snow (color)

Click here to view graphically

The Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic that is translated in English as “(as white as) snow” is translated in San Miguel El Grande Mixtec as “(as white as) volcano frost,” the only white kind of frost that is known in that language (source: Nida 1947, p. 160.). Likewise, it is translated in Chichewa as matalala or “hail stones,” since “hail in Central Africa, when it occurs, is also white” (source: Wendland 1987, p. 72).

In Obolo it is translated as abalara: “white cloth” (source: Enene Enene), in Bambam and Bura-Pabir as “like the white of cotton” (source: Phil Campbell in Kroneman 2004, p. 500 and Andy Warren-Rothlin), in Muna as “white like cotton flowers” (source: René van den Berg), in Sharanahua as “like fresh Yuca root” (source: Holzhauen / Riderer 2010, p. 72), in Tagbanwa as “white like just broken waves” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation), in Chitonga as “as the cattle egret ” (source: Wendland 1987, p. 130), in Nabak as “white as a white cockatoo ” (source: Grace Fabian ), and in Cerma “white like the full moon,” except in Psalm 51:7 where the Cerma translators chose “wash me with water until I shine” (source: Andrea Suter in Holzhauen / Riderer 2010, p. 36).

In Gbaya, in most cases an ideophone (term that expresses what is perceived by the five senses) is employed to depict strong intense whiteness (either ndáká-ndáká or kpúŋ-kpúŋ are used for the ideophones), sometimes in combination with “cotton.” Interestingly, for Rev. 1:14 where the color of the hair of the “Son of Man” is described, the use of cotton was questioned since it “would create the unpleasant image of an untidy person with disheveled hair or of a mourner with unkempt appearance.” It was eventually used, but only with a footnote that gives additional information by mentioning the French loan word neige for “snow.” In the two cases where the color white refers to the color of the skin of leprosy (Num. 12:10 and 2 Kings 5:27), the image of hail is used in the first to describe the pale white of leprous skin, while the ideophone ndáká-ndáká is used for dramatic effect in the second. (Source: Philip Noss)

See also frost and this devotion on YouVersion .

complete verse (Matthew 28:3)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 28:3:

  • Uma: “His appearance was bright [lit., squint-causing] like lightning, and his clothes were very white.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “His appearance was bright like a flash of lightning and his clothes were very white.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And his appearance was blinding because he was so bright, and his clothing also was very white.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “His appearance, it was-flashing like lightning and his clothes moreover, they were very-white like frost.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “His face dazzled like lightning. His clothes were extremely white like just broken waves.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “This angel shone like when lightening shone. His clothing was very white.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 28:3

Appearance (so also New American Bible, New International Version, Moffatt, An American Translation), a word which appears only here in the New Testament, may also mean “face” (New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, Barclay). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “He shone like lightning.” There are languages where the comparison may be rendered “shone brightly like lightning” or “was as bright as lightning.”

Raiment simply means “clothes,” as in Good News Translation.

White, whether of lightning or of snow, is the “heavenly” color. In Daniel 7.9 the clothes of the “One who had been living forever” (TEV) are “white as snow,” as is also the hair of the risen Lord (Rev 1.14). And of the angel who appeared to Daniel (10.6), it is said “His face was as bright as a flash of lightning” (TEV). Note also the similar descriptions found in Luke 9.29 and 24.4.

White as snow is obviously going to be a problem in areas where snow is unknown. Some translators, recognizing that this is simply a way of saying that his clothing was very white, either use a cultural substitution such as “white as egret feathers (or, as cotton)” or use whatever is the normal way in the language to say “very, very white.”

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 .