase gegen den Sturm kreuzen or “tack against the storm.”

boat, ship

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated “boat” or “ship” in English is translated in Chichimeca-Jonaz as “that with which we can walk on water” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.), in Chitonga as a term in combination with bwato or “dugout canoe” (source: Wendland 1987, p. 72), and in Tangale as inj am or “canoe-of water” (inj — “canoe” — on its own typically refers to a traditional type of carved-out log for sleeping) (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).

In Kouya it is translated as ‘glʋ ‘kadʋ — “big canoe.”

Philip Saunders (p. 231) explains how the Kouya team arrived at that conclusion:

“Acts chapter 27 was a challenge! It describes Paul’s sea voyage to Italy, and finally Rome. There is a storm at sea and a shipwreck on Malta, and the chapter includes much detailed nautical vocabulary. How do you translate this for a landlocked people group, most of whom have never seen the ocean? All they know are small rivers and dugout canoes.

“We knew that we could later insert some illustrations during the final paging process which would help the Kouya readers to picture what was happening, but meanwhile we struggled to find or invent meaningful terms. The ‘ship’ was a ‘big canoe’ and the ‘passengers’ were ‘the people in the big canoe’; the ‘crew’ were the ‘workers in the big canoe’; the ‘pilot’ was the ‘driver of the big canoe’; the ‘big canoe stopping place’ was the ‘harbour’, and the ‘big canoe stopping metal’ was the ‘anchor’!”

In Lokạạ it is translated as ukalangkwaa, lit. “English canoe.” “The term was not coined for the Bible translation, but rather originated in colonial times when the English arrived in Nigeria on ships. The indigenous term for a canoe was modified to represent the large, ocean-going ship of the English.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

See also ships of Tarshish, harbor, anchor, and sailor.

Jesus walks on water

Kim Ki-chang (pen name: Unbo) (1913-2001) had been deaf and partially mute since the age of 7. He painted a series of 30 paintings for the “Life of Christ” cycle in 1952 during the Korean War. Kim portrayed Jesus as a seonbi / 선비, or a Joseon Period (1392-1910) gentleman scholar, wearing a gat / 갓 (hat) and dopo / 도포 (robe).

For other images of Kim Ki-chang art works in TIPs, see here.

complete verse (Matthew 14:24)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 14:24:

  • Uma: “But his disciples earlier, they were on the middle of the lake, far from the shore. Their boat rocked about carried by the waves, because the wind was blowing from the front of their boat.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Na, the boat was already far from the shore and was hit by the waves because the wind was against them.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And those who were in the boat, they were already in the middle of the lake, and they were in difficulty because of the big waves, because they were facing a big wind.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “while-simultaneously the boat in which his disciples rode had already become-far from the shore. The waves were repeatedly-rocking it because the wind was meeting (them).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “As for that boat in which his disciples were sailing, it was now in the middle of the lake. They were having a hard time because the contrary wind was strong.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But the boat was now traveling about in the middle of the lake. There on the lake there arose a terrific wind which blew against the boat. The waves went up high.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 14:24

By this time (so also Good News Translation, Barclay) is literally “but … already” (New International Version). However, the function of the temporal phrase is to indicate that the boat had been moving to its present position, so that this event was taking place precisely at the moment that Jesus was alone on the mountain in prayer. New American Bible has “Meanwhile”; both Phillips and New Jerusalem Bible have “while … by now.”

There are languages where it is not normal to speak of the boat alone, but as “the boat with the disciples” or “the boat the disciples were in.”

Many furlongs distant from the land is expressed in more contemporary language by Good News Translation: “far out in the lake.” The Greek word rendered furlong by Revised Standard Version was about two hundred yards; consequently many furlongs would intimate that the disciples had gone some distance into the lake, which measures about four and a half miles across. Jerusalem Bible is similar to Good News Bible: “far out on the lake.” But, as RSV’s footnote indicates, there is an alternative textual choice. Some manuscripts have “in the middle of the lake” in place of many furlongs distant from the land. TC-GNT believes that this alternative reading was made by some scribe who attempted to make Matthew’s text read similar to Mark (6.47). In either case, neither reading gives a specific measurement; both merely state that the boat was now some distance from the shore, and therefore any phrase that conveys this information will be faithful to the intent of the text. Barclay translates “a good distance from land.”

Beaten (Good News Translation “tossed about”) is also a participle, made from the same verb as the one translated “in … distress” in 8.6 (see comments there). Scholars are in almost unanimous agreement that in Matthew it is the boat, rather than the disciples (as in Mark 6.48), which is in danger from the waves. This alteration is in keeping with Matthew’s theology, in which the boat has become an image of the church. Consequently beaten by the waves may have to be made into an active sentence such as “the waves were beating against the boat.”

For the wind was against them is translated “because the wind was blowing against it” by Good News Translation. The Greek text has no expressed object of the adjective represented by against in Revised Standard Version, but if an object must be expressed, then “it” (the boat) is preferable to them (the disciples), since the boat is the expressly mentioned subject of the sentence. New Jerusalem Bible skirts the problem (“for there was a head-wind”), while New English Bible translates beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them by the abbreviated form “battling with a head-wind and a rough sea.” For the wind was against them, translators can choose the perspective of the wind, as in “for the wind was blowing against them,” or that of the boat, as in “for they were going straight into the wind.”

Some translators will find it more natural to restructure the verse somewhat: “By this time, the boat (with the disciples) was far from the shore. It was going into the wind, and the waves were beating against it.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .