Following are a number of back-translations of Titus 2:3:
- Uma: “So also old women, teach them so that their actions are like people who submit to the Lord God, not speaking evil of others, not addicted to drinking intoxicants, and faithful in teaching others to make-good their actions.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “Like that also teach to the old women. Their customs ought to be good so that God is pleased with them. They should not slander their companions and not habitually-drink (alcoholic understood). Their teachings should be good.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “What you teach to the older women is just the same. God must always be pleased with their deeds. They are not gossips, they are not habitual drinkers of wine. They must always teach good deeds” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “As for the collective-older-women moreover, advise them also to follow a holy lifestyle that is appropriate to their faith. Advise them also not to speak-evil-of their companions or get-drunk, but rather that they teach what is good” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “Like that too are the old/mature women. Teach them that it’s necessary that they always live lives in harmony with the will of God. They are not to be gossipers, not a slave to intoxicating-drink. On the contrary, they are to be explaining/making-clear the nature/ways which please God.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “And also the old women, tell them that they should live so as to be respected. They are not to bite in their speaking. They are not to be drunkards. All that is good, they are to show.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
- German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) (verses 3-5): “Exactly the same applies to the older women. They should reflect God’s holiness in their entire demeanor, they should not cause unrest, they should not be enslaved to wine, but they should act as teachers of the good and thus lead a prudent life. The younger women should love their husbands and children. They should live prudently and purely before God, manage their household well and yet voluntarily submit to their husbands so that God’s message cannot be maligned in society.” (This reflects what Ulrich Wendel [in: Werner 2018, p. 73ff.] mentions as a possible translation of these verses. Here it’s not the old women teaching the young women but Titus is instructed to teach both of these groups. Wendel is coming to that conclusion on the basis of the parallelism of verses 2-6 [older men – old women – young women – young men] and the fact that sóphronizó (σωφρονίζω) in verse 4 does not necessarily have “young women” as its object.)
