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 )

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 44:24

In a controversy they shall act as judges: In this context the Hebrew word for controversy refers to a “legal dispute” (Good News Translation), “legal case” (Contemporary English Version), “lawsuit” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). In each lawsuit the priests will be the judges, who hear the evidence and decide the case.

And they shall judge it according to my judgments: The decisions of the priests in the lawsuits will be consistent with God’s own “rulings” (Complete Jewish Bible), “laws” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Reader’s Version, Revised English Bible), “rules” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “regulations” (New Living Translation). In this way the people will be able to get justice in court. For the Hebrew word rendered judgments, see the comments on 5.6, where it is translated “ordinances.” This clause may be expressed as “and they will make their decisions according to my laws.”

They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts: The verb keep may be rendered “obey” (New Living Translation). The Hebrew word for laws actually means “instructions” (New Living Translation) or “teachings” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh; see the comments on 7.26), but “rules” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible) is acceptable here. The Hebrew word for statutes refers to fixed and definite laws, officially enacted by a government or king (see 5.6). For God’s appointed feasts, that is, “religious festivals” (Good News Translation), see the comments on 36.38. This clause may mean that at all the religious festivals the priests must obey the rules for those festivals (so New Living Translation, New Century Version, Revised English Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, Christian Community Bible, Complete Jewish Bible, Moffatt), or it may mean that the priests must follow the rules that apply to all the festivals (so New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Both of these interpretations focus on the priests rightly following the rules as they celebrate the festivals, but another element of the verb keep is that the priests have a responsibility to make sure that the festivals are conducted correctly. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch captures this sense well by rendering the whole clause as “They have to see to it that my festivals are celebrated at the right time and in the right way.” This is the best way of understanding this clause.

And they shall keep my sabbaths holy: This clause continues the double sense of the previous one—the priests must obey the rules of the Sabbath day, but they must also make sure that the people correctly observe the Sabbath day. For keep my sabbaths holy, which is literally “sanctify my Sabbath days,” see the comments on 20.12, 20. This clause may be rendered “and they must be sure to honor me by following my laws about the day of rest.”

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .