Peter

Following is a Armenian Orthodox icon of Peter (found in the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shusha, Azerbaijan).

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 )

Following is a hand colored stencil print on momigami of Peter by Sadao Watanabe (1970):

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.

In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “key” (referring to Matthew 16:19). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Peter” or “Cephas” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

In Swiss-German Sign Language it is translated with the sign for “rock,” referring to the meaning of the Greek word for “Peter.”


“Peter” in Swiss-German Sign Language, source: DSGS-Lexikon biblischer Begriffe , © CGG Schweiz

See also Peter – rock.

John as a first-person evangelist (John 20:6)

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: “Simon Peter arrived right after me and he entered into the grave and he likewise saw the clothes on the ground.”

Note that the English Living Bible (publ. 1971) translates the same way.

complete verse (John 20:6)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 20:6:

  • Uma: “Simon Petrus arrived later, went right in. He also saw the burial cloths there.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then Simon Petros arrived after him and went immediately inside the grave. He saw the shroud there.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then Peter arrived, but he went inside. He also saw the white cloths.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When Pedro arrived, he abruptly-entered and he saw the cloth that had been wrapped-in-strips placed-down” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Simon Pedro also arrived then. On his arrival he went straight inside. He saw that the cloths were indeed there.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Afterwards Peter came. He went inside the cave. He also saw the cloth lying there.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 20:6

Behind him came Simon Peter is literally “So Simon Peter also comes following him.” Jerusalem Bible translates “Simon Peter who was following now came up,” while New English Bible renders “Simon Peter came up, following him.”

He went straight into the tomb is more literally “he went into the tomb.” The implication is that Simon Peter went immediately into the tomb (note Jerusalem Bible “went right into the tomb”).

In some languages verbs for movement express quite clearly not only the direction but also the gradient (or slope) of the movement. In this instance it would be best to translate “went” as “went on a level,” since “went down” might suggest going down into a grave. Some tombs in ancient times had steps leading down to the vault, but here the floor of the tomb was on the level of the ground outside (see comments at verse 1).

The Greek does not indicate where the linen cloths were lying, but Good News Translation includes the adverb there, as do several other translations. Jerusalem Bible includes “on the ground,” but the context suggests that an indefinite adverb of place is better than a term indicating a specific location.

The sentence He saw the linen cloths lying there must be rendered in some languages as two paratactically combined sentences, for example, “He saw the linen cloths. They were lying there.” However, it is also possible to say “He saw the linen cloths there.” The first part of verse 7 may then be rendered “and he also saw the cloth which had been around Jesus’ head” or “… which had been wound around Jesus’ head.”

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 .