The good shepherd (image)

Hand colored stencil print on washi by Sadao Watanabe (1975).

Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe.

For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.

shepherd

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “shepherd” in English is translated in Kouya as Bhlabhlɛɛ ‘yliyɔzʋnyɔ — ” tender of sheep.”

Philip Saunders (p. 231) explains:

“Then one day they tackled the thorny problem of ‘shepherd’. It was problematic because Kouyas don’t have herdsmen who stay with the sheep all the time. Sheep wander freely round the village and its outskirts, and often a young lad will be detailed to drive sheep to another feeding spot. So the usual Kouya expression meant a ‘driver of sheep’, which would miss the idea of a ‘nurturing’ shepherd. ‘A sheep nurturer’ was possible to say, but it was unnatural in most contexts. The group came up with Bhlabhlɛɛ ‘yliyɔzʋnyɔ which meant ‘a tender of sheep’, that is one who keeps an eye on the sheep to make sure they are all right. All, including the translators, agreed that this was a most satisfactory solution.”

In Chuj, the translation is “carer” since there was no single word for “shepherd” (source: Ronald Ross), in Muna, it is dhagano dhumba: “sheep guard” since there was no immediate lexical equivalent (source: René van den Berg), in Mairasi it is translated with “people who took care of domesticated animals” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Noongar as kookendjeriyang-yakina or “sheep worker” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang), and Kwakum as “those-who-monitor-the-livestock” (source: Stacey Hare in this post ).

See also I am the good shepherd.

complete verse (John 10:14)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 10:14:

  • Uma: “‘I am the good shepherd. Like my Father knows me, and I know my Father, so also I know my sheep, and my sheep know me. I give my life so that my sheep live.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “I,’ said Isa, ‘am figuratively the shepherd who takes good care of his sheep. I and my Father really know each other. Likewise I also know the people who belong to me and they also know me. I submit to dying for the people who belong to me.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But I however am the good care-taker. Because the mutual-knowing of my sheep and me, it is the same as the mutual-knowing of my Father and me. I moreover am the one who will die so that my sheep have a way to live.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “I am the good shepherd. In the way in which I am known by my Father and he also is known to me, like that indeed I know my own sheep and they also know me. And I really will give my life/breath just because of them.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “I am like a good shepherd. My Father knows me and I also know my Father. Like this now, I know all of my sheep. They also know me. And I give up my life to save my sheep.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 10:14

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .