καὶ ἰδοὺ ἦλθεν ἀνὴρ ᾧ ὄνομα Ἰάϊρος καὶ οὗτος ἄρχων τῆς συναγωγῆς ὑπῆρχεν, καὶ πεσὼν παρὰ τοὺς πόδας [τοῦ] Ἰησοῦ παρεκάλει αὐτὸν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ,
41Just then there came a man named Jairus, a leader of the synagogue. He fell at Jesus’s feet and began pleading with him to come to his house,
The Greek that is translated in English as “kneel” or “fall down” or “worship” are translated in Chichicapan Zapotec as bazuꞌnllihbi or “stand on knees.” (Source: Joseph Benton in OPTAT 1989/2, p. 65ff.)
See also knee / kneel and kneel down / fall down and worship.
Other languages make a distinction: (Click or tap here to see more)
Languages that, like English, German, Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans, don’t make that distinction include:
Another distinction that tends to be overlooked in translations is that between hieron (“temple” in English) and sunagógé (“synagogue” in English). Euan Fry (in The Bible Translator 1987, p. 213ff. ) reports on this:
“Many older translations have simply used transliterations of ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ rather than trying to find equivalent terms or meaningful expressions in their own languages. This approach does keep the two terms separate; but it makes the readers depend on explanations given by pastors or teachers for their understanding of the text.
“Translators who have tried to find meaningful equivalents, for the two terms ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ have usually made a distinction between them in one of two ways (which focus on the contrasting components of meaning). One way takes the size and importance of the Temple to make a contrast, so that expressions such as ‘sacred meeting/ worship house of the Jews’ and ‘big sacred meeting/worship house of the Jews’ are used. The other way focuses on the different nature of the religious activity at each of the places, so that expressions such as ‘meeting/worship house of the Jews’ and ‘sacrifice/ceremony place of the Jews’ are used.
“It is not my purpose in this article to discuss how to arrive at the most precise equivalent to cover all the components of meaning of ‘temple’. That is something that each translator really has to work through for himself in the light of the present usage and possibilities in his own language. My chief concern here is that the basic term or terms chosen for ‘temple’ should give the reader of a translation a clear and correct picture of the location referred to in each passage. And I am afraid that in many cases where an equivalent like ‘house of God’ or ‘worship house’ has been chosen, the readers have quite the wrong picture of what going to the Temple or being in the Temple means. (This may be the case for the word ‘temple’ in English too, for many readers.)”
Here are some examples:
Bangandu: “the great house of God” vs. “house of prayer” (Source: Ervais Fotso Noumsi in Le Sycomore, 16/1, 2022 )
See also this devotion on YouVersion .
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 8:41:
The Greek Iēsous is “only” a proper name but one with great importance. The following quote by John Ellington (in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 401ff. ) illustrates this:
“In Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus Christ, Joseph is told that when Mary gives birth to a son ‘you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins’ (1:21). This name is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name [Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) which is a short form of a name meaning] ‘the Lord [Yahweh] saves.’ The name is very significant and is in itself especially dear to Christians around the world. (…) Unquestionably great importance is attached to the name of Jesus by Christians of all persuasions and backgrounds.”
While Iēsous (pronounced: /i.ɛː.suːs/) is transliterated as “Jesus” (pronounced /ˈdʒiːzəs/) in English (but was translated as “Hælend” [the “healing one”] in Old English — see Swain 2019) it is transliterated and pronounced in a large variety of other ways as well, following the different rules of different languages’ orthographies, writing systems and rules of pronunciation. The following is a (partial) list of forms of Jesus in Latin characters: aYeso, Azezi, Cecoc, Chesús, Chi̍i̍sū, Chisɔsi, Ciisahs, Ciise, Ciisusu, Djesu, Ɛisa, Ƹisa, Eyesu, Gesù, Gesû, Gesü, Ġesù, Ghjesù, Giêsu, ꞌGiê‑ꞌsu, Giê-xu, Gyisɛse, Hesu, Hesús, Hisus, Hisuw, Ià-sŭ, Iesen, Ié:sos, Iesu, Iesui, Iesusɨn, Iesusiva, Ié:sos, Ihu, Iisus, Iisussa, Ijeesu, iJisọsị, Iji̍sɔ̄ɔsi, Iosa, Íosa, Ìosa, İsa, I’sa, Isiso, Isõs, Ísu, Isus, Isusa, Iisussa, Isuthi, Itota, Îtu, Isuva, Izesu, Izesuq, Jasus, Jeeju, Jeesus, Jeesuse, Jeezas, Jehu, Jeisu, Jeju, Jejus, Jeso, Jesoe, Jesosa, Jesoshi, Jesosy, Jesu, Jesû, Jesua, Jesuh, Jesuhs, Jesuo, Jesús, Jésus, Jesúsu, Jethu, Jezed, Jezi, Jézi, Ježiš, Jezu, Jezus, Jézus, Jėzus, Jēzus, Jezusi, Jėzus, Jezuz, Jiijajju, Jíísas, Jiisusi, Jiizas, Jíìzọ̀s, Jisas, Jisase, Jisasi, Jisasɨ, Jisaso, Jisesi, Jisɛ̀, Jisos, Jisọs, Jisɔs, Jisu, Jiszs, Jizọs, Jizɔs, Jizọsi, Jizọsu, Jòso, Jusu, Jweesus, Ketsutsi, Njises, Sesi, Sisa, Sísa, Sisas, Sīsū, Sizi, Txesusu, uJesu, Ujísɔ̄si, ŵaYesu, Xesosi, ´Xesús, Xesús, Yasu, Ya:su, Ɣaysa, Yecu, Yeeb Sub, Yeeh Suh, Yeesey, Yeeso, Yeesso, Yēēsu, Yehsu, Yëësu, Yeisu, Yeisuw, Yeshu, Yeso, Yesò, Yëso, Yɛso, ye-su, Yésu, Yêsu, Yẹ́sụ̃, Yésʉs, Yeswa, Yet Sut, Yetut, Yexus, Yezo, Yezu, Yiesu, Yiisa, Yiisu, Yiitju, Yis, Yisɔs, Yisufa, Yitati, Yusu, ‑Yusu, :Yusu’, Zeezi, Zezi, Zezì, Zezwii, Ziizɛ, Zisas, Zîsɛ, Zjezus, Zozi, Zozii, and this (much more incomplete) list with other writings systems: ᔩᓱᓯ, ᒋᓴᔅ, Հիսուս, ᏥᏌ, ኢየሱስ, ያሱስ, ܝܫܘܥ, Ісус, Їисъ, 耶稣, იესო, ईसा, イエス, イイスス, イエスス, 예수, येशू, येशो, ਈਸਾ, ພຣະເຢຊູ, ජේසුස්, যীশু, ଯୀଶୁ, ཡེ་ཤུ་, ‘ঈছা, இயேசு, ಯೇಸು, ພຣະເຢຊູ, ယေရှု, ઇસુ, जेजू, येसु, เยซู, យេស៊ូ, ᱡᱤᱥᱩ, ယေသှု, యేసు, ᤕᤧᤛᤢ᤺ᤴ, އީސާގެފާނު, ਯਿਸੂ, ꕉꖷ ꔤꕢ ꕞ, ⵏ⵿ⵗⵢⵙⴰ, ଜୀସୁ, يَسُوعَ,ㄧㄝㄙㄨ, YE-SU, ꓬꓰ꓿ꓢꓴ, 𖽃𖽡𖾐𖼺𖽹𖾏𖼽𖽔𖾏, ꑳꌠ, ᠶᠡᠰᠦᠰ (note that some of these might not display correctly if your device does not have the correct fonts installed).
In some languages the different confessions have selected different transliterations, such as in Belarusian with Isus (Ісус) by the Orthodox and Protestant churches and Yezus (Езус) by the Catholic church, Bulgarian with Iisus (Иисус) by the Orthodox and Isus (Исус) by the Protestant church, Japanese with Iesu (イエス) (Protestant and Catholic) and Iisusu (イイスス) (Orthodox), or Lingala with Yesu (Protestant) or Yezu (Catholic). These differences have come to the forefront especially during the work on interconfessional translations such as one in Lingala where “many hours were spent on a single letter difference” (source: Ellington, p. 401).
The proper name of God in the Old Testament, Yahweh (YHWH), is rendered in most Chinese Bible translations as Yēhéhuá 耶和華 — Jehovah. According to Chinese naming conventions, Yēhéhuá could be interpreted as Yē Héhuá, in which Yē would be the family name and Héhuá — “harmonic and radiant” — the given name. In the same manner, Yē 耶 would be the family name of Jesus and Sū 稣 would be his given name. Because in China the children inherit the family name from the father, the sonship of Jesus to God the Father, Jehovah, would be illustrated through this. Though this line of argumentation sounds theologically unsound, it is indeed used effectively in the Chinese church (see Wright 1953, p. 298).
Moreover, the “given name” of Sū 稣 carries the meaning ‘to revive, to rise again’ and seems to point to the resurrected Jesus. (Source: J. Zetzsche in Malek 2002, p. 141ff., see also tetragrammaton (YHWH))
Following are languages and language groups that use a form of Isa include the following (note that this list is not complete):
In German the name Jesus (pronounced: /ˈjeːzʊs/) is distinguished by its grammatical forms. Into the 20th century the grammatical rules prescribed a unique Greek-Latin declination: Jesus (nominative), Jesu (genitive, dative, vocative), Jesum (accusative), from which today only the genitive case “Jesu” is still in active use. Likewise, in Seediq (Taroko), the morphological treatment of “Jesus” also occupies a special category by not falling under the normal rule of experiencing a vowel reduction when the object-specific suffix an is added “since it was felt that the readers might resent that the name has been changed that drastically.” (Compare Msian for “Moses” (Mosi) as an object, but Yisuan for “Jesus” (Yisu).) (Source: Covell 1998. p. 249)
In Lamba the name ŵaYesu consists of a transliteration Yesu and the prefix ŵa, a plural form for “proper names when addressing and referring to persons in any position of seniority or honor.” While this was avoided in early translations to avoid possible misunderstandings of more than one Jesus, once the church was established it was felt that it was both “safe” and respectful to use the honorific (pl.) prefix. (Source C. M. Doke in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 57ff. )
In virtually all sign languages, “Jesus” is signed with the middle finger of each hand pointing to the palm (or wrist) of the other in succession (signing the nails of the cross). In the context of Bible translation this has been pointed out as theologically problematic since the “semantic connections of the original name Jesus do point towards ‘salvation,’ they do not naturally lead to crucifixion.” (Source: Phil King in Journal of Translation 1 (2020), p. 33ff.)
“Jesus” in German Sign Language (source )
Following is the oldest remaining Ethiopian Orthodox icon of Jesus from the 14th or possibly 13th century (found in the Church of the Saviour of the World in Gurji, Ethiopia). As in many Orthodox icons, Jesus’ right hand forms the Greek letters I-C-X-C for IHCOYC XPICTOC or “Jesus Christ.” Another interpretation of the right hand is that it shows three fingers pointing to the Trinity, while the two other fingers point to Jesus’ two natures.
Orthodox icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )
The following is the so-called “Wales Window for Alabama.” It is a stained-glass window by the artist John Petts from Carmarthenshire, Wales, created in response to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing which took place in 1963:
Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )
The style of the following drawing of Jesus by Annie Vallotton is described by the artist as this: “By using few lines the readers fill in the outlines with their imagination and freedom. That is when the drawings begin to communicate.” (see here )
Illustration by Annie Vallotton, copyright by Donald and Patricia Griggs of Griggs Educational Service.
Other visual representation of Jesus in TIPs include several non-Western styles of art: traditional Korean art, traditional Chinese art, modern Chinese abstract art, northern and central Thailand’s popular art, Indian Hamzanama style, traditional Vietnamese art, or Japanese prints.
See also this devotion on YouVersion .
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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
Here, kite (来て) or “come” is used in combination with itadaku (いただく), a humble form of the benefactive morau (もらう). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Exegesis:
kai idou lit. ‘and behold,’ cf. on 1.20.
kai houtos archōn tēs sunagōgēs hupērchen ‘and he was leader of the synagogue,’ or archisunagōgos (cf. on v. 49). The article tēs before sunagōgēs suggests that the reference is to the one local synagogue. Syntactically the clause is best understood as a free continuation of the (nominal) relative clause hō onoma Iairos ‘whose name was Jairus.’ For huparchō cf. on 7.25.
pesōn para tous podas tou Iēsou ‘falling at Jesus’ feet.’ Semantically there is no difference between this phrase (also 17.16 where epi prosōpon ‘on his face’ is added) and prospiptein with dative (cf. 5.8; 8.28, 47), ‘to fall down before.’ In both phrases it is implied that the face touches the ground before the feet of the other person involved.
parekalei auton eiselthein eis ton oikon autou ‘he begged him to come to his house.’ For parakaleō cf. on 3.18.
(V. 42a) hoti thugatēr monogenēs ēn autō hōs etōn dōdeka kai autē apethnēsken ‘for he had an only daughter of about twelve years and she was dying,’ explaining Jairus’ request. Syntactically the two clauses are co-ordinate but semantically the second clause is the most important, to which the first one is subordinate. monogenēs implies that the girl was an only child (cf. on 7.12 and Phillips). apethnēsken means that she was about to die.
Translation:
Ruler of the synagogue, or, ‘one who directed the affairs of the synagogue,’ ‘the head/chief of the s.’ (Sundanese, Sranan Tongo). Where synagogue has been rendered as ‘mosque’ a term denoting a comparable Muslim official has been used, e.g. in Malay.
Falling at Jesus’ feet, cf. on “he fell down at Jesus’ knees” in 5.8.
Besought him to come to his house. One or both pronouns may have to be specified. For to beseech cf. on 5.12; Tboli shifts to direct discourse, ‘appealed to Jesus, he said, “Would you call-in as-a-favour-to me at my house” .’
(V. 42a) Changing the sentence structure in agreement with its semantic value one may say, “for his daughter, an only child about twelve years old, was dying” (Phillips, similarly e.g. in Javanese), or, ‘because his daughter was dying. She was his only child, about twelve years old.’
He had an only daughter may have to be described, cf. e.g. ‘his daughter, he had no other child (or, no child but her)’; cf. also on 7.12.
Was dying is variously rendered, ‘was nearly dead, or, near to dying’ (Bahasa Indonesia), ‘very ill, about to die’ (Javanese), ‘was (already) in her death agony’ (Shona), ‘already unconscious’ (Tboli), ‘will only die (i.e. she cannot but die)’ (Toraja-Sa’dan). Words with the general meaning of ‘nearly,’ ‘almost,’ ‘about,’ have to be handled carefully in some languages (e.g. Kele, Balinese), because they may imply an awareness of the speaker that the event referred to, though dreaded, did not actually happen. Cf. also on “at the point of death” in 7.2.
8:41a
Just then: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Just then is literally “and look.” It often indicates that the speaker will say something important or surprising, and he wants people to listen carefully to it. In this context it helps to introduce Jairus as an important person in the following events. Many English versions do not translate it here. Consider whether you have a natural way to translate it in this context. For example:
Look!
-or-
Listen to this!
a synagogue leader named Jairus: This phrase introduces a main person in the story and gives information about him. Introduce him in a way that is natural in your language. Some ways to do this are:
A man named Jairus ⌊lived⌋ ⌊in the town on/by the shore⌋ and was an official of the synagogue there. He came to Jesus.
-or-
And then a certain man came to Jesus. His name was Jairus and he was an official of the synagogue.
-or-
There was a man in that town who was in charge of the Jewish meeting place. His name was Jairus. He came to Jesus.
a synagogue leader: Each synagogue had one or more leaders. These men were responsible to take care of the synagogue building and arrange the synagogue activities and services. Jairus was one of the men who was responsible for this at the synagogue in the town where Jesus was. Some other ways to translate this are:
an elder of the ⌊local⌋ synagogue
-or-
one of the men who was a leader at the synagogue ⌊in that town⌋
-or-
he directed the business affairs of the synagogue there
If you use footnotes for background information, you may want to use one here. For example:
Each synagogue had one or more leaders. These men were not priests or rabbis. They were responsible for taking care of the synagogue building and for arranging the worship services and other activities at the synagogue.
synagogue: A synagogue was a building where Jews gathered to pray, read Scripture, teach their beliefs, and worship. The Jews also used the synagogue as a place to gather for cultural activities. There was only one temple (in Jerusalem), but each Jewish community had a synagogue. Some ways to translate synagogue are:
prayer-house ⌊of the Jews⌋
-or-
meeting-place ⌊of the Jews⌋
-or-
worship building
-or-
house for gathering together
If you make explicit a phrase such as “of the Jews,” be sure that it does not imply that Jesus was not a Jew.
If the word synagogue is already known in your area, you may write it according to the sounds of your language. You may want to include a word or phrase to explain the meaning. For example:
sinagog house/building
Refer to how you translated this term at 7:5a–b. See synagogue in the Glossary.
8:41b
In the Greek text 8:41–42 is one long sentence. If such a long sentence would not be natural in your language, you may want to begin a new sentence.
fell at Jesus’ feet: The phrase fell at Jesus’ feet means that Jairus knelt in front of Jesus and lowered his face to the ground. It does not mean that he fell accidentally. Bowing down like this was a way to show respect and honor to someone of high position. It was also appropriate for requesting something from such a person. See the notes on 5:8a and 5:12b. Some other ways to translate this are:
bowed before Jesus
-or-
knelt down in front of Jesus (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
bowed his face to the ground near Jesus’ feet ⌊to show respect⌋
He begged Him: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as begged has several meanings. Here it means to appeal to someone for help. It indicates that Jairus earnestly desired for Jesus to help him. Other ways to translate this are:
he pleaded with him (NET Bible)
-or-
he implored him (English Standard Version)
This is the same Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translated as “kept begging” in 8:31 and as “begged” in 8:32b. You may want to use the same word that you used in those verses.
In some languages it may be more natural to express a request such as this one in direct speech. For example:
He said/begged, “Please come to my house….”
to come to his house: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as come is literally “enter.” Use the word that is most natural in your language to describe coming and visiting at the house of another person.
It is clear that Jairus was begging Jesus to come to his house in order to heal his daughter. In some languages it may be helpful to make this explicit. For example:
to come to his house ⌊to heal his daughter⌋
See Mark 5:23, where this request is stated explicitly.
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