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 .

Jerusalem

The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:


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

While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)


“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jerusalem .

complete verse (Nehemiah 13:19)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Nehemiah 13:19:

  • Kupsabiny: “There and then, I said, the gates of the city shall always be locked in the evening on the sixth day without opening them until the Sabbath is ended. I also sent some of my servants to be guarding the gates so that no one brings things for sale on the Sabbath day.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Therefore I commanded to lock the entrance/gate of the city every Friday afternoon, and this will- not -be-opened until the Day For-Resting is over. I caused- my men -to-guard the entrance/gates so-that there is none that something-to-be-sold could-enter into the city on the Day For-Resting.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So I ordered that at the beginning of every Sabbath day/every Friday evening they should shut the gates of the city before it became dark. I also ordered that they should not open the gates until the Sabbath day was ended the next day/Saturday evening. Then each Sabbath day I put some of my men at the gates, so they would make sure that nothing to sell was brought into the city on that day.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Nehemiah 13:19

When it began to be dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath: Nehemiah himself took action to stop commercial trade on the Sabbath. This verse begins with the Hebrew construction with the connective conjunction and the verb “to be.” This construction is a discourse marker that signals new action in the narrative (see Neh 1.1). Nehemiah ordered the doors of the city to be shut during the Sabbath. The meaning of the phrase began to be dark is not clear. Some commentators have understood the Hebrew to refer to “shadows,” for example, “When evening shadows fell on the gates…” as in New International Version (similarly New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). But that meaning is not well established. Others have proposed the meaning “cleared” based on the Syriac translation “to clean, purge,” as in Revised English Bible: “When the entrances to Jerusalem had been cleared….” Because the Sabbath began at sunset, the phrase must refer to that time of day. Although this is Friday evening, translators should not use Friday here because of possible connotations for readers today that would be anachronistic. Preferably, translators can say something like “on the night before the Sabbath” or “the night of the eve of the Sabbath” for before the sabbath. A footnote may be added to provide a brief explanation about the beginning of the Sabbath as in Good News Translation.

I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the sabbath: Revised Standard Version uses the synonyms commanded and gave orders to translate the Hebrew verb that means “to say, to command.” The first time “I said” occurs in the Hebrew text it is followed by the statement, “They shut the doors.” The second time “I said” occurs in the Hebrew it is followed by a negative order. Most translations interpret the first clause to represent a first command to shut the doors before the beginning of the Sabbath. This is followed by the second command that the doors were not to be opened until the Sabbath had ended. The text does not indicate to whom the commands were directed. In some languages it will be necessary to indicate someone as subject of the verbs, for example, the indefinite “they” or “men.” In the next sentence he says what action he took to have the gates guarded. For doors see Neh 3.1.

And I set some of my servants over the gates, that no burden might be brought in on the sabbath day: Set is the causative of the verb “to stand,” meaning that Nehemiah “stationed” (New International Version) or posted some of his men at the gates; that is, he gave his men responsibility over the gates. This introduces an implicit third command that is also negative. The last half of this sentence could be restructured and expressed explicitly as “I commanded them, ‘Do not allow people to bring anything into the city on the Sabbath.’ ”

My servants refers to members of the governor’s guard (see Neh 4.16). Nehemiah gave these men the responsibility to prevent any burden being brought through the city gates on the Sabbath. A burden was any load that could be carried by a person or by a load-bearing animal. Nehemiah’s action would not have stopped individual people from going in and out of the city.

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 .