Sabbath

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “Sabbath” in English is rendered as “day we rest” in Tzotzil, in Mairasi as “Jew’s Rest Day,” in Quiotepec Chinantec as “day when people of Israel rested,” in Shilluk as “day of God,” in Obolo as Usen Mbuban or “Holy Day,” and in Mandarin Chinese as ānxírì (安息日) or “rest day” (literally: “peace – rest – day”). (Sources: Tzotzil: Marion Cowan in Notes on Translation with Drill, p. 169ff; Mairasi: Enggavoter 2004; Quiotepec Chinantec: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.; Shilluk: Nida 1964, p. 237; Obolo: Enene Enene; Chinese: Jost Zetzsche)

In Matumbi it is translated as Sabato ya Ayahudi or “Sabbath of the Jews,” to distinguish it from the Islamic Sabbath (which is Friday) or the Christian Sabbath (which is Sunday). (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

In the old Khmer version as well as in the first new translation this term was rendered as “day of rest” (Thngai Chhup Somrak / ​ថ្ងៃ​ឈប់​សំរាក). Considered inadequate to convey its religious meaning (not only about cessation of work, but also in honor of Yahweh as the Creator), the committee for the Today’s Khmer Version (publ. 2005) decided to keep the Hebrew word and use its transliterated form Thgnai Sabath (​ថ្ងៃ​សប្ប័ទ). “The Buddhist word Thngai Seil ‘day of merits’ used by some Catholics was once under consideration but was rejected because it did not receive unanimous support.” (Source: Joseph Hong in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 233ff. )

In Spanish, the translation is either día de reposo (“day of rest”) or sábado (usually: “Saturday,” derived from the Greek and Hebrew original). Nida (1947, p. 239f.) explains that problem for Spanish and other languages in its sphere of influence: “In translation ‘Sabbath’ into various aboriginal languages of Latin America, a considerable number of translators have used the Spanish sábado, ‘Saturday,’ because it is derived from the Hebrew sabbath and seems to correspond to English usage as well. The difficulty is that sábado means only ‘Saturday’ for most people. There is no religious significance about this word as the is with ‘Sabbath’ in English. Accordingly the [readers] cannot understand the significance of the persecution of Jesus because he worked on ‘Saturday.’ It has been found quite advantageous to use the translation ‘day of rest,’ for this accurately translated the Hebrew meaning of the term and resolves the problem in connection with the prohibitions placed upon some types of activities.”

In French Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts closing of the blinds of a store:


“Sabbath” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Sabbath .

Judah, Judea

The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)


“Judah” and “Judea” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also Judah, Judah (son of Jacob) , and Tribe of Judah .

complete verse (Nehemiah 13:17)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Nehemiah 13:17:

  • Kupsabiny: “So I asked the leaders of Judah, ‘What have you done so as to profane/destroy the Sabbath?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Therefore I rebuked the leaders/[lit. heads] of Juda and told (them), ‘What is this wicked thing you (plur.) are-doing? You (plur.) do- not -make-holy the Day For-Resting!” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So I rebuked the Jewish leaders and told them, ‘This is a very evil thing that you are doing! You are causing the Sabbath days to be unholy.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

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

Translation commentary on Nehemiah 13:17

I remonstrated with the nobles of Judah: Nehemiah remonstrated again (see verse 11 above). He took his protest to the leaders of the people, holding them responsible for what was being allowed to take place on the Sabbath. Nehemiah was calling for the end of the Sabbath as a market day. Buying had not been considered a violation of the Sabbath because only the seller was considered to be working. But Nehemiah held the Jewish buyers responsible for the situation, not the foreign sellers. This was the background of the pledge made in Neh 10.31 not to buy from those who sold on the Sabbath.

For nobles see the comments at Neh 2.16.

What is this evil thing which you are doing…?: Nehemiah’s reprimand is in the form of a rhetorical question to which no direct reply is expected. He asks what evil thing they are doing (see verse 7 above). He addresses them directly using the independent second person plural pronoun you for emphasis. Then he dramatically replies to his own question with the words profaning the sabbath day.

Profaning the sabbath day: To profane something is to make it unclean. Good News Translation creates a play on the description of the Sabbath as holy (Neh 9.14) by saying that they are “making the Sabbath unholy.” They were violating the holiness of the Sabbath day. In some languages this may be expressed as “spoiling the day of rest.”

Many translators will need to restructure Nehemiah’s accusation. Good News Translation changes the form of the accusation from a rhetorical question into exclamations (similarly New Jerusalem Bible). It uses the informal style of contraction with “you’re” in place of the formal “you are” for a stronger dramatic effect. Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation retain the direct quotation of the Hebrew text for its impact and Good News Translation uses the exclamation mark to indicate emphasis. Many translators will find Good News Translation a useful model.

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .