became dazzling white

The Greek that is translated as “became dazzling white” in English is translated in Sa’a with “a specially-coined, but old word for what happened to Jesus at the transfiguration. It means ‘gloriously changed to be bright and shiny and totally unlike anything else at all.’ It is used only for Jesus’ transfiguration, and then, by extension, for what will happen to us at our resurrection. The word is ‘nu’e’ — an awful lot meaning packed into just four letters!”

See also snow (color).

Transfiguration (icon)

Following is a Ukrainian Orthodox icon of the Transfiguration by Ivan Rutkovych (c. 1650 – c. 1708) (for the Church of Christ’s Nativity in Zhovkva, Ukraine, today in the Lviv National Museum).

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 )

complete verse (Matthew 17:2)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 17:2:

  • Uma: “While they were there, his appearance changed. His face shone like the son, and his clothes were shining white.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “While they were there, the appearance of Isa was really changed before their eyes. His face was bright/shining like the sun and his clothes were dazzling/bright because of their whiteness.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And while they were looking at Jesus, suddenly his appearance was changed. His face was very bright like the sun, and his clothes shone white.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “While they were looking at him, his appearance changed. His face, it was-blinding-bright like the sun and his clothes also became very-white and (lit. which was) dazzling.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When they were there now, those three saw the appearance of Jesus become-very-unusual. His face shone like the shining of the sun and his clothes gleamed very-white.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “There it was that the learners saw that Jesus changed in how he appeared. His face shone like the sun. His clothing was extremely white until it shone.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

form (of God) (Japanese honorifics)

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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-sugata (御姿) or “form (of God)” in the referenced verses. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also in the form / nature of God, nature (Japanese honorifics), and God’s nature.

Translation commentary on Matthew 17:2

And he was transfigured before them: the phrase before them means “in their presence” (New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). Good News Translation inverts the order of the Greek text and avoids the traditional was transfigured: “As they looked on, a change came over Jesus.” Elsewhere in the New Testament the verb “transfigured” occurs only in the Marcan parallel (9.2), and in Romans 12.2 (“transformed”) and 2 Corinthians 3.18 (“changed”). The basic meaning is “undergo a change in form.” In the transfiguration accounts it refers to a change that is outwardly visible; in the other two passages the change is internal and cannot be seen by the physical eye. Some English translations provide a dynamic equivalent: “his whole appearance was changed” (Phillips) and “his appearance underwent a change” (An American Translation). Another expression is “the way he looked to them changed.” Some have found it natural to say “And as they were watching, they saw him change.”

His face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light explains the nature of the change that came over Jesus. In the Gospel of Mark the nature of the change is not explained; there “he was transfigured” is simply followed by the additional statement “and his clothes became shining white—whiter than anyone in the world could wash them” (9.3, Good News Bible). Luke does explain the change, though in different terms from that of Matthew: “his face changed its appearance, and his clothes became dazzling white” (9.29, Good News Bible). A comparison of the three accounts reveals that in Matthew the transformed Jesus is more nearly described in terms which identify him with God, who covers himself with light (Psa 104.2).

His face shone like the sun can also be expressed as “his face shone as brightly as the sun.” Similarly, his garments became white as light means his clothes were shining brightly, so that “his garments shone (or, shone white) like light” can be used. But translators may find that a fairly literal rendering of the text is natural too. Garments refers to “clothes” (Good News Translation) or “clothing.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .