The Greek that is translated in Philippians 1:20 as “eager expectation” or similar in English is translated in Barí with the future tense of a word relating to having a tapir in your possession. Bruce Olson (1973, p. 210f.) explains:

“Bobby and I worked on the translation of Philippians. It was one of the most intense, most wonderful times of translation we had ever had together. Our minds were preoccupied with death, it seemed, because of the inevitable conflict with the colonists. And Philippians spoke to us about this death!

“As we worked through the first chapter, we came to verse twenty where Paul says that his great expectation is that he will not be put to shame, but that Christ will be exalted in him whether in life or death.

“I needed the right word for expectation. A Motilone [Barí speaker] expects to go to bed at night, but that word doesn’t have much force.

“The center of emotion for a Motilone is in his stomach. To have a full stomach is to have a happy heart. What was the surest way of having a full stomach? Probably to have hunted and killed a large tapir. You eat tapir until you can’t eat any more.

“So I took the verb for having a tapir in your possession, and I invented a new tense: I put it in a future tense that has already been completed, then I made it superlative.

“I gave Bobby the word. It shocked him. ‘No,’ he said, ‘that’s too big a word. It’s too forceful. How can you expect something as much as that?’

“We let it drop, but it must have bothered Bobby. Two or three days later he said, ‘Bruchko, let’s go back to that word.’

“‘All right,’ I said.

“He was quiet for a while, thinking, then said, ‘Bruchko, is Jesus Christ that expectation for you in your life? Really?’

“That stopped me short. It’s one thing to figure out the right word to use, it’s quite another thing to be asked if it’s true of your own life. I thought of my conversion, and of some of the crises I had weathered with the Yukos and the Motilones. Finally, after a long silence, I said, ‘Yes.’

“Then I nodded vigorously. ‘Yes, Bobby. With all my strength and all my will I want to give myself to the expectation of Jesus Christ.’

“Bobby looked down at his feet. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘It’s a good word.’

“‘Are you sure?’ I asked.

“He nodded.”