The name that is transliterated as “John (the Baptist)” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language and Mexican Sign Language as “baptize” (source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff.)
“John the Baptist” in Mexican Sign Language (source: BSLM )
In German Sign Language (Catholic) it is translated with the sign for the letter J and the sign signifying a Catholic baptism by sprinkling on the head.
In American Sign Language it is translated with the sign for the letter J and the sign signifying “shout,” referring to John 1:23. (Source: RuthAnna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“John” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
A question of cultural assumptions arose in Tuvan. The instinctive way to translate this name denotatively would be “John the Dipper,” but this would carry the highly misleading connotation that he drowned people. It was therefore decided that his label should focus on the other major aspect of his work, that is, proclaiming that the Messiah would soon succeed him. (Compare his title in Russian Orthodox translation “Иоанн Предтеча” — “John the Forerunner.”) So he became “John the Announcer,” which fortunately did not seem to give rise to any confusion with radio newsreaders! (Source: David Clark in The Bible Translator 2015, p. 117ff.)
In Noongar it is translated as John-Kakaloorniny or “John Washing” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
The Greek that is translated in English as “the head of John the baptizer” or similar is translated in Palantla Chinantec: “the head of John the baptizer without his body.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
Following is a Syriac Orthodox icon of John the Baptist from the 18/19th century (found in the Cathedral of Saints Constantine and Helen, Yabrud, Syria).
The wings are often depicted in icons of John the Baptist because of his status as a messenger. The scroll that John the Baptist holds quotes John 1:29 and reads (translated into English): “I saw and witnessed concerning him, ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.’”
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 are a number of back-translations of Matthew 14:8:
Uma: “Hearing that, Herodias encouraged her child to ask for the head of Yohanes the Baptizer. So, that young girl said to Herodes: ‘I ask for the head of Yohanes the Baptizer put on this tray!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Because the girl had been instructed by her mother beforehand, that’s why she said to the sultan, ‘Give me now the head of Yahiya who bathes people placed on a tray.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the maiden was advised by her mother, that’s why she said, ‘Give me here right now the head of John Baptizer on a plate.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Then Herodias instructed her young-lady to say to Herod, ‘Then have the head of Juan the Baptizer brought here put on a plate.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Well, since she had already been prompted(bad connotation) by her mother, she said, ‘What I really want you to give to me now/today is a plate containing the head of that Juan who was baptizing.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “The girl went to ask her mother what she should ask for. Her mother told her what to ask for and that she should go and say to Herod: ‘Give me the head of John who baptized, on a plate,’ she said.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Prompted by her mother (so also New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible) is made into a noun construction by Good News Translation: (“At her mother’s suggestion”). The verb prompted occurs only here in the New Testament, though it is used in the Septuagint in the positive sense of “give instructions” (Exo 35.34; Deut 6.7). On the basis of this usage, one may then translate “being instructed by her mother” or “following her mother’s instructions.” Mark states explicitly that the girl went out to ask her mother what to do (6.24), but Matthew does not indicate whether or not her mother was present in the room at the time that Herod made the vow. However, in an Oriental setting it is quite likely that she would not have been present, because the entertainment would have been designed primarily for men. If explicit movements of going and coming are demanded by the receptor language, it is possible to translate “She went out and asked her mother what she should do. Her mother told her what to ask for, then she went back into the room and asked him….” A shorter rendering is “Her mother told her what to do, and so she said (to Herod) ‘Give me….’ ” Of course, some languages will use indirect speech, as in “… so she asked Herod to give her….” See comment at verse 11.
Give me is a command which the girl expects to be fulfilled at that very moment, thus the reason for “Give me here and now” of Good News Translation and Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition.
The head of John the Baptist here on a platter is stated in Greek in such a manner as to retain the surprise element until the last: “Give me here, on a platter, the head of John the Baptist.” The order in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation is more natural, though the effect may not be as dramatic. Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition maintains the more dramatic order of the Greek. The noun translated platter (Good News Translation “plate”) may refer to any kind of flat dish; the word originally meant “board” or “plank.” In cultures where plates are not normally used, translators will use “bowls” or whatever is the normal object on which someone would carry food.
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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