" 'And blessed indeed are those who repent with all their heart, and do not turn back to abomination and sin in all that they repent of because of their evil.'
2 Meqabyan (also known as 2 Ethiopian Maccabees and 2 Ethiopic Maccabees) is canonical scripture for the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. While «Meqabyan» is the Ge’ez equivalent of «Maccabees,» the content is completely different from 2 Maccabees. The only complete copies of 2 Meqabyan are available in Ge’ez (Classical Ethiopic), here used with permission by the Bible Society of Ethiopia.
The translation into English was provided by Haileyesus Woldemariam (UBS).
The Hebrew and Ge’ez that is translated as «abomination» or similar in English is translated in Vidunda as «hated thing» and in Kwere as zitibusa which means «evil» but also something that causes horror or disgust and revolts people. (Source for both: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
in Ngambay it is nékɔb or «taboo.» (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
The Greek, Ge’ez, Latin and Hebrew that is often translated as «repent» or «repentance» is (back-) translated in various ways (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight):
Embu: «change heart» («2 Cor. 7:10 says ‘For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.’ In ordinary speech the terms ‘repent’ and ‘regret’ are used interchangeably in Embu, so that this verse comes out as: ‘godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no repentance,’ which is contradictory. The problem was solved by using ‘changing heart’ in the first, and ‘sadness’ in the second.») (source: Jan Sterk)
Muna: dofetompa’ao dhosa bhe dodoli ne Lahata’ala: «radically-end sin and to turn to God» (source: René van den Berg)
Bacama: por-njiya: «fetch sand» («Before the coming of Christianity 100 years ago, when the elders went to pray to the gods, they would take sand and throw it over each shoulder and down their backs while confessing their sins. Covering themselves with sand was a ritual to show that they were sorry for what they had done wrong, sort of like covering oneself with sackcloth and ashes. Now idol worship for the most part is abandoned in Bacama culture, but the Christian church has retained the phrase por-njiya to mean ‘repent, doing something to show sorrow for one’s sins’» — source: David Frank in this blog post .)
Enlhet «exchange innermosts.» «Innermost» or valhoc is a term that is frequently used in Enlhet to describe a large variety of emotions or states of mind (for other examples see here). (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )
Isthmus Zapotec: «heart becomes soft» (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Cherokee: «change one’s thinking» (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 23)
Sabaot: «give one’s neck» — relating to traditional legal proceedings where someone who is convicted of a crime kneels before the aggrieved person who can either behead the accused or completely forgive (source Danny Foster in this recording )
Kâte: maŋ bârisiezo or «turn the insides around» (source: Renck 1990, p. 108)
Merina Malagasy: fifonana, deriving from mifona «meaning ‘to completely uproot so that something new can grow’ (a term also used for the loss of a baby tooth)» (source: Brigitte Rabarijaona)
«In Tzotzil two reflexive verbs to communicate the biblical concept of repentance are used. Xca’i jba means to know or to reflect inwardly on one’s self. This self inquiry or self examination is similar to the attitude of the prodigal son where Luke 15:17 records that ‘he came to his senses.’ Broke, starving, and slopping hogs, the prodigal admitted to himself that he was in the wrong place. The second reflexive verb ‘jsutes jba’ means turning away from what one is and turning to something else. In a sense, it is deciding against one’s self and toward someone else. It is similar to the attitude of the prodigal son when he said, ‘I will get up and go to my father’ (Luke 15:18).» (source: Aeilts 2009, p. 118)
The Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Aramaic that is translated into English as «(to) bless» or «blessed» is translated into a wide variety of possibilities.
The Hebrew term barak (and the Aramaic term berak) also (and originally) means «kneel» (a meaning which the word has retained — see Gen. 24:11) and can be used for God blessing people (or things), people blessing each other, or people blessing God. While English Bible translators have not seen a stumbling block in always using the same term («bless» in its various forms), other languages need to make distinctions (see below).
In Bari, spoken in South Sudan, the connection between blessing and knees/legs is still apparent. For Genesis 30:30 (in English: «the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned»), Bari uses a common expression that says (much like the Hebrew), ‘… blessed you to my feet.'» (Source: P. Guillebaud in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 189ff. .)
Other examples for the translation of «bless» when God is the one who blesses include (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight):
«sprinkle with a propitious (lit. cool) face» (a poetic expression occurring in the priests’ language) (Toraja Sa’dan) (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
«give good things» (Mairasi) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
«ask good» (Yakan) (source: Yakan Back Translation)
«praise, say good things» (Central Yupik) (source: Robert Bascom)
«showing a good heart» (Kutu) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
«good luck — have — good fortune — have» (verbatim) ꓶꓼ ꓙꓳ ꓫꓱꓹ ꓙꓳ — ɯa dzho shes zho (Lisu). This construction follows a traditional four-couplet construct in oral Lisu poetry that is usually in the form ABAC or ABCB. (Source: Arrington 2020, p. 58)
wodala — denoting a person who is considered fortunate because he/she has something good that the majority of people do not have. It also acknowledges someone as a causative agent behind «being blessed.» (Chichewa) (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
In Tagbanwa a phrase is used for both the blessing done by people and God that back-translates to «caused to be pierced by words causing grace/favor» (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation) and in Benabena a term denoted «good spell» or «good magic» (source: Renck 1990, p. 112).
Ixcatlán Mazatec had to select a separate term when relating «to people ‘blessing’ God» (or things of God): «praise(d)» or «give thanks for» (in 1 Cor. 10:16) («as it is humans doing the ‘blessing’ and people do not bless the things of God or God himself the way God blesses people» — source: Robert Bascom). Eastern Bru and Kui also use «praise» for this a God-directed blessing (source: Bru back translation and Helen Evans in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) and Uma uses «appropriate/worthy to be worshipped» (source: Uma back translation).
When related to someone who is blessing someone else, it is translated into Tsou as «speak good hopes for.» In Waiwai it is translated as «may God be good and kind to you now.» (Sources: Peng Kuo-Wei for Tsou and Robert Hawkins in The Bible Translator 1962, pp. 164ff. for Waiwai.)
Some languages associate an expression that originally means «spitting» or «saliva» with blessing. The Bantu language Koonzime, for instance, uses that expression for «blessing» in their translation coming from either God or man. Traditionally, the term was used in an application of blessing by an aged superior upon a younger inferior, often in relation to a desire for fertility, or in a ritualistic, but not actually performed spitting past the back of the hand. The spitting of saliva has the effect of giving that person “tenderness of face,” which can be translated as “blessedness.” (Source: Keith Beavon)
Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators for the DanishBibelen 2020, comments on the translation of this term: «As for ‘blessing’, in the end we in most instances actually kept the word, after initially preferring the expression ‘giving life strength’. The backlash against dropping the word blessing was too hard. But we would often add a few words to help the reader understand what the word means in a given context — people often understand it to refer more to a spiritual connection with God, but in the Hebrew texts, it usually has to do with material things or good health or many children. So when e.g. in Isaiah 19:25 the Hebrew text says ‘God bless them’, we say ‘God bless them’ and we add: ‘and give them strength’. ‘And give them strength’ is not found in the overt Hebrew text, but we are again making explicit what we believe is the meaning so as to avoid misunderstanding.» (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )
The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is typically translated as «sin» in English has a wide variety of translations.
The Greek ἁμαρτάνω (hamartanō) carries the original verbatim meaning of «miss the mark» and likewise, many translations contain the «connotation of moral responsibility.»
Loma: «leaving the road» (which «implies a definite standard, the transgression of which is sin»)
Navajo (Dinė): «that which is off to the side» (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
Toraja-Sa’dan: kasalan, originally meaning «transgression of a religious or moral rule» and in the context of the Bible «transgression of God’s commandments» (source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 21ff. )
Bariai: «bad behavior» (source: Bariai Back Translation)
Sandawe: «miss the mark» (like the original meaning of the Greek term) (source for this and above: Ursula Wiesemann in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 36ff., 43)
Nias: horö, originally a term primarily used for sexual sin. (Source: Hummel / Telaumbanua 2007, p. 256)
In Shipibo-Conibo the term is hocha. Nida (1952, p. 149) tells the story of its choosing: «In some instances a native expression for sin includes many connotations, and its full meaning must be completely understood before one ever attempts to use it. This was true, for example, of the term hocha first proposed by Shipibo-Conibo natives as an equivalent for ‘sin.’ The term seemed quite all right until one day the translator heard a girl say after having broken a little pottery jar that she was guilty of ‘hocha.’ Breaking such a little jar scarcely seemed to be sin. However, the Shipibos insisted that hocha was really sin, and they explained more fully the meaning of the word. It could be used of breaking a jar, but only if the jar belonged to someone else. Hocha was nothing more nor less than destroying the possessions of another, but the meaning did not stop with purely material possessions. In their belief God owns the world and all that is in it. Anyone who destroys the work and plan of God is guilty of hocha. Hence the murderer is of all men most guilty of hocha, for he has destroyed God’s most important possession in the world, namely, man. Any destructive and malevolent spirit is hocha, for it is antagonistic and harmful to God’s creation. Rather than being a feeble word for some accidental event, this word for sin turned out to be exceedingly rich in meaning and laid a foundation for the full presentation of the redemptive act of God.»
Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators for the DanishBibelen 2020, comments on the translation of this term: «We would explain terms, such that e.g. sin often became ‘doing what God does not want’ or ‘breaking God’s law’, ‘letting God down’, ‘disrespecting God’, ‘doing evil’, ‘acting stupidly’, ‘becoming guilty’. Now why couldn’t we just use the word sin? Well, sin in contemporary Danish, outside of the church, is mostly used about things such as delicious but unhealthy foods. Exquisite cakes and chocolates are what a sin is today.» (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )
Deja una respuesta
You must be logged in to post a comment.