23If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath in order that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I healed a man’s whole body on the 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 / ថ្ងៃឈប់សំរាក). 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 (ថ្ងៃសប្ប័ទ). “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:
The Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “circumcise” or “circumcision” in English (originally meaning of English term: “to cut around”) are (back-) translated in various ways:
Tetelcingo Nahuatl: “put the mark in the body showing that they belong to God” (or: “that they have a covenant with God”)
Indonesian: disunat — “undergo sunat” (sunat is derived from Arabic “sunnah (سنة)” — “(religious) way (of life)”)
Ekari: “cut the end of the member for which one fears shame” (in Gen. 17:10) (but typically: “the cutting custom”) (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Hiri Motu: “cut the skin” (source: Deibler / Taylor 1977, p. 1079)
Garifuna: “cut off part of that which covers where one urinates”
Bribri: “cut the soft” (source for this and the one above: Ronald Ross)
Amele: deweg cagu qoc — “cut the body” (source: John Roberts)
Eastern Highland Otomi: “cut the flesh of the sons like Moses taught” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.)
Newari: “put the sign in one’s body” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations of John 7:23:
Uma: “So, if you circumcise on the Sabat Day so as not to transgress the Law of Musa, why are you angry at me because I heal a person on the Sabat Day so that his whole body is good?” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “You surprise, you circumcise your children even on a day of-no-work in order not to break the law of Musa, na why are you angry at me because I have made a person well on the day of-no-work?” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And if it is possible that the body of a person may be circumcized on the day of rest so that the law given to us by Moses is not broken, why are you angry with me just because I cured the whole body of a man on the Day of Rest?” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “If that’s what you do on the day for-resting so that Moses’ command concerning only-one part of the body will be obeyed/fulfilled, why perhaps do you stay-angry at me if I healed a man on the day for-resting so that the sickness of his entire body would be thoroughly removed?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “If you circumcize even on the Day of Rest, just so that this which Moises commanded might be followed/obeyed, then why are you angry with me over my healing a sick person on the Day of Rest?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “So in order that you don’t break what is said in the law Moses wrote, you mark a boy when he is born even though it be the day of rest. Why are you angry with me because I healed a man on the day of rest then?” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
The Greek that is translated in English as “Law” or “law” is translated in Mairasi as oro nasinggiei or “prohibited things” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Noongar with a capitalized form of the term for “words” (Warrinya) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
In Yucateco the phrase that is used for “law” is “ordered-word” (for “commandment,” it is “spoken-word”) (source: Nida 1947, p. 198) and in Central Tarahumara it is “writing-command.” (wsource: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
.
The name that is transliterated as “Moses” in English is signed in Spanish Sign Language and Polish Sign Language in accordance with the depiction of Moses in the famous statue by Michelangelo (see here ). (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff.)
American Sign Language also uses the sign depicting the horns but also has a number of alternative signs (see here).
In French Sign Language, a similar sign is used, but it is interpreted as “radiance” (see below) and it culminates in a sign for “10,” signifying the 10 commandments:
The horns that are visible in Michelangelo’s statue are based on a passage in the Latin Vulgate translation (and many Catholic Bible translations that were translated through the 1950ies with that version as the source text). Jerome, the translator, had worked from a Hebrew text without the niqquds, the diacritical marks that signify the vowels in Hebrew and had interpreted the term קרו (k-r-n) in Exodus 34:29 as קֶ֫רֶן — keren “horned,” rather than קָרַו — karan “radiance” (describing the radiance of Moses’ head as he descends from Mount Sinai).
Even at the time of his translation, Jerome likely was not the only one making that decision as this recent article alludes to.
In Swiss-German Sign Language it is translated with a sign depicting holding a staff. This refers to a number of times where Moses’s staff is used in the context of miracles, including the parting of the sea (see Exodus 14:16), striking of the rock for water (see Exodus 17:5 and following), or the battle with Amalek (see Exodus 17:9 and following).
The argument of this verse must be understood in the light of the preceding verse. Among the Jews, if two laws conflicted, it was necessary to decide which law had priority. The Jews had already decided that the law of circumcision had priority over the law of the Sabbath day. Jesus now argues that the law of mercy likewise overrides the law of the Sabbath day. From the Jewish point of view, however, this was not true. They would argue that if a person’s life was in immediate danger, then the law of life would have priority over the Sabbath day. But in this situation the man’s life was not in immediate danger. He had been lame for 38 years and Jesus could have waited one more day to heal him, so as not to break the law of the Sabbath day. Jesus argues once again from the lesser to the greater: the law of circumcision, which has priority over the law of the Sabbath, concerns only a part of a man’s body. How much more, then, does the law of mercy have priority over the Sabbath day, since it concerns a man’s whole body!
The passive verbs is circumcised and is not broken may be expressed as active, for example, “If you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath in order not to break Moses’ Law” or “… in order that you may keep the law of Moses” or “… abide by the Law given by Moses.”
Make a man completely well is literally “make a whole man well.” It is translated by Revised Standard Version “made a man’s whole body well.” New English Bible has the same meaning, though with a rather high level of language, “for giving health on the Sabbath to the whole of a man’s body.” Moffatt sees implicit here a contrast between the act of circumcision and Jesus’ deed of healing a man, and so translates “for curing, not cutting, the entire body of a man”; but it is doubtful that one should attempt in this particular passage to bring out such a contrast.
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 .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.