The phrase in Jeremiah 18:16 that is translated in English translations as “are horrified and shake their heads” is translated into Afar as Ahamal qagabsiteloonuuh, namma xabanal gaba hayya heenih: “They are shocked at this, and put both hands on their cheeks.” (Shock is expressed physically by placing their hands on their cheeks, not shaking their heads.)
See also insulted him and shook their heads.
The Hebrew in 1 Kings 22:50 which is translated into English as “Jehoshaphat died” or “Jehoshaphat slept” was translated into Afar as Yacoosafatal amri yemeeteh: “The command came on Jehoshaphat.” (“God” understood in the view that death comes because of a divine command.)
The Hebrew in Amos 2:9 that is translated in English as “height was like the height of cedars and was strong as oaks” is translated in Afar as xexxaarah calawwayti gide yakkeeh caylah lubak inna luk yenehiyya: “the length of (hemispherical) house poles and strength as lions.” (Afar portable houses have frames of thin poles up to nine feet long bent over the top. These poles are covered with mats and are broken down and loaded on camels when they migrate to areas where there is grass for their animals.)
The Hebrew in Nehemiah 6:11 that is rendered in English versions as “I’m not the kind of person that runs and hides” or “Should a man like me run away?” was translated into Afar as Kudaah ambooqorem, yi migaq hinna.: “My name is not fleeing and hiding.” (One’s character is one’s name in Afar idiom.)
The phrase in Jeremiah 25:30 that is translated in English versions as “shout, like those who tread grapes” is translated into Afar as Carbih gexa mari edde haa tirtirat heele: “He will make a war cry that men going to battle make.”
The phrase that is rendered in English versions as “land flowing with milk and honey” (“milk and syrup” in Goldingay [2018]) is translated into Afar as niqmatak tan baaxoy buqre kee lacah meqehiyya: “a blessed land good for fields and cattle.” (Source: Loren Bliese)
In the interconfessional Chichewa translation (publ. 1999) it is translated with the existing proverb dziko lamwanaalirenji or “a land of what (type of food) can the child cry for?” (i.e. there is more than enough to eat). (Source: Ernst Wendland in The Bible Translator 1981, p. 107 )
In Kwere it is “good/fertile land.” (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The Hebrew word for “honey”, devash, is also used for syrup extracted from figs, dates, and grapes, or from certain types of palm tree. The phrase “a land flowing with milk and honey” refers to a land that is fertile and thus rich in pasture, fruit, and the grain and flowers from which bees make honey. (Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators) )
In Russian, the phrase молоко и мед (moloko i med) or “milk and honey” is widely used as an idiom in every-day life. (Source: Reznikov 2020, p. 67)
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Milk and Honey in Ancient Israel .
The Hebrew in Psalm 10:7 that is rendered in English as “under their tongues are mischief and iniquity” is translated into Afar as “words that come from their mouth are like vomit.”
The Hebrew in Psalm 48:7 that is translated in English as “as when an east wind shatters the ships of Tarshish” (New Revised Standard Version) or “like ships tossing in a furious storm” (Good News Translation) is translated in Afar as “As sheep scatter back and forth from a wild animal.” (No ships in this part of the Afar desert.)
See also ship.