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Language: Arabic, Standard
Standard Arabic (arb) is a(n) Afro-Asiatic language of United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Comoros, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, State of, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, Syrian Arab Republic, Chad, Tunisia, Tanzania, United Republic of, Yemen, marked as not endangered
Mark 9:12 is translated in the 8th Century translation of the gospels into Arabic that is found in Vatican Arabic MS13 in a remarkably clear and communicative manner. It says:
“Elijah comes first to prepare all things (and perfect them and complete them), so how have the scribes understood this about the coming of Elijah but they do not understand what is written about the Son of Man that he will suffer much and be rejected?” (قال لهم الياسين ياتي اولا ليعد الاشيا كلها ويكملها ويتمها فكيف فهم الكتبه هذا في مجى اليا ولم يفهموا ما كتب على ابن البشر انه يصلى كثيرا ويرذل)
The Greek in 2 Timothy 3:16 that is translated as “all scripture is inspired by God (or: is God-breathed)” into English is translated into various languages in the following ways:
Berom: “All the words that were written in the Leaf of Teaching of Father Sun came away from God thing his” (Mwa neha de bà jɛk e Bwok-basa Dagwi na vey yi na Dagwi pyɛ mɛ)
Hausa (Common Language Version): “All the writings of the Word of God are blown from his place” (Duk Rubutacciyar Maganar Allah hurarre ce daga wurinsa)
Kera: “All the words that were written in God’s book come straight from God’s mouth” (Kel gə minti gə jeerə-jeere giidə kefter kə Pepeŋa keɗe ha’aŋ, yə bəŋ ku Pepeŋ da)
Arabic (True Meaning Arabic edition): “All of this book is a revelation from God” (فهذِهِ الكُتُبُ كُلُّها وَحيٌ مِن اللهِ)
Chadian Arabic: “The book is completely the word of God which he sent down (الْكِتَابْ كُلَّ كَيْ هُو كَلَامْ اللّٰهْ النَّزَّلَهْ)
Dari (Today’s Dari Version 2008): “The whole holy book is divine revelation” (تمام کتاب مقدس از الهام خداست)
French (Parole de Vie 2017): “All the holy books were written with the help of God” (Tous les Livres Saints ont été écrits avec l’aide de Dieu)
Lamogai: “All of the talk written in God’s book was given by God’s Spirit.”
Northern Emberá: “God (emph.) made all of his word to be written” (Ãcõrẽbʌrʌ jũma Idji Bed̶eara b̶ʌbisia)
Hiligaynon: “The whole Written-Item was written by-means-of the power of God” (Kay ang bug-os nga Kasulatan ginbugna sang Dios kag mapuslanon sa pagtudlo sang kamatuoran)
Sindhi: “The origin/fount of each writing of the holy word/scripture is God (emph. = alone)”
Dobel: “And God’s Message all of it, it was he alone who put it in people’s thoughts, then they wrote it in The Book” (Sa Dukwaida Ssinan Ler si Rakwin re nam ffui, nai naꞌꞌenni yaꞌa nam i tamatu ada faꞌirandi nama datiya i Suratu Yabil)
Amele: “All the written good talk God’s Spirit he himself taught/instructed men and they wrote” (Me je jaqec cunug Anutna Kis uqadodoc dana iwaladeceb jaqein)
Aja: “It was God’s Spirit that took all things that were written in the books of God’s Word and put them in the minds/consciences of people, and they wrote them” (source for this and all above: discussion on BT email list, contributions used with permissions)
On this last translation, the translation into Kaqchikel, Cameron Townsend reports:
“We were struggling with the part of the Scripture that says, ‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God.’ We tried several different ways of translating this, but the men were never satisfied that it communicated well in Kaqchikel. I consulted the Greek and said, ‘How about translating it ‘all scripture is God-breathed?” ‘No,’ they said, ‘that doesn’t sound right.’ Then I suggested using ‘God’s breath.’ The men liked this and we agreed to use this phrase. But I wasn’t entirely convinced it was as accurate as it should be. Then I began to read other portions of Scripture where I noticed that when God spoke in creation it had the same connotation as God’s breath. And so we left it that way: ‘All scripture is God’s breath.'” (Quoted in Steven 1995, p. 196f.)
Derived from this phrase, the word for “Bible” in Armenian is Asdvadz-a-shoonch (Աստվածաշունչ) or “Breath of God.”
Mark 10:15 is translated in the 8th Century translation of the gospels into Arabic that is found in Vatican Arabic MS13 in a remarkably clear and communicative manner. It says:
“Truly I say to you that anyone who does not make efforts to seek the kingdom of God and the simplicity of his heart and understanding is not like a child, he will not enter the kingdom and will not obtain any of its blessings.”
والحق اقول لكم ان كل من لم يسعا في طلب ملكوت اللـه ويصير بلاهه قلبه وذكاه نفسه مثل الطفل لا يدخل الملكوت ولن يصل الى شي من نعيمها
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated in English as “horns (of the altar)” is translated in the French common language editions (1997 and 2019) as angles relevés or “raised angles” and in the Parole de Vie of 2017 as coins relevés or “raised corners.”
In the ArabicTMA translation it is translated as hayth tjllyat Allah (حيث تجلّيات الله) or “where God’s manifestation are” and in the HausaCommon Language Bible as “corners (of the altar).” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
The name “Miriam” or “Abataza” means “bitterness,” “rebellion” and “star of the sea.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
In some Semitic languages, the transliteration for “Miriam” is identical to “Mary,” testifying to the fact that these names are identical (Arabic and the many translations that are reliant on Arabic: مَرْيَم, Hebrew: מִרְיָם, Ge’ez / Amharic and related languages: ማርያም).
The following is part of an artwork by Indian-German artist Lucy D’Souza-Krone (b. 1949):
“D’Souza’s painting of Miriam dancing at the river is one of a series of ‘Biblical Women’ reproduced as the 1990 Lenten veil of Misereor, Germany. Miriam, the prophetess and sister of Moses and Aaron, celebrated the liberation of her people from their Egyptian oppressors. Her dance was supported by other women who joined with her in an act of celebration. Writing of the story the artist adds that ‘water is a predominant element in the scene reminding us also of the physical hardship facing women in India as they often have to walk many miles for a pot of water.'” (Source for this and the image: The Bible Through Asian Eyes by Masao Takenaka and Ron O’Grady 1991)
“In the whaling community of the Inupiat in northern Alaska, the whale is all but revered and respected as one of God’s creatures which bring life and sustenance. I was recently with our Inupiatun Bible Translation Team, working on the Book of Jonah. In popular culture, as we all know, the ‘big fish’ in this tale is often equated with what we know as the whale; Sunday school curriculum teaches it; art recreates it; collective memory recalls it. Therefore, they wanted an illustration of a white whale in their publication of the Book of Jonah.
“As a biblical scholar, I know this is erroneous and irresponsible. A biblical scholar assumes a ‘big fish’ is simply to be taken as a ‘big fish.’ The identity of this fish is not necessary to understand the tale: that God provided it is the point. As a Bible translator, hopefully a culturally sensitive one, however, I was quickly reminded in that moment that this Inupiatun community ‘needed’ that ‘Jonah’s big fish’ to be nothing other than a whale.
“This made the tale of Jonah even more meaningful because they ‘read’ the source of God’s deliverance of Jonah as the same source of God’s provision of food and sustenance to them.”
In the majority of Arabic translations, hut (حوت) or “whale” is used. This could be due to the influence of the Quran that uses hut (حُوت) in its story of Jonah (Yunus) or to the influence of the Ancient GreekSeptuagint which uses kítos (κῆτος). Kítos could either mean “sea-monster” or “whale.” (Source: Sameh Hanna)
The term for “dolphin” in Turkish is yunus baliğı — “Jonah’s fish” or simply yunus (“Jonah”). (The term used in the Turkish translation of Jonah, however, is büyük balık or “big fish.”)
The now commonly-used English idiom “money is the root of all evil” (meaning the desire to obtain and amass money is the ultimate reason humans do evil things) was first coined in 1560 in the Geneva Bible (in the spelling (the desire of) money is the roote of all euill). (Source: Crystal 2010, p. 283)
In Russian, this phrase (Ибо корень всех зол есть сребролюбие — Ibo koren’ vsekh zol yest’ srebrolyubiye) is also widely-used as an idiom. The wording of the quote originated in the Russian Synodal Bible (publ. 1876). (Source: Reznikov 2020, p. 45)
The Greek that is translated as “eye of a needle” in English (and in many Romance and Germanic languages) is rendered variously in different languages:
“loop of the needle” (Tae’) (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
In Warlpiri, needles were not traditionally used, so after much discussion the translation there is “(Does a camel go into) the hole of an ant’s nest?” which uses a more traditional metaphor. (Source: Sam Freney in this article.)
