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 )

complete verse (Luke 14:5)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 14:5:

  • Noongar: “Then Jesus said to them, ‘If one of you has a son or a bullock and one falls into a hole on the Sabbath Day, you will quickly pull him out, even on the Sabbath Day, won’t you?'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “After that he said to them: ‘If for example our child or our cow falls into a well on Sabat Day, do we not rush to lift him out, even if it is the worship day?'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “After that he asked the people, he said, ‘What do you do if for example your child or your cow falls into the well on a day of-no-work. I guess/figure you immediately go and help even though it is a day of-no-work.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then Jesus said to the people there, he said, ‘What do you do when you have a child, or if not, a cow, which falls into a deep hole on the day of rest? Certainly you help him, even though it is the day of rest.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Now supposing (lit. and please if) you have a child or even a cow that falls in a well, you will emphatically hurry to go pull-him-out even though it’s the day for-resting, isn’t that so?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And then Jesus said to them, ‘Supposing you have a child or a cow which falls into a well, won’t you pull him out even on the Day of Rest?'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 14:5

Exegesis:

kai pros autous eipen ‘and to them he said.’ pros autous is emphatic by position.

tinos humōn etc. lit. ‘of whom of you will the son or ox fall into a well, and will he not immediately pull him out on the day of the sabbath?,’ interrogative clause consisting of two co-ordinate clauses of which the former is not interrogative semantically, but serves to describe a situation to which the second clause refers. This second clause contains the question proper. Revised Standard Version follows the text read by Nestle, which has onos ‘ass’ instead of huios.

phrear ‘well’ dug for the purpose of supplying water.

anaspaō ‘to draw up,’ ‘to pull up.’

Translation:

Recasting the sentence structure one may say, e.g. ‘if any of you had a son or an ox that (or, if your son or your ox) happened to fall into a well, would you not (or, would you hesitate to) pull him out…’; or as a statement, ‘if…, you would certainly pull him out’; or in two sentences, e.g. ‘suppose any one of you…, what will he do? He immediately pulls….’ Cf. also the constructions in 11.5-7 and 11.

For ass (Revised Standard Version) and ox see 13.15; for ‘son’ (Exegesis) cf. on 1.13.

Well. Any common term for ‘well,’ ‘pond,’ ‘fountain,’ ‘cistern’ is acceptable here, provided that falling into it implies the danger of drowning. In Batak Toba ‘to fall into a well’ is expressed by a passive verbal derivation of ‘well/ moat.’

Pull him out, or ‘pull him up,’ ‘lift him up from in that hole’ (Trukese, Pohnpeian).

On a sabbath day, or, ‘even though it were on sabbath’ (e.g. in Shona 1966, Sundanese), ‘even if you must do so on a sabbath’ (Sranan Tongo); cf. also “… fall in a well on a Sabbath, would you not pull him out at once on the Sabbath itself?” (Good News Translation).

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.