teach

The Greek that is translated as a form of “teach” is translated with some figurative phrases such as “to engrave the mind” (Ngäbere) or “to cause others to imitate” (Huichol). (Source: Bratcher / Nida)

In Noongar it is translated as karni-waangki or “truth saying” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

boat, ship

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated “boat” or “ship” in English is translated in Chichimeca-Jonaz as “that with which we can walk on water” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.), in Chitonga as a term in combination with bwato or “dugout canoe” (source: Wendland 1987, p. 72), and in Tangale as inj am or “canoe-of water” (inj — “canoe” — on its own typically refers to a traditional type of carved-out log for sleeping) (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).

In Kouya it is translated as ‘glʋ ‘kadʋ — “big canoe.”

Philip Saunders (p. 231) explains how the Kouya team arrived at that conclusion:

“Acts chapter 27 was a challenge! It describes Paul’s sea voyage to Italy, and finally Rome. There is a storm at sea and a shipwreck on Malta, and the chapter includes much detailed nautical vocabulary. How do you translate this for a landlocked people group, most of whom have never seen the ocean? All they know are small rivers and dugout canoes.

“We knew that we could later insert some illustrations during the final paging process which would help the Kouya readers to picture what was happening, but meanwhile we struggled to find or invent meaningful terms. The ‘ship’ was a ‘big canoe’ and the ‘passengers’ were ‘the people in the big canoe’; the ‘crew’ were the ‘workers in the big canoe’; the ‘pilot’ was the ‘driver of the big canoe’; the ‘big canoe stopping place’ was the ‘harbour’, and the ‘big canoe stopping metal’ was the ‘anchor’!”

In Lokạạ it is translated as ukalangkwaa, lit. “English canoe.” “The term was not coined for the Bible translation, but rather originated in colonial times when the English arrived in Nigeria on ships. The indigenous term for a canoe was modified to represent the large, ocean-going ship of the English.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

See also ships of Tarshish, harbor, anchor, and sailor.

complete verse (Mark 4:1)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 4:1:

  • Uma: “One time, Yesus was also teaching on the edge of the lake. Very many people gathered around him. Because of the many people, that is why he went and got on a boat on the water, he sat in it and the many people stood on the shore.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Isa returned again to teach there at the shore of lake Jalil. Very many people gathered there to him, therefore he got-into and sat in a boat on the lake. The crowds of people were there at the shore of the lake on the bank.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “One day at that time, Jesus taught again at the lakeshore. There were very many people gathered to him, and because of this he got into a boat near the shore and sat down. The people, they were there on the shore listening to him.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “On one-occasion, Jesus went again to teach on the edge of the lake. Because the people who were crowding-around him were in-a-large-group, he went to sit in the boat while-simultaneously the many-people stayed on the edge of the lake.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Jesus again taught there on the shore of the Lake of Galilea. Really many again were the people who gathered around. What Jesus did was he got into a boat which was floating. That crowd of people were there on the edge of the lake.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 4:1

Exegesis:

ochlos pleistos ‘a very large crowd,’ ‘a huge crowd’: pleistos is the superlative of polus ‘many,’ ‘much.’

sunagetai (cf. 2.2) ‘gathers together,’ ‘collects’ (cf. 3.20).

hōste auton … kathēsthai (cf. 1.27 for this construction) ‘so that he … sat.’

eis ploion embanta ‘having entered a boat’: the two clauses together may be translated as coordinate: ‘so that he entered a boat and sat (in it).’

embainō (5.18; 6.45; 8.10, 13) ‘enter’: in Mark used only in connection with a boat: ‘embark.’

en tē thalassē ‘in the sea’ (i.e. the Lake of Galilee: cf. 1.16): the words are connected with kathēsthai ‘he sat in the Lake,’ but the meaning is clear enough. Jesus was in (or, on) the Lake, seated in a boat, while the crowd was pros tēn thalassan ‘on the beach,’ ‘near the water,’ epi tēs gēs ‘on land.’

en ‘on.’

(Note: care should be taken to avoid the error into which several translations have fallen, namely, that of having Jesus sitting in the water! Most English translations say simply ‘on the water,’ no misunderstanding resulting. Some, however, use a descriptive phrase: The Modern Speech New Testament ‘a little away from the land’; Manson ‘lie off-shore’; cf. O Novo Testamento de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo. Revisdo Autorizada ‘pulling away from the beach.’)

pros tēn thalassan ‘by the sea-side’ i.e. on the shore.

Translation:

Beside the sea must be specific in some languages, i.e. ‘on the shore, along the lake,’ or ‘at the mouth of the sea’ (Conob).

It is essential that one be consistent in the size and shape of boats depicted as being used on the Lake of Galilee (cf. 1.19).

In order to avoid the common mistake of having Jesus sit down in the water, it is necessary in some languages to specify that ‘he got into a boat which was floating in the water and he sat down.’ After all, it is possible to get into a boat which has been drawn up onto the shore, hence this detailed rearranging of the semantic components is required in some languages (e.g. Chicahuaxtla Triqui, Barrow Eskimo, Central Mazahua, and Kekchi).

In a number of languages there is no ambiguous way of speaking about the crowd as ‘being beside the sea on the land.’ One must specify whether the people were seated, standing, moving about, etc. In general it is preferable to employ a word meaning ‘to be seated,’ since this is often also the most generic term indicating ‘to be in a place.’

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 .