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 .

complete verse (Nehemiah 13:21)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Nehemiah 13:21:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then I became tough while saying to them, ‘Why do you stay outside the wall like that? I will send you away if you again act this way.’ That became the last time those people came on the Sabbath day.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But I warned them. I said, ‘Why do- you (plur.) -sleep here by the stone-wall of the city? If you (plur.) do this again I (sing.) will- surely -lay-hands-on/take-action-on/[lit. can surely taste from me] you (plur.).’ Therefore since that they no-longer return on the Day For-Resting.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I warned them, ‘It is useless for you to stay here outside the walls on Friday night! If you do this again, I will tell my men to arrest you!’ So after that, they did not come on Sabbath days.” (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 13:21

But Nehemiah warned them to stop this practice by threatening to arrest them. He did not give the Gentiles an advantage by allowing them to trade on the Sabbath. The translation warned is a good rendering of the Hebrew in view of the threat that Nehemiah makes, and because this is a legal, official setting. New English Bible says “I cautioned them.” In contemporary English, New Living Translation translates “I spoke sharply to them.”

Why do you lodge before the wall?: Once again Nehemiah’s words are cited in the form of a rhetorical question as a direct quotation. Through the question he blames them, but this overtone is lost in Good News Translation.

If you do so again I will lay hands on you: He follows the question with a conditional sentence. He states a condition, and if they fulfil that condition, he states what the result will be. This is a simple condition that if a certain thing happens, there will be a specific consequence. Some translations express this idiomatically as a threat: “Do it again, and I shall use force on you” (New Jerusalem Bible; similarly Revised English Bible).

I will lay hands on you is literally “I will stretch out [my] hand against you.” This is a Hebrew figure of speech that expresses the idea of attacking someone to cause harm or injury or even to kill (see Est 2.21; 8.7). Here Nehemiah does not say exactly what his intentions are. Many translations therefore retain an expression that is close to the Hebrew, for example, “I will lay hands on you” (Revised Standard Version, New International Version) and “I will lay hands upon you” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Other translations avoid the figure of speech and say “I’ll use force on you” (Good News Translation), “I will take action against you” (New English Bible), or “I will arrest you” (New Living Translation, Bible en français courant). Translators should use an appropriate expression for a threat, such as “I will take action against you” or “I’ll do thus and so to you!”

From that time on they did not come on the sabbath: Nehemiah introduces the result of his threat with the temporal phrase From that time on. New Jerusalem Bible says “After this,” referring back to Nehemiah’s threat. For the whole sentence Contemporary Chinese Bible has “From then on, they did not return anymore on the sabbath day.”

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 .