The Greek term that is translated as a form of “save” in English is translated in Shipibo-Conibo with a phrase that means literally “make to live,” which combines the meaning of “to rescue” and “to deliver from danger,” but also the concept of “to heal” or “restore to health.”
In San Blas Kuna it is rendered as “help the heart,” in Laka, it is “take by the hand” in the meaning of “rescue” or “deliver,” in Huautla Mazatec the back-translation of the employed term is “lift out on behalf of,” in Anuak, it is “have life because of,” in Central Mazahua “be healed in the heart,” in Baoulé “save one’s head” (meaning to rescue a person in the fullest sense), in Guerrero Amuzgo “come out well,” in Northwestern Dinka “be helped as to his breath” (or “life”) (source: Bratcher / Nida), and in Noongarbarrang-ngandabat or “hold life” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
The house of prayer of the Jews. There was a man there with a dried up hand. The Pharisees were also sitting there. On the Sabbath day Jesus went into the house of prayer. The Pharisees began to say to one another:
— If Jesus heals this man with a dried up hand, then we will rebuke Jesus for breaking the law. Today is the Sabbath, so it is not lawful to heal today.
Jesus looked around, saw a man with a dried up hand, and in full view of everyone called him to the center of the hall. The man approached Jesus. Jesus looked at the Pharisees and said to them:
— Today is the Sabbath. Tell me, what does the law allow you to do on this day? To heal and give health to the man? Or to be indifferent and ignore how he perishes? Tell me.
The Pharisees could say nothing in response. Jesus became angry with the Pharisees and said:
— It is a pity that your hearts are callous.
Jesus’ said to the man with the dry hand:
— Stretch out your hand!
The man stretched out his hand — and it became healthy!
When the Pharisees saw all this, they went out of there with indignation. The Pharisees went to the place where the men, King Herod’s supporters, were. The Pharisees went up to them and began to say to one another:
— How shall we kill this Jesus?
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Дом молитвы евреев. Там был один человек с высохшей рукой. Также там сидели фарисеи. В день субботний Иисус зашел в дом молитвы. Фарисеи стали говорить друг другу:
— Если Иисус исцелит этого человека с сухой рукой, тогда мы уличим Иисуса в нарушении закона. Сегодня суббота, поэтому исцелять сегодня нельзя по закону.
Иисус посмотрел вокруг, увидел человека с высохшей рукой, и на виду у всех позвал его в центр зала. Этот человек подошел к Иисусу. Иисус посмотрел на фарисеев и сказал им:
— Сегодня суббота. Скажите, что разрешает закон делать в этот день? Исцелить и дать здоровье человеку? Или же быть равнодушным и не обращать внимания, как он погибает? Скажите мне.
Фарисеи ничего не могли сказать в ответ. Иисус разгневался на фарисеев и сказал:
— Жаль, что у вас сердца черствые.
Портом Иисус сказал человеку с сухой рукой:
— Вытяни свою руку!
Человек протянул свою руку — и она стала здоровой!
Фарисеи, увидев все это, с возмущением вышли оттуда. Фарисеи пошли в то место, где были люди, сторонники царя Ирода. Фарисеи подошли к ним и стали говорить друг другу:
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:
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 3:4:
Uma: “After that, he said to the Parisi people: ‘According to the customs of our religion, which may we do on the worship day: do good or evil? Help others or kill others?’ But the Parisi people, they refused to answer him, they were just silent.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Then Isa asked the people, he said, ‘According to the law, what is right to be done on a day of-no-work? Doing good or doing bad/evil? Saving people or killing?’ But nobody answered.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Then he asked the persons who were his enemies, he said, ‘What does our law permit us to do on the Day of Rest? Is it to help people who are having difficulty or it is to do harm to people? Is it to help people so that they don’t die or is it to kill them?’ They didn’t answer.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Then Jesus said to them, ‘What does our law allow us to do on the day for-resting? To do good or bad? To save a fellow-man or kill?’ But they kept-quiet.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “And then he questioned those people, saying, ‘Which is in accordance with the law, to do good or to do evil on the Day of Rest? Is it to save life or to kill?’ But none of those people there answered him.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
exestin (cf. 2.24) ‘it is lawful.’ As in 2.24 the standard of reference is the Mosaic Law.
agathon poiēsai ē kakopoiēsai ‘to do good or to do bad’: it is debated whether the verbs are to be understood in a moral sense ‘do right … do wrong’ or in the sense of assistance ‘to help … to harm.’ Hatch contends that Biblical usage favors the second meaning. King James Version, Translator’s New Testament, The Modern Speech New Testament, Manson, have ‘to do evil’; American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, Knox, Moffatt, Torrey, translate ‘to do harm.’ The context, especially the words that follow, would seem to support the second meaning.
psuchēn sōsai ē apokteinai ‘to save life or to kill’; these words further define what is meant by ‘do good … do harm.’
psuchē (8.35, 36, 37; 10.45; 12.30; 14.34) ‘life,’ ‘soul,’ ‘self’: the various meanings of the word can be traced back to its use in the Septuagint. In Mark three general uses may be distinguished: (1) of earthly life itself, including the reflexive sense of ‘oneself,’ 8.35a, b; 10.45; 14.34; (2) of the inner life of man, his feelings and emotions, 12.30 (possibly 14.34 should be included here); (3) of the life which transcends earthly existence, 8.36, 37. The precise meaning of the word here is probably to be included in the first category in the sense of a living creature, person: ‘to save a person’s life or to destroy it?’ (for psuchē as “person,” “man” cf. Acts 27.37).
sōzō ‘save’: this word in Mark is used in the following senses: (1) ‘rescue’ (from death) 15.30, 31, ‘preserve’ (life) 3.4; 8.35a, and in the passive, ‘survive’ 13.20; (2) ‘heal,’ ‘cure’ 5.23, 28, 34; 6.56; 10.52; (3) of ‘salvation’ in the theological sense, 8.35b; 10.26; 13.13; 16.16. In the present passage the word falls into the first category: “Is it better to preserve a man’s life or destroy it?”
siōpaō (4.39; 9.34; 10.48; 14.61) ‘keep silence,’ ‘be silent’: the meaning here is best expressed by ‘they remained silent.’
Translation:
Said may be changed to ‘asked’ if the following question requires such an introductory verb.
Lawful in this context (as in 2.24) refers to ‘what one should do’ or ‘what one is allowed to do’ (hence, lawful). That is to say, ‘On the Sabbath ought one to do good…,’ ‘is it proper to do good…,’ ‘is it allowable to do good…,’ or as in Tzeltal, ‘on the rest day is it good for one….’
Some languages require objects of expression such as ‘to do good’ and ‘to do harm.’ The logical grammatical objects would be persons, e.g. ‘to do good for people or to do them harm.’ The following clause is a further elaboration, and may need to be introduced by another main verb, ‘is it proper to save a man’s life or to kill him.’
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 .
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