cardinal directions

The cardinal directions “east” and “west” are easy to translate into Maan here since the language uses “where the sun comes up” and “where the sun goes down.” For “north” the translator had “facing toward the sun rising to the left,” and for “south” she had “facing toward the sun rising to the right.” So the listener had to think hard before knowing what direction was in view when translating “to the north and south, to the east and west.” So, in case all four directions are mentioned, it was shortened by saying simply “all directions.” (Source: Don Slager) Likewise, Yakan has “from the four corners of the earth” (source: Yakan back-translation) or Western Bukidnon Manobo “from the four directions here on the earth” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo back-translation).

Kankanaey is “from the coming-out and the going-away of the sun and the north and the south” (source: Kankanaey back-translation), Northern Emberá “from where the sun comes up, from where it falls, from the looking [left] hand, from the real [right] hand” (source: Charles Mortensen), Amele “from the direction of the sun going up, from the direction of the sun going down, from the north and from the south” (source: John Roberts), Ejamat “look up to see the side where the sun comes from, and the side where it sets, and look on your right side, and on your left” (source: David Frank in this blog post).

In Lamba, only umutulesuŵa, “where the sun rises” and imbonsi, “where the sun sets” were available as cardinal directions that were not tied to the local area of language speakers (“north” is kumausi — “to the Aushi country” — and “south” kumalenje — “to the Lenje country”). So “north” and “south” were introduced as loanwords, nofu and saufu respectively. The whole phrase is kunofu nakusaufu nakumutulesuŵa nakumbonsi. (Source C. M. Doke in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 57ff.)

“West” is translated in Tzeltal as “where the sun pours-out” and in Kele as “down-river” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel).

In Morelos Nahuatl, “north” is translated as “from above” and “south” as “from below.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

The Hebrew text that gives instructions where to place items in the tabernacle with the help of cardinal directions (north and south) had to be approached in the Bambam translation specific to spacial concepts of that culture.

Phil Campbell explains: “There are no words in Bambam for north and south. In Exodus 26:35, God instructs that the table is to be placed on the north side and the lamp on the south side inside the tabernacle. The team wants to use right and left to tell where the lamp and table are located. In many languages we would say that the table is on the right and the lampstand is on the left based on the view of someone entering the tabernacle. However, that is not how Bambam people view it. They view the placement of things and rooms in a building according to the orientation of someone standing inside the building facing the front of the building. So that means the table is on the left side and the lampstand is on the right side.”

See also cardinal directions / left and right.

amazed, astonished, marvel

The Greek that is translated as “astonished” or “amazed” or “marvel” in English is translated in Pwo Karen as “stand up very tall.” (In John 5:20, source: David Clark)

Elsewhere it is translated as “confusing the inside of the head” (Mende), “shiver in the liver” (Uduk, Laka), “to lose one’s heart” (Mískito, Tzotzil), “to shake” (Southern Bobo Madaré), “to be with mouth open” (Panao Huánuco Quechua) (source: Bratcher / Nida), “to stand with your mouth open” (Citak) (source: Stringer 2007, p. 120), “ceasing to think with the heart” (Bulu), or “surprise in the heart” (Yamba) (source for this and one above: W. Reyburn in The Bible Translator 1959, p. 1ff. ).

In Mark 5:20 and elsewhere where the astonishment is a response to listening to Jesus, the translation is “listened quietly” in Central Tarahumara, “they forgot listening” (because they were so absorbed in what they heard that they forgot everything else) in San Miguel El Grande Mixtec, “it was considered very strange by them” in Tzeltal (source: Bratcher / Nida), “in glad amazement” (to distinguish it from other kinds of amazement) (Quetzaltepec Mixe) (source: Robert Bascom), or “breath evaporated” (Mairasi) (source: Enngavoter 2004).

In Western Dani astonishment is emphasized with direct speech. In Mark 1:22, for instance, it says: “Wi!” yinuk, pi wareegwaarak — “They were all amazed, saying ‘Oh'” (source: Lourens De Vries in The Bible Translator 1992, p. 333ff. )

In Low German it is translated as grote Oken maken or “make big eyes” (sometime followed by: un kreegn dat Stillswiegen: “and became silent”) (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006).

In the Kölsch translation (publ. 2017) it is translated as brummte de Lück de Kopp or “the heads of the people buzzed,” Bauklötz jestaunt, lit. “marvel toy blocks,” and vür Staune de Muhl nit mieh zojekräch or “so full of marvel that they couldn’t close their mouths again.”

In the Pfälzisch translation by Walter Sauer (publ. 2012) it is often translated as baff vor staune or “speechless because of their marvel.” (source: Zetzsche)(Source: Jost Zetzsche)

See also amazed and astonished.

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 16:8)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 16:8:

  • Uma: “When the women appeared from the grave, off they ran fleeing, for they were terrified and trembling. They didn’t talk to anyone right away because of their fear.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then they went out and they fled from the grave for they were shaking with fear/terror. They didn’t say anything to anyone because they were afraid.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Then they went out of the grave running, for they were very amazed and afraid. And because of this they didn’t tell anybody, because they were afraid.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Right-after-that the women came-out of the cave and ran to leave, because they were extremely startled and they trembled from their fear. There was not even any person to whom they told it, because their fear was extreme.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Those women were trembling and their mind/thinking really was agitated. They went out of that grave and straight away ran. Well since their fear was extreme, they didn’t tell anyone yet.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 16:8

Exegesis:

exelthousai ‘going out (of the tomb).’

eichen gar autas tromos kai ekstasis ‘for trembling and astonishment had taken hold of them.’

tromos (only here in Mark) ‘trembling,’ ‘quivering.’

ekstasis (cf. 5.42) ‘confusion,’ ‘astonishment,’ ‘terror.’

ephobounto gar ‘for they were afraid’: for phobeō cf. 4.41. C. F. D. Moule suggests their fear kept them from saying anything to any person they might have encountered, as they hurried straight to the disciples with the message.

Translation:

The rendering of from the tomb may need to be related more closely to ‘went out,’ since some languages require an indication of what was ‘gone out of,’ e.g. ‘went out of the tomb and fled away.’

Trembling and astonishment had come upon them is a form of expression which cannot be easily translated literally in many languages. In the first place trembling and astonishment are normally rendered by verbs, ‘they were trembling and were astonished’ (or ‘amazed’). Had come upon them really means in many languages ‘began to….’ Hence, this clause may be translated as ‘they began to tremble and to be astonished’ (or ‘terrified’). For astonish see 1.22, 27.

______________

Here ends the Gospel of Mark, as it has been transmitted to us by the most reliable manuscripts. What is conventionally printed as vv. 9-20 of chapter 16 is a “Longer Ending” which early was appended to manuscripts and versions of the Gospel (cf. the Additional Note in the Appendix for reasons for not accepting this ending as Marcan); there exists also a “Shorter Ending,” appended to other manuscripts and versions of the Gospel. By most scholars it is held that the Gospel is not complete, and various solutions to the problem are proposed: the ending was never written; the ending was lost; the ending, for some reason, was suppressed. The position which raises the least formidable counter arguments is that, for some reason or other, the Gospel was never completed. Some, however, hold that the author did in fact purposely end his Gospel with v. 8.

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 .