high priest

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “high priest” in English is translated as “the ruler of the priests of our nation” in Yatzachi Zapotec, as “very great priest” in Chol (source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.), as “first over the priests” in Ayutla Mixtec, and “chief of the priests” in Desano (source for this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.).

In Uma it is translated as “Big Priest,” in Western Bukidnon Manobo as “high sacrificer,” and in Tagbanwa as “Most-important Priest of God.” (See here.)

See also priest and chief priest.

sitting with the guards

The Greek that is translated as “sitting with the guards” or similar in English is translated in Seri “Peter was seated in the corral of the house of the high priest with the soldier-guards.” Seri houses do not have patios nor porches. They often do have a fence around them inside of which is an enclosed area which serves as a yard. No animals are kept in this corral. (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)

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.

complete verse (Mark 14:54)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 14:54:

  • Uma: “Petrus followed from far off, until [they] arrived at the yard of the Big Priest’s house. There is sat to warm-himself-by-the-fire with the guards.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Na, Petros followed Isa but from afar, up-to/including going into the yard of the house of the leading priest. He sat down with the guards beside the fire to warm (himself).” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Peter followed also but not very near. He went only as far as the yard of the house of the high priest. He sat down there with the guards and warmed himself at their fire.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Now as for Pedro, he followed at a measurable distance (lit. measurable was the space-between them) until he arrived at the yard of that-aforementioned house. Then he went and sat-down-with the guards to join-in-warming-himself-by-the-fire.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “As for Pedro, he followed along behind (implies keeping check, usually for safety). He continued on as far as to the enclosed yard of the house of that Most-imortant Priest. He sat down beside the fire, joining the guards in warming-by-the-fire.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 14:54

Exegesis:

heōs esō eis tēn aulēn literally ‘until within into the courtyard.’

aulē (14.66; 15.14) ‘inner court,’ ‘courtyard’: the enclosed area, open to the sky, and surrounded on the sides by buildings or porches. King James Version ‘palace’ is misleading (cf. Gould).

ēn sugkathēmenos (only here in Mark; cf. kathēmai 2.6) ‘he was sitting with.’

tōn hupēretōn (14.65) ‘the servants,’ ‘the helpers’: in all probability these were members of the Temple guard; therefore, as Revised Standard Version has it, ‘the guards.’

thermainomenos (14.67) ‘warming himself’: the auxiliary ēn ‘he was’ goes with this participle as well as with the previous one, ‘he was sitting … and warming himself.’

pros to phōs literally ‘at the light’: here, however, the phrase means ‘at the (light of the) fire’ (cf. Moulton & Milligan for this use of phōs ‘light’). It has been suggested that ‘light’ is here a mistranslation of the unpointed Hebrew word ʾwr which could be pointed ʾor ‘light’ or ʾur ‘fire.’

For apo makrothen ‘from afar’ cf. 5.6; akoloutheō ‘follow’ cf. 1.18.

Translation:

Followed him must not be rendered so as to indicate Peter’s favorable intent, but his evident distance from Jesus. In general one cannot use the same verb as may be employed, for example, in the words of Jesus follow me (1.17). At this point Peter was following along after the crowd, not in accompaniment with Jesus.

Right into … may be rendered as ‘he went right on into,’ for ‘at a distance’ and ‘right into’ may be difficult to combine in a single clause in a receptor language.

In some languages one cannot speak of ‘courtyard of the high priest,’ but only of ‘courtyard of the buildings of the high priest,’ since the area surrounded by buildings is essentially relatable only to the buildings and they, in turn, to the high priest.

In most languages there is no problem involved in the description of Peter’s being with the guards and warming himself, for it is implied that the guards were also warming themselves. In some languages, however, the contrast of pronominal construction is so great that Peter’s action would be interpreted as being in contrast with the others. Hence, in Isthmus Zapotec one must say ‘he with them was warming’ thus including Peter.

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 .