23:54a–b
It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was beginning: This is background information. Preparation Day was the day that preceded the Jewish Sabbath day. On the Sabbath, no one could cook food or do any work. So on Preparation Day, people had to prepare food and other things for the Sabbath. Preparation Day began on Thursday at sunset and continued until Friday at sunset.
In some languages it may be necessary to translate Preparation as a verb. For example:
It was the day people prepared for the Sabbath, which was about to begin.
It was forbidden to move a dead body on the Sabbath. The Sabbath began on Friday at sunset and continued until Saturday at sunset. Since Jesus died on Friday afternoon, Joseph had only a short time to bury the body before the Sabbath day began. You may want to include some of this information in a footnote. For example:
According to Jewish law, people could not move a dead body on the Sabbath day. So Joseph had to bury the body quickly before the Sabbath day began at sunset.
Sabbath: The word Sabbath is the name of the seventh and last day of the week for the Jews. This was the special day in the week when they rested and worshiped God. It was against the Jewish religious law to do any work on the Sabbath (Deuteronomy 5:12–15). Some ways to translate Sabbath are:
the ⌊Jewish⌋ rest day
-or-
the day for resting
-or-
the day to rest and worship God
If the word Sabbath is already known in your area, you may write it according to the sounds of your language. You may also want to include a phrase to explain the meaning. For example:
the Sabat, the ⌊Jews’⌋ rest day
The Jewish Sabbath should not be confused with Sunday, the day when most Christians rest and worship. You may want to include a footnote to give more information. For example:
The Sabbath is a name for the day of the week when the Jews rested from work and worshiped God.
See how you translated Sabbath at 4:16.
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