fall by the wayside

The now commonly-used English idiom “fall by the wayside” (meaning failing or falling behind at something) was first coined in 1560 in the Geneva Bible. (Source: Crystal 2010, p. 276)

For other idioms in English that were coined by Bible translation, see here.

The Parable of the Sower (image)

The parable of The Parable of the Sower is illustrated for use in Bible translations in West Africa by Wycliffe Cameroon like this:

Illustration 1999 Mbaji Bawe Ernest, © Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. Used with permission.

Mark 4:1-9 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 4:1-9 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

Jesus came to the Lake of Galilee again. Many people followed Jesus. Jesus was teaching the people and there were more and more people. There were so many people that Jesus didn’t even have anywhere to stand. He was by a lake. There was a boat on the lake. Jesus got into the boat and the people crowded on the shore to listen to Jesus’ words. Jesus began to speak. He taught the people in parables.

Jesus said:

— Listen! There was a sower who sowed seeds. The seeds went to different places. The first place. There was a road nearby. Some of the seeds fell on the road. Birds saw them, flew in, pecked them all up.

Second place: rocky soil. A little bit of earth on top, mostly rocks. The seeds that fell here sprouted a little, but they couldn’t take root because the rocks were in the way. And then the sun came up, it got hot, and the sprouts dried up. The third place is where a lot of weeds grew. The seeds that fell here sprouted, but the weeds killed them, and they could not grow, but withered. The fourth place: good soil. The seeds that fell here grew and gave a bountiful harvest. Some yielded 30 times as much, some 60 times as much, and some 100 times as much. Those of you who ponder this will understand. [See also Costa Rica Sign Language under Let anyone with ears to hear listen]

Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):

Иисус снова пришел к Галилейскому озеру. За Иисусом следовало множество народа. Иисус учил народ, а людей становилось все больше. Народу было так много, что Иисус даже некуда было встать. Он был возле озера. На озере была лодка. Иисус встал в лодку, а народ столпился на берегу, чтобы послушать слова Иисуса. Иисус начал говорить. Он учил народ притчами.

Иисус сказал:

— Послушайте! Вот был сеятель, который сеял семена. Семена попали в разные места. Первое место. Там рядом проходила дорога. Некоторые семена упали на дорогу. Птицы увидали, прилетели, склевали семена полностью.

Второе место — каменистая почва. Немного земли сверху, а в основном — камни. Семена, которые упали сюда, немного проросли, но корни пустить не смогли, потому что камни мешали. И вот взошло солнце, стало припекать, и ростки высохли. Третье место — там, где росло множество сорняков. Семена, которые сюда упали, проросли, но сорняки их погубили, и они не смогли вырасти, но тоже завяли. Четвертое место — хорошая почва. Семена, которые сюда упали, выросли и дали обильный урожай. Некоторые дали урожай в 30 раз больше, некоторые в 60, а некоторые в 100 раз больше. Тот из вас, кто обдумает это, поймет.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

<< Mark 3:31-35 in Russian Sign Language
Mark 4:10-12 in Russian Sign Language >>

Mark 4:1-9 in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 4:1-9 into Mexican Sign Language with back-translations into Spanish and English underneath:


© La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)

Jesús empezó a explicar y muchas personas venían, cerca del lago, y Jesús caminó a un barco y se sentó.

Dijo: “Por favor, pongan atención” y les explicó una historia, que es como un ejemplo.

En un campo con tierra buena un hombre estaba arando y después sembró semillas.

Allá en el camino, donde la tierra está dura, algunas semillas cayeron por accidente y los pájaros los comieron y acabaron todo.

Por allá había piedras en la tierra y una capa delgada de tierra, muy poco. Las semillas cayeron y las plantas crecían rápidamente, pero no podían profundizar los raíces porque sólo había piedras abajo de la tierra, y con el fuerte calor del sol las plantas marchitaban.

En otra parte había malas hierbas que cubrían la tierra, y las semillas cayeron en la tierra, y las plantas crecían pero no maduraron.

En otra parte la tierra era buena y las semillas cayeron y las plantas crecían y maduraron 30 y en otro lugar 60 plantas maduraron, y en otro lugar 100 plantas maduraron.

Cuando había acabado la historia Jesús dijo: “Esta historia que ahorita me veían (contar), uds necesitan intentar a resolverlo.”


Jesus began to explain and many people came to him, near the lake, and Jesus walked over and sat down in a boat.

He said: “Pay attention please” and he explained them a story, which is like an example.

“In a field with good soil a man was plowing and then sowed seeds.

“There on the road, where the ground is hard, some seeds fell by accident and the birds came and ate them all.

“In another place there were stones in the ground and only a thin layer of soil, very little. The seeds fell and the plants quickly grew, but they could not put down their roots because there were only rocks in the ground, and when the sun got very hot the plants withered.

“In another part there were weeds that covered the ground and the seeds fell on the ground and the plants grew but did not ripen.

“In another place the soil was good and the seeds fell and the plants grew and 30 ripened, and in another place 60 ripened and in another place 100 ripened.”

When the story was finished Jesus said: “This story that you’ve just seen me (tell), you need to try and work it out.” [See also Costa Rica Sign Language under Let anyone with ears to hear listen]

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

<< Mark 3:20-35 in Mexican Sign Language
Mark 4:10-20 in Mexican Sign Language >>

complete verse (Mark 4:4)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 4:4:

  • Uma: “In his planting, there were some of the seeds that fell on the road. Birds came [and] pecked the seeds until they were gone.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When he broadcasted, some seeds spilled onto the way/road. So-then the birds went there and ate them.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “and as he planted there was that which fell on the path, and this was eaten by the birds.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “As he was sowing the seeds, some fell on the path and the birds were-pecking-it-up.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “As he scattered, some got scattered on the pathway. When he turned his back, he was succeeded by the birds for they ate (the seed).” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 4:4

Text:

After ta peteina ‘the birds’ Textus Receptus adds tou ouranou ‘of the heaven’: all modern editions of the Greek text omit this addition.

Exegesis:

kai egeneto ‘and it was’ plus the indicative epesen ‘it fell’: for this Semitic construction see 1.9; 2.23.

en tō speirein (cf. 6.48 for identical construction) ‘in the sowing,’ ‘as he sowed’: a Semitic construction (Taylor, 62), but found also in Greek.

ho men epesen ‘some (seed) fell’: throughout the whole parable (vv. 5, 7, 8) sperma ‘seed’ is to be understood.

ho (‘some’) is the neuter of the relative hos ‘who,’ ‘which’: it is here used as a demonstrative ‘this (seed),’ ‘this portion (of the seed).’ In connection with allo (v. 5) alla (v. 7) and alla (v. 8) the whole series may be translated: ‘some … and other … and other … and others.’ Notice that ho ‘some’ and auto ‘it’ are collective, meaning ‘some seed’ (not singular, ‘a seed’).

piptō (4.5, 7, 8; 5.22; 9.20; 13.25; 14.35) ‘fall.’

para tēn hodon literally ‘by (alongside) the path’: some see in the Greek phrase a mistranslation of the underlying Aramaic, since the meaning, clearly, is ‘on’ the beaten path that ran through the field, on which the sower walked as he scattered his seed (cf. Lk. 8.5 ‘and it was trodden upon’). “Along” (Revised Standard Version) is ambiguous enough; some (Manson, Moffatt, Berkeley) have “on.”

ta peteina (4.32) ‘the birds.’

katephagen (12.40) ‘they ate,’ ‘they ate up,’ ‘they devoured.’

Translation:

Probably ‘on the path’ is a more justified translation, if one cannot use an ambiguous expression for the Greek phrase (see above).

The birds (as indicated in the added phrase of heaven) refer to the undomesticated song birds or wild birds, to be distinguished in a number of languages from domesticated fowl. In Tzeltal these former are the ‘field birds.’

Many languages distinguish carefully the way in which a bird eats from the manner in which people or animals eat. One must make certain to employ the right term.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator's Notes on Mark 4:4

4:4a

And as he was sowing: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sowing is from the same verb that is translated as “sow” in 4:3b. You may want to use the same expression as in 4:3b:

As he was planting by throwing
-or-
As he was scattering to plant

But if you used additional words to explain the method of planting or included a footnote in 4:3b, you may want to use a general expression here. It should refer back to the expression you used for “sow” in 4:3b:

As he was planting
-or-
As he was doing this

4:4b

some seed fell along the path: Because of the method of planting, some seeds accidentally fell on places where plants did not grow well. One such place is along the path. Be careful not to imply in your translation that the farmer intended for some of the seeds to fall along the path.

Here are some other ways to translate fell along the path:

landed accidentally along the path
-or-
were scattered unintentionally along the path

along: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as along usually means “near,” “beside,” or “alongside.” In this context, it may also mean “on.” The English versions show a similar range of meaning. For example:

some seed fell beside the road (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
some of the seed fell on the edge of the path (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
some seed fell on a footpath (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)

Several English versions, including the Berean Standard Bible and the New International Version, have “along,” which can mean either “beside” or “upon.” If you have a similar word in your language, you may use that word here. Otherwise use a word with a more specific meaning that is natural in your language. All these meanings fit the parable equally well. (It should be noted that the Greek word para normally means “beside” (Louw & Nida, page 716 #83.25). The author could have used epi if he had wanted to specify “upon.” However, in this parable, it is unlikely that the author intended us to make a distinction. Seed would have fallen both on and beside the path. In either location the soil would be hard and the seed would not be ploughed in.)

the path: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as path refers to a footpath through or alongside a field. People who walk there trample on the soil and make it hard.

4:4c

the birds came: It may be more natural in your language to use a different verb rather than the verb came. For example:

the birds flew there
-or-
the birds landed there

the birds: The phrase the birds refers to birds in general and does not refer to any birds mentioned before. Introduce the birds in the story in the most natural way in your language. For example:

some birds flew down
-or-
there were some birds that landed there

devoured it: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as devoured refers to eating something hungrily and completely.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

ate it up (New International Version)
-or-
ate them until they were gone

If you have a specific word or phrase that describes the way that birds eat, such as the English word “pecked,” you may want to use that word:

pecked…hungrily

it: The pronoun it refers to the seed. If you used a plural form like “seeds” in 4:3b, you may need to use a plural form here also. The God’s Word has:

them

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