# the First of the Sabbaths - literal rendering in Romanian



## metaphrastes

Salut, dragi prieteni!

I need a literal rendering of this Biblical expression - that, as a concrete indicator of chronology, means simply "the first day of the week" or "the first day after the Sabbath" (or "after Saturday"), and it means, in practical terms, the Sunday, _Duminică. _It appears on Luke 24:1, John 20:1, John 20:19, Acts 20:7, _et alia, _being rendered in Romanian either as _prima zi după sâmbătă_ or as _ziua întâia a săptămânii_, sometimes with a didactic parenthesis saying _(Duminică).
_
Now, besides this bare, practical chronological meaning, the underlying Greek text (μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων) has a deep theological and typological dimension, meaning literally something as _the first of the Sabbaths_, _the first among the Sabbaths _or rather _the One of the Sabbaths. _This day _One _is related both with the first day of Creation (in Greek called _day One _rather than _first day, _as a figure of eternity) and with the eight day of Resurrection, also understood as eternal, without interruption by night or sunset, thus, One.

I am giving this theological context because what I need is a literal rendering of the Greek, grammatically correct and so idiomatic in Romanian as possible. I understand that in most modern languages (including mine) rendering _day One _sounds something between clumsy, weird or not understandable at all. So, rendering _the first of (or among) the Sabbaths _is fine and all right for all effects.

Now, my first essay is: _(Această) *prima* (zi) *dintre *(_or _din, între, printre) *Sâmbetele*.
_
I am in doubt if the preposition, in partitive usage, would ask for the noun in genitive, thus, _Sâmbetelor - _would this be right at all? And, among the prepositions, to my liking, I would use _dintre_, very close to the Portuguese word _dentre_. Anyway, if any other is clearer in meaning or simply more idiomatic or in better style, I would be glad to adopt it.

The second essay is simply using the genitive: _*prima *(alor) *Sâmbetelor*. _In such case, I am still not sure when the article _alor _should or might be used.

Thank you very much for any help, mulțumesc!


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## irinet

I suppose you can read more here about 'Şabat' (= ziua a 7-a a săptămânii).
Sunday is 'ziua întâi' după Şabat, Monday is a doua/2-a, a.s.o...., Friday is 'a 6-a zi'.

Șabat - Wikipedia


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## metaphrastes

Thank you, @irinet, for your link and for your kind answer, but I am well aware of the meaning of Sabbath in the Old Testament - but probably many are not aware of the usage of the Greek _savvata _in the Old and in the New Testament, that is a complex matter. The issue is even more complex, because the singular Hebrew word for Sabbath was assumed in Greek to be plural, due to its termination in _a_ (that did not imply plurality in Hebrew).

I might give you lots of quotes by St Basil the Great on Genesis on the day One of Creation, or by St Theophylact of Ochrid, or St Bede of Jarrow, England, or St Augustine of Hippo, on the Greek expression *μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων*. Basically, the Greek *σάββατον *may represent the whole week (and even in old Romanian usage, *sîmbătă *would also stand for the week as a whole, not only for the seventh day, suffice to see dexonline). And thus, _Duminică, _the Day of the Lord, as Christians called it, was often called in the New Testament literally, as _the One (or the first) of the Sabbaths - *μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων*, the beginning of the week.
_
Other Church Fathers exposed that *σάββατον *may stand also for each day as a whole, and thus, the Day of the Lord, again, may be rightly called _the first of the week _(if one wants a merely chronological reference) but also _the first of the Sabbaths_.

And thus, typologically - that is, _după chipuri, according figures, symbols or shadows - _the Jewish Sabbath is, in Orthodox Christian doctrine and exegesis, a _type, figure or shadow _of the Eight Day of Resurrection, which is called the _anti-type _or _fulfilling _of the symbols of old.

Now, please believe me I am not asking about the theological-symbolical-typological aspect, which I know well. I am not asking also about how Old Testament or modern Judaism see the Sabbath, because I know well their basic tenets. I am asking only about Romanian grammar and syntax in order to express, correctly and clearly, a deep and somewhat complex typology from the Old Testament through the lens of the Christian teaching of the Church Fathers. That is all I am asking about: grammar and good style. If the idea simply seems to be non-sense, I may provide quotes through pm, so that the thread is not overwhelmed by theological discussions.

Thank you again.


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## irinet

Right.
I have probably got confused. My apologies.
PM .
Anyone here can be of help.


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## metaphrastes

No problem, the issue IS confusing. And my exposition of it, probably even more confusing, because I threw too much elements that go across different times and cultures.
 No need for apologies, you gave good basic info when my own issue was probably not clear or confusing by its own nature.
 Thank you again for your kindness. I have a lot to learn on Romanian grammar and syntax.


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## Zareza

Lord's Day -*  Eighth day*

"The first day is also the eighth day, the day beyond the confines of this world, the day which stands for the life of the world to come, the day of the eternal rest of the Kingdom of God".


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## Trisia

I would love to find out how you solved this one, given that this thread is three years old.

I'd have to say întâiul/întâia sounds a liiiiiitle more poetic than "primul/prima" to my ears. I would think for modern ears equating "duminică" with "prima sâmbătă" would be confusing, so to be honest I might have gone with "primul Sabat", which both reflects the "sâmbătă" part and makes reference to how Sunday shifted to be the "new" Lord's Day, so to speak.

Although, come to think of it, some of your solutions are downright lovely. I particularly like "prima dintre sâmbete" (or even "între" - among, it makes it glorified somehow), but I think they all require an informed reader, so it depends on the audience.

So, what did you choose?


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