blaspheme, blasphemy

The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “blasphemy” or “blaspheme” is translated in various forms:

As the word about him spread people brought friends to him because they knew he cared (image)

“Successful Thai gatherings are always crowded. Four people carrying a wooden bed is a symbol of death to Thai people. Here Jesus symbolizes resurrection by raising the man from the sick bed back to health in body and soul.”

Drawing by Sawai Chinnawong who employs northern and central Thailand’s popular distinctive artistic style originally used to depict Buddhist moral principles and other religious themes; explanation by Paul DeNeui. From That Man Who Came to Save Us by Sawai Chinnawong and Paul H. DeNeui, William Carey Library, 2010.

For more images by Sawai Chinnawong in TIPs see here.

scribe

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.”

Here are a number of its (back-) translations:

  • Yaka: “clerk in God’s house”
  • Amganad Ifugao: “man who wrote and taught in the synagogue”
  • Navajo (Dinė): “teaching-writer” (“an attempt to emphasize their dual function”)
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “book-wise person”
  • San Blas Kuna: “one who knew the Jews’ ways”
  • Loma: “educated one”
  • San Mateo del Mar Huave: “one knowing holy paper”
  • Central Mazahua: “writer of holy words”
  • Indonesian: “expert in the Torah”
  • Pamona: “man skilled in the ordinances” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Sinhala: “bearer-of-the-law”
  • Marathi: “one-learned-in-the-Scriptures”
  • Shona (1966): “expert of the law”
  • Balinese: “expert of the books of Torah”
  • Ekari: “one knowing paper/book”
  • 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)
  • North Alaskan Inupiatun: “teachers of law”
  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “writer”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “person who teaches the law which Moses wrote”
  • Alekano: “man who knows wisdom” (source for this and four above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
  • Saint Lucian Creole French: titcha lwa sé Jwif-la (“teacher of the law of the Jews”) (source: David Frank in Lexical Challenges in the St. Lucian Creole Bible Translation Project, 1998)
  • Chichimeca-Jonaz: “one who teaches the holy writings”
  • Atatláhuca Mixtec: “teacher of the words of the law”
  • Coatlán Mixe: “teacher of the religious law”
  • 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.)
  • Sumau: “law-knowing men” (source: this blog post by Todd Owen)
  • German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “theologian” and the 1998 translation by Walter Jens: “interpreter of scriptures” (Schriftausleger)
  • English translation by Scot McKnight (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)

complete verse (Matthew 9:3)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 9:3:

  • Uma: “Several religion teachers heard the words of Yesus. They spoke silently in their hearts, they said: ‘This man is so evil! He says/thinks his life is the same as God’s life! ‘” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “There were some teachers of the religious law there. They said in their livers, ‘This man speaks as if he is God.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And there were there some teachers of the law, and when they heard this, they were thinking that Jesus transgression against God was very great.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Whereupon the teachers of the law who were there said in their minds/thoughts, ‘This person is making-himself -equal to God.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “There were a few people there who were explainers of law. When they heard that which Jesus said, (they said) in their minds, ‘Expl, this person, he’s making-himself-out-to-be-God now! God indeed is the one who has that authority!'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Upon hearing the word Jesus spoke, the teachers of the law were angry. They said in their thoughts: ‘This man here is making fun of God with the word he said.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 9:3

And behold: see comments on 1.20. Good News Translation has “Then,” New English Bible “At this,” and Jerusalem Bible “And at this.”

Scribes (Good News Translation “teachers of the Law”) are first mentioned in 2.4, then in 5.20; 7.29; 8.19.

Said to themselves may mean they were muttering, or speaking to each other in low voices that others would not be able to hear, or it may mean they were only thinking these things. In any case, “knowing their thoughts” in verse 4 indicates that Jesus knew what thoughts they had.

Blaspheming (so also Jerusalem Bible) is here equated with the claim to do something that is solely a divine prerogative, that is, acting in the name and with the authority of God. It is difficult to find an English term that conveys the idea the word has in this context. Here it means something like “This man is presuming on (or encroaching on, or usurping, or arrogating to himself) a divine privilege.” In this context there is no direct insult to God, nor does it mean that someone has spoken against God, but rather that someone has somehow invaded the rights and privileges God reserves for himself. The verb is translated “insulting God” by Barclay and “slandering God” by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, but these are not good models to follow. The problem with using such constructions as “speaking blasphemy” (Good News Translation), “blasphemous talk” (New English Bible), and blaspheming is that they all contain a technical term which is fairly much limited to church vocabulary. The verb is used in this same sense in 26.65; but in 27.39 it is used in the context of the insults spoken against Jesus by the people who passed by as he was being crucified. Here the translation can be “He thinks he’s God! This is an insult to God!”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 9:3

9:3a

The Greek of 9:3a begins with a word that is often translated as “behold.” It indicates that something extraordinary will happen. The Berean Standard Bible does not translate this word. Here, what is unexpected is that, instead of being happy for the paralyzed man, some people there were upset with Jesus.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

At this (New International Version)
-or-
Surprisingly
-or-
Unexpectedly

scribes: This is the first time in this section that the text refers to scribes. In some languages, it may be helpful to introduce them here. For example:

And some scribes ⌊were there. They⌋ said to themselves

The word scribes also occurs in 5:20a and 8:19a. You should translate this word here as you did there.

See also scribe in the Glossary for more information.

said to themselves: The phrase said to themselves is an idiom. It means “thought.” The scribes said the following words in their minds/hearts. They did not say them out loud.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

thought (God’s Word)
-or-
said in their hearts/minds

9:3b

This man: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as This man is more literally “this one.” It was a way for the scribes to dishonor Jesus. They did not say something respectful like “The teacher” or “The master.”

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

This fellow (New International Version)
-or-
This guy

is blaspheming!: The verb is blaspheming means “intentionally say something that greatly harms a person’s reputation.” The scribes thought that Jesus was blaspheming/dishonoring God by claiming to do something that only God had the authority and ability to do. They believed that such talk harmed God’s reputation.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

He’s dishonoring God (God’s Word)
-or-
greatly slanders/insults God
-or-
speaks against God
-or-
This man is evil. He speaks as if he were God.

-or-

He makes himself equal with God. That is evil talk!

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