Sabbath

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “Sabbath” in English is rendered as “day we rest” in Tzotzil, in Mairasi as “Jew’s Rest Day,” in Quiotepec Chinantec as “day when people of Israel rested,” in Shilluk as “day of God,” in Obolo as Usen Mbuban or “Holy Day,” and in Mandarin Chinese as ānxírì (安息日) or “rest day” (literally: “peace – rest – day”).

(Sources: Tzotzil: Marion Cowan in Notes on Translation with Drill, p. 169ff; Mairasi: Enggavoter 2004; Quiotepec Chinantec: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.; Shilluk: Nida 1964, p. 237; Obolo: Enene Enene; Chinese: Jost Zetzsche)

In the old Khmer version as well as in the first new translation this term was rendered as “day of rest” (Thngai Chhup Somrak / ​ថ្ងៃ​ឈប់​សំរាក). Considered inadequate to convey its religious meaning (not only about cessation of work, but also in honor of Yahweh as the Creator), the committee for the Today’s Khmer Version (publ. 2005) decided to keep the Hebrew word and use its transliterated form Thgnai Sabath (​ថ្ងៃ​សប្ប័ទ). “The Buddhist word Thngai Seil ‘day of merits’ used by some Catholics was once under consideration but was rejected because it did not receive unanimous support.” (Source: Joseph Hong in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 233ff.)

In Spanish, the translation is either día de reposo (“day of rest”) or sábado (usually: “Saturday,” derived from the Greek and Hebrew original. Nida (1947, p. 239f.) explains that problem for Spanish and other languages in its sphere of influence: “In translation ‘Sabbath’ into various aboriginal languages of Latin America, a considerable number of translators have used the Spanish sábado, ‘Saturday,’ because it is derived from the Hebrew sabbath and seems to correspond to English usage as well. The difficulty is that sábado means only ‘Saturday’ for most people. There is no religious significance about this word as the is with ‘Sabbath’ in English. Accordingly the [readers] cannot understand the significance of the persecution of Jesus because he worked on ‘Saturday.’ It has been found quite advantageous to use the translation ‘day of rest,’ for this accurately translated the Hebrew meaning of the term and resolves the problem in connection with the prohibitions placed upon some types of activities.”

In French Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts closing of the blinds of a store:


“Sabbath” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

complete verse (Acts 1:12)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 1:12:

  • Uma: “From there, his apostles returned from Mount Zaitun going to Yerusalem. That Mount Zaitun, [was] about one kilometer distance from Yerusalem.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then they went away from the hill Jaitun and returned to Awrusalam, about one kilometer distance.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then the apostles left the mountain which is called Olive Place, and they returned to the town of Jerusalem. (That hill, it is very near to Jerusalem. Maybe one kilometer is its distance.)” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the mountain Olivo. The distance, it is almost one kilometer.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well, without anything further, they then left the Hill of Olibo and returned to Jerusalem. That hill wasn’t far from Jerusalem, only about a kilometer.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Jerusalem

The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:


“Jerusalem” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)


“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

Translation commentary on Acts 1:12

In speaking of the Mount of Olives it is most important to avoid a name which may be misleading. For example, in some languages a literal rendering of this phrase name would imply that the mountain consisted of olives. In other languages, such a rendering suggests that the mountain consisted of olive trees. A more appropriate rendering suggests that the “mountain called ‘Olive Grove’,” “mountain on which there were olive groves,” “mountain known for its olive trees,” or “mountain with olive trees.” One or another of these basic structures is almost always represented in the structure of place-names in various languages.

In some languages it is useful to employ a classifier, for example, “city,” with a proper name such as Jerusalem, but this should normally be done at the first occurrence of a name in a discourse, such as in verse 4, and it is not necessary to repeat the classifier at this point.

Although the Greek does not make the subject of went back explicit, it is evident that the apostles are meant.

About half a mile away from the city translates “which is near Jerusalem the distance of a Sabbath day’s journey.” The expression “a Sabbath day’s journey” is regarded as having originated during the time Israel was wandering through the desert. The calculation was ostensibly based on the distance from the place of worship to the tent in the camp farthest from it. In later times the phrase was often used merely as an expression of distance, and that is how Luke has used it in this passage. For this reason, the Good News Translation translates the phrase as about half a mile away from the city (of Jerusalem). In metric measurements this is “about one kilometer.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .