56And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “fringe” or “tzitzit” in many English translations is translated in Uma as “the decorations [lit.: “fruit”] of clothes” (source: Uma Back Translation), in Tenango Otomi as “clothing that reaches the ground” (source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation) and in Mairasi as “wings of the garments” (source: Enggavoter 2004).
In Bura-Pabir a term is used that is traditionally used for the tassels worn on clothes by hunters. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
In Paasaal it is translated as “cloth mouth.” (Source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
Click or tap here to see a short video clip about tzitzvits (source: Bible Lands 2012)
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “village” or “town” in English is translated in Noongar as karlamaya or “fire (used for “home“) + houses” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
In Elhomwe it is typically translated as “place.” “Here in Malawi, villages very small, so changed to ‘places,’ since not sure whether biblical reference just to small villages or also to bigger towns. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Jesus and his disciples came to Gennesaret and got out of the boat. They went through the towns and villages. People recognized that Jesus had arrived. Crowds began to gather from all sides and brought sick people on stretchers for Jesus to heal them. Jesus healed them. Jesus went around to different towns and villages, multitudes of people were brought to Jesus and asked for him:
— Can we at least touch the hem of Your garment? And then we will be well.
Jesus allowed it. And people who were seriously ill became well by touching the hem of his garment.
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Иисус с учениками приплыли в Геннисарет и вышли из лодки. Они пошли по городам и селениям. Люди узнали, что прибыл Иисус. Со всех сторон стали собираться толпы и приносили больных на носилках, чтобы Иисус исцелял их. Иисус исцелял их. Иисус ходил по разным города и селениям, множество людей приносили к Иисусу и просили его:
— Можно хотя бы прикоснуться к краю Твоей одежды? И тогда мы будем здоровы.
Иисус разрешал это. И тяжелобольные люди, прикоснувшись к краю его одежды, становились здоровыми.
Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)
El barco llegó a Genesaret, tomaron una piedra, lo ataron con una cuerda y lo echaron en el agua para que el barco se quedara, y salieron del barco.
Todas las personas que lo vieron conocían a Jesús y algunas personas corrieron y advertían: Jesús está allá.
Jesús fue a un pueblo y las personas ayudaban a los enfermos y los traían hacia él, en las calles estaban personas enfermas acostadas, que decían: “¿Puedo agarrar los flecos de tu ropa?” Jesús dijo que sí y las personas enfermas que lo aggaraban sanaban.
Mientras estaba Jesús caminando las personas lo agarraban y sanaban, lo agarraban y sanaban, uno tras otro.
Iba a una ciudad y lo mismo; una multitud de personas venía con otras personas enfermas, y lo agarraban y sanaban, lo agarraban y sanaban, uno tras otro.
Jesús iba al campo y lo mismo; personas venían con personas enfermas, y lo agarraban y sanaban, lo agarraban y sanaban, uno tras otro.
The boat arrived in Gennesaret and they took a stone, tied a rope around it and threw it in the water so that the boat stayed in its place, then they got out of the boat.
All the people who saw Jesus knew him and some people ran and let people know: Jesus is over there.
Jesus went to a village and the people helped the sick and brought them to him, in the streets there were sick people lying down and they would say: “Can I touch the fringe of your clothes?” Jesus said “yes” and the sick people who touched him were healed.
As Jesus was walking, the people would take hold of him and be healed, take hold of him and be healed, one after another.
He went to a city and the same; a multitude of people would come with other sick people, and they would take hold of him and be healed, take hold of him and be healed, one after another.
Jesus would go to the countryside and the same; people would come with sick people, and they would take hold of him and be healed, take hold of him and be healed, one after another.
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 6:56:
Uma: “Wherever Yesus went in the big villages or small villages, they brought their sick friends and laid them at the edge of the main-road, and they requested of Yesus that he allow them to touch at least the edge of his clothes. Everyone who touched his clothes were right away healed.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Wherever he arrived, in the villages or in the towns or in the places inland, they laid the sick people in the market-places and they begged Isa if it were possible for the sick ones even to touch the edge of his clothes. Na, all who touched him were healed.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Wherever they went, whether in the towns or in the homesteads, he would always find sick people who were brought to him. They placed the sick people in the selling place, and they begged Jesus that those sick people might be allowed to take hold of just the hem of his shirt, and anyone who took a hold of the shirt of Jesus was healed.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “And wherever Jesus went, large towns or barrios or small residential-areas, they were waiting-for him -with the sick ones in the marketplace where he was going. And they entreated that the sick should touch even just the hem of his clothes. And all who touched, they got-well.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Really wherever Jesus went to, in the barios, towns or houses in the surrounding area, what those sick people were lying on were being placed in the places where-there-were-many-people where he would pass. And they begged that they just be allowed to touch what was attached to the hem of Jesus’ cloak. Really all who touched got better, for their illnesses stopped.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).
Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.
In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.
While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”
In that system one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and one for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.
Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains in the following way: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”
In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)
Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”
In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )
In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)
The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.
Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In both languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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, yatte (やって) or “do for their sake” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). 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. )
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, ik-are-ru (行かれる) or “go” is used.
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