The Hebrew that is translated into English as forms of “(to not) harden heart” is translated into other languages with their own vivid idioms; for example, Thai uses “black-hearted” (source: Bratcher / Hattoon, p. 272), Pökoot as makany kwoghïghitu mötöwekwo: “do not let become hard your heads” (source: Gerrit van Steenbergen), or Anuak as “make liver strong” (source: Loren Bliese).
See also hardness of heart and see Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling.”
The Hebrew that is translated in many English versions as “perverted justice” is translated into Anuak as “changed the word of the people.”
The Hebrew that is translated as “conspire” in many English versions is translated into Anuak as “tie the mouth.”
See also conspire (Shilluk).
The Greek term that is translated as a form of “save” in English is translated in Shipibo-Conibo with a phrase that means literally “to make to live”, which combines the meaning of “to rescue” and “to deliver from danger,” but also the concept of “to heal” or “restore to health.”
In San Blas Kuna it is rendered as “to help the heart,” in Laka, it is “to take by the hand” in the meaning of “rescue” or “deliver,” in Huautla Mazatec the back-translation of the employed term is “lift out on behalf of,” in Anuak, it is “to have life because of,” in Central Mazahua “to be healed in the heart,” in Baoulé “to save his head” (meaning to rescue a person in the fullest sense), in Guerrero Amuzgo “to come out well,” and in Northwestern Dinka “to be helped as to his breath” (or “life”).(Source: Bratcher / Nida.)
In South Bolivian Quechua it is “to make to escape” and in Highland Puebla Nahuatl, it is “to cause people to come out with the aid of the hand.” (Source: Nida 1947, p. 222.)
The Hebrew that is translated as “turned aside after gain” in many English versions is translated into Anuak as “livers became big for things.”
For other translations using the term “liver” in Anuak see here and see Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling.”
The Hebrew that is translated as “worthless” or “wicked” in many English versions is translated into Anuak as “whose head is bad” (1Sam. 25:17) or “people whose intentions are black” (i.e., greedy) (1Sam. 30:22).
The Hebrew that is translated as “here I am with you according to your desire” in some English versions is translated into Anuak as “whatever is in your liver I will do.”
For other translations using the term “liver” in Anuak see here and see Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling.”
Cultures and languages equate different parts of the human body with the seat of the mind. Following is a theoretical framework that categorizes different approaches:
“[We] use the word ‘mind’ as a shorthand term for ‘ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling’ of which different cultures, or different periods of the same culture, may have different understandings. (…) Cultural models of the mind and more scientific approaches in philosophy and/or medicine have in various cultures invoked central parts of the human body as the locus of the mind. The major loci have been the abdomen region, the heart region and the head region or, more particularly, the brain region. These three types of conceptualizations can be labeled ‘abdominocentrism’, ‘cardiocentrism’, and ‘cerebrocentrism’ (or ‘cephalocentrism’), respectively. These three labels only intend to capture the idea that the region in question is the main centre, which does not exclude a similar role for body parts in other regions.”
(Source: Sharifian, Farzad et al. (eds.) Culture, Body, and Language: Conceptualizations of Internal Body Organs across Cultures and Languages. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 2008. p. 3f.)
Equally, and related to that, the seat of emotions is located in many different, culture-specific parts of the body. Bratcher / Nida (p. 78) say: “Though the heart is spoken of in the Bible as the center of intellectual and emotive elements of human experience, in other languages the heart may have no such value. In some languages the corresponding centers are the viscera (Western Kanjobal), the liver (Laka), the stomach (Uduk), the gall (Toraja-Sa’dan) and the head (Anuak), though in the neighboring Shilluk demons may be in one’s head, but the liver and heart are the center of most other psychological activities. Whether one is to use ‘heart’ or some other part or organ of the body depends entirely upon the manner in which in any language such psychological experiences are described.”
The Hebrew that is translated as “strong (mighty) man” in many English versions is translated into Anuak as “liver is strong” (i.e., “fearless”).
For other translations using the term “liver” in Anuak see here and see Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling.”
The Hebrew term that is translated in most English versions as “rival” is translated in Anuak as “co-wife.”
The Hebrew that is translated as “heart fail” in many English versions is translated into Anuak as “liver be startled (or: panicked).”
For other translations using the term “liver” in Anuak see here and see Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling.”
The Hebrew that is often translated in English as “worthless men” is translated in Anuak as “people (with) their heads bad” (i.e., rascals).
