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.

formal pronoun: disciples addressing Jesus

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff.), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

Here, individual or several disciples address Jesus with the formal pronoun, expressing respect. Compare this to how that address changes after the resurrection.

In most Dutch as well as in Western Frisian and Afrikaans translations, the disciples address Jesus before and after the resurrection with the formal pronoun.

See also this devotion on YouVersion .

complete verse (Mark 14:29)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 14:29:

  • Uma: “Petrus said: ‘Even though all people’s faith in you (sing.) is shaken, Lord, not me!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then Petros said to him, ‘Even if all of them leave you, Sir, but I, I will really not leave you.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Then Peter spoke to him, ‘Even if the faith in you of all these my companions is weakened, mine will not be weakened no matter what happens.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Whereupon Pedro said, ‘Even if all these my companions run-away, I however will not abandon you (sing.).'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Pedro spoke, saying, ‘Even if the believing-in/obeying you of all of them will be lacking, as for me, I will never desert you.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 14:29

Exegesis:

ei kai ‘even though’: this refers to a supposition “conceived of as actually fulfilled or likely to be fulfilled” (Burton).

pantes ‘all’: here, of course, ‘all others.’

On skandalizō ‘stumble’ cf. v. 27.

Translation:

I will not may require expansion of the elliptically implied elements, e.g. ‘I will not fall away’ or ‘I will not abandon you.’

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .