horn of salvation, mighty savior

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated literally as “horn of salvation” and more idiomatically as “mighty savior” in some English versions is translated along those lines in many languages as well. In Uab Meto, however the term for “horn” is also used metaphorically for “hero” and in Balinese the term for “tusk,” which suggests “champion/hero” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel).

In Uma, it is translated as “a powerful War chief who brings salvation” and in Una as “a very powerful Person to us who will rescue people” (source: Dick Kroneman).

In Chichewa (interconfessional translation, 1999) it is translated as “our mighty Saviour.” Ernst Wendland (1998, p. 155f.) explains: “A literal rendering of the Greek ‘horn of salvation’ causes real problems in Chichewa due to the strong association that an animal ‘horn’ has with the local practice of sorcery (e.g. a ‘sorcerer’ is referred to as wanyanga ‘person of a horn’). Since the horn was a symbol of strength in biblical times, [we] translatedr this metonym as ‘our mighty Saviour.'”

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