Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 2:4:
- Noongar: “Joseph left Nazareth, a Galileean town, and went to Bethlehem, a town in Judea. King David had been born in Bethlehem. Joseph went to Bethlehem because he was a descendant of David.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
- Uma: “So also Yusuf left from Nazaret town, accompanied by Maria his fiancee, who was at the time pregnant. They left from Galilea land, climbed going to Yudea land, towards Betlehem town, the birth town of King Daud long ago. Yusuf had to request that his name be written there, because he was a descendant of King Daud.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “Yusup went from the town of Nasaret there in the place Jalil going up to the place Yahudiya to the town Betlehem the place where Sultan Da’ud was born. He went there to register because he was a descendant of Da’ud.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “That was why Joseph, who lived in the town of Nazareth, in the province of Galilee, it was necessary for him to go to the province of Judea, to the town of Bethlehem, which was the village where King David was born long ago, because Joseph — he was a descendant of King David.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “So also Jose, he went from Nazaret a town of Galilea to go register in Betlehem a town of Judea, because that was the town of King David who was his ancestor long ago.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “Well Jose also set out. Going from Nazaret in the district of Galilea, he went to Betlehem in the district of Judea, the t
own where king David was born in the past, because Jose was a descendant of that king.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation) - Central Tunebo: (verses 3-5) “Everyone went to his own city to be counted. Joseph also went to be counted. Joseph was from the land of Galilee. He was from the city of Nazareth. Joseph’s grandfather is David. He is David’s relative. As a result he went to David’s city to be counted. He went to Bethlehem to be counted. In the city of Bethlehem. He went with Mary. Joseph would soon marry Mary. Mary was pregnant. They went together, with Mary.” (“The typical narrative text in Tunebo introduces 3 or 4 information bits in the first sentence. This includes the predicate and subject and, where appropriate, the object. A locative element is quite often introduced, too. From there, new information bearing on the stage or opening event is introduced, usually at the rate of one new bit per sentence, keeping the main verb constant.” Source: Edna Headland in Notes on Translation, 58/1975, pp. 2ff.)
