mind

The Greek that is typically translated as “mind” in English is translated in Warao as obojona, a term that “includes the concepts of consciousness, will, attitude, attention and a few other miscellaneous notions.” (Source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. )

In Elhomwe it is often translated as “heart,” “because all thoughts come from heart in Elhomwe thought.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

See other occurrences of Obojona in the Warao New Testament.

scripture

The Greek that is translated “scripture” or “scriptures” in English is translated as “God’s word which people wrote” in Guerrero Amuzgo (source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125) and “paper writings” in Copainalá Zoque (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.).

While the term “Bible,” often used as a synonym, does not appear in the Bible itself, there’s an interesting translation of that word in Dehu. Missionaries had translated “Bible” as “Container of the Word” until they realized that this was also used for “penis sheath.” (Source: Clifford 1992, p. 87)

For other translations of scripture see all scripture is inspired by God and examined the scriptures.

Come and see that he is alive (image)

“Jesus allows himself to be touched by all. This picture shows a selection of all types of people from various regions and even a foreigner.”

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.

See also Thomas with the risen Christ (image).

complete verse (Luke 24:45)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 24:45:

  • Noongar: “Then Jesus freed their thinking to see everything, all things the Scriptures said.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “After that, he made their hearts clear so that could understand the contents of the Holy Book.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then they were given thought so that they could understand the holy-book,” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then he showed them the meaning of all those things written in the Word of God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then he illuminated their minds so that they would understand the written word of God” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And then Jesus enlightened their minds/thinking. He explained to them those things which were written in the writings so that they would understand them now.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Sung version of Luke 24

Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).

For more information, see here .

Translation commentary on Luke 24:45

Exegesis:

tote diēnoixen autōn ton noun ‘then he opened their minds,’ cf. on v. 31.

nous ‘mind,’ i.e. seat of the intellectual capacities.

tou sunienai tas graphas ‘to understand the scriptures,’ either final, ‘in order to…,’ or consecutive, ‘so as to…,’ preferably the latter.

Translation:

He opened their minds to understand, or with another metaphor, ‘he enlightened their mind (or, clarified their thoughts) that they could understand’ (Balinese, Shona 1966); or again non-metaphorically, ‘he made them able to understand,’ ‘he caused them to know well’ (Tzeltal); and see on v. 31. For to understand cf. on 2.47.

The scriptures, or, ‘the meaning/contents of the Holy Book’ (Balinese), ‘what God’s book says’ (Tzeltal).

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 24:45

24:45

Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as He opened their minds is an idiom. It means that Jesus caused the disciples to be able to understand. Jesus did that by explaining the OT Scriptures to them. The context indicates that he helped them understand the prophecies about himself in the Scriptures. His explanation here was probably similar to what he said to the two disciples from Emmaus in 24:27. Some other ways to translate the statement are:

Then he explained the meaning of the Scriptures to them.
-or-
Then he helped them understand the Scriptures. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
And then he showed them the meaning of all those things written in the Word of God.

In some languages there may be a different idiom to express this meaning. Translate it in a natural way in your language.

the Scriptures: Here the phrase the Scriptures refers especially to prophecies that were written about the Messiah/Christ long before Christ was born. In some languages it is helpful to indicate that these things were written long ago as prophecies. For example:

what ⌊people⌋ wrote ⌊long ago⌋ in God’s Word

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