And he left behind his children while they were young, and they grew up according as their father had ordained for them; and they kept the statute of their household, and all that was theirs they would guard, and they would not oppress the poor, or the orphan, or the widow.
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, Greek, and Ge’ez that is translated as «the poor» in English is translated in Chichewa as «people without power.» In Chichewa context this refers to those who are in the lower class in terms of both social status and political influence in a community. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
In Cherokee it is translated as «those who are not doing well.» «The concept of poverty was unknown to Cherokee prior to European arrival due to the sharing of resources among clan members and the shared and welfare tradition known as gadugi (ᎦᏚᎩ). In contrast, the concepts of rich and poor play a large role in the world and message or the New Testament (…) This phrase (‘those who are not doing well’), still used today for ‘poor,’ speaks to a more general understanding of well-being than the presence of monetary resources.» (Source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 45)
The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as «orphan» in English is translated in Enlhet as «those who are gone past» (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. ) and in Newari as «ones not having mother-father» (source: Newari Back Translation).
E.L. Greenstein (2019, p. 108) notes that, particularly in reference to Job 24:9 where the child is being nursed, that the Hebrew term «has the narrower meaning of «fatherless.»
The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as «widow» in English is translated in West Kewa as ona wasa or «woman shadow» (source: Karl J. Franklin in Notes on Translation 70/1978, pp. 13ff.) and in Newari as «husband already died ones» or «ones who have no husband» (source: Newari Back Translation).
In Cherokee the term is gender neutral and translates to «one who has lost someone.» (Source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 100)
The etymological meaning of the Hebrewalmanah (אַלְמָנָה) is likely “pain, ache,” the Greekchéra (χήρα) is likely “to leave behind,» «abandon,” and the Englishwidow (as well as related terms in languages such as Dutch, German, Sanskrit, Welsh, or Persian) is «to separate,» «divide» (source: Wiktionary).
The Hebrew, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as «idol(s)» in English is translated in Central Subanen as ledawan or «images» (source: Robert Brichoux in OPTAT 1988/2, p. 80ff. ) and in Cherokee «imaginary gods» (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16).
In German, typically the term Götze is used. Originally this was used as a term of endearment for Gott («God» — see here ), later for «icon» and «image, likeness.» Luther started to use it in the 16th century in the meaning of «false god, idol.» Other terms that are used in German include Götzenbild(er) («image[s] of idols») or Bildnis («image» — Protestant) / Kultbild («cultish image» — Catholic) (used for instance in Exodus 20:4 and Deuteronomy 5:8). The latest revision of the Catholic Einheitsübersetzung (publ. 2016) also uses the neologism Nichtse («nothings») in 1 Chron. 16:26 and Psalm 96:5. (Source: Zetzsche)
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