raised from the dead

The Greek that is translated as “was raised from the dead” is translated as “rose from the dead” (Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac), “came up again from where he was buried” (Huehuetla Tepehua) or “returned from among the dead” (Ojitlán Chinantec). (Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)

In Highland Totonac it is translated with “revivify,” since a literal translation could simply mean altering the position of a dead body” (source: Hermann Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. ).

See also Lord.

The Seventh Commandment (image)

Painting by Wang Suda 王肅達 (1910-1963),
Copyright by the Catholic University Peking, China

Text under painting translated from Literary Chinese into English:
The Seventh Commandment
The holy woman washes the Lord, a wicked disciple chastises her

Image taken from Chinese Christian Posters . For more information on the “Ars Sacra Pekinensis” school of art, see this article , for other artworks of that school in TIPs, see here.

John as a first-person evangelist (John 12:1)

In the Yatzachi Zapotec translation of the Gospel of John, any reference to the evangelist and presumed narrator is done in the first person.

The translator Inez Butler explains (in: Notes on Translation, September 1967, pp. 10ff.):

“In revising the Gospel of John in Yatzachi Zapotec we realized from the start that the third person references of Jesus to himself as Son of Man had to be converted into first person references, but only more recently have we decided that similar change is necessary in John’s references to himself as ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved.’ As I worked on those changes and questioned the informant about his understanding of other passages in the Gospel, I discovered that the reader misses the whole focus of the book as an eyewitness account unless every reference to the disciples indicates the writer’s membership in the group. In view of that we went back through the entire book looking for ways to cue in the reader to the fact that John was an eyewitness and a participant in a many of the events, as well as the historian.

“When the disciples were participants in events along with Jesus, it was necessary to make explicit the fact that they accompanied him, although in the source language that is left implicit, since otherwise our rendering would imply that they were not present.”

In this verse, the Yatzachi Zapotec says: “Six days before the Passover we went with Jesus to Bethany . . .”

complete verse (John 12:1)

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

  • Uma: “Six days before Paskah Day, Yesus went to Betania, the town where Lazarus, whom he had made live again, dwelled.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Six days before the beginning of the Festival For-Remembering, Isa went to Betani, the place of Lasarus the person whom he had made alive from his death.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Six days from then is the feast of Passover and Jesus arrived there in Bethany, the village of Lazarus, the one Jesus raised from the dead.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When it lacked six days until the arrival of the fiesta, plural Jesus went to Betania the town of Lazarus the one Jesus had made-alive when he died.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Just six days before the fiesta which was the Fiesta of Passed-by, Jesus again arrived at Betania, the town of Lazaro whom he had made alive again.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “It was six days before the celebration of the Passover. Jesus went to Bethany where Lazarus lived. It was Lazarus whom Jesus caused to be resurrected after he was entombed.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 12:1

According to the Gospel of John, the Passover began on the next Friday evening (13.1; 18.28; 19.31,42), and so the anointing must have taken place on the Saturday evening preceding.

In many languages “festival” must be added whenever a reference is made to the Passover. The full phrase may be “a festival for celebrating the passing over” or “… the passing over of the angel.”

For the first mention of this Bethany, see 11.1.

The home of Lazarus (so also New English Bible; Goodspeed “where Lazarus … was living”) is literally “where Lazarus was” (many translations). New American Bible translates “the village of Lazarus.” Lazarus is specifically identified as the man he had raised from death. In some languages it is better to treat this clause as a separate sentence, for example, “Jesus had raised this man Lazarus from death” or “… had caused him to live again.”

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 .