Mary Magdalene

The term that is transliterated as “Mary Magdalene” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign signifying 7 demons having gone out, referring to Luke 8:2. (Source: RuthAnna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Mary Magdalene” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

complete verse (Matthew 27:61)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 27:61:

  • Uma: “But Maria Magdalena and the other Maria, they sat there outside the grave.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Mariyam, the woman from Magdala and Mariyam her namesake sat there facing the grave.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, they were sitting there watching the cave.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Maria Magdalena and her namesake Maria, they were also seated there facing the cave.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Maria Magdalena and another Maria also were there too. They were sitting opposite that grave.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Mary, the native of Magdala and the other Mary sat through all this, looking on where the corpse was entombed.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 27:61

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were previously referred to in verse 56. They will be mentioned again in 28.1.

Were … sitting is an unusual combination of a singular verb (were is literally “was”) followed by a feminine plural form of the participle sitting. This has resulted in a number of opinions concerning what may have originally been in the text. Some translations attempt to convey something of the form of the present text: “Mary of Magdala was there, and the other Mary, sitting…” (New English Bible), and “Mary of Magdala was there with the other Mary, sitting…” (Barclay). The combination of verb plus participle may also be taken to mean “remained there, sitting” (An American Translation; similarly New American Bible).

Sepulchre means the same as “tomb” in the previous verse and can be translated the same way.

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 .