Many languages have terms for siblings that define whether one is younger or older in relation to another sibling.
In Fuyug, Tae’, Batak Toba, and Mandarin Chinese, Martha was assumed to be the older of the two sisters because she is mentioned first. (Sources: David Clark [Fuyug] and Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Navajo (Dinė) translates accordingly but for a different reason: “since Martha seemed to take the responsibility of the housework, she was probably the older of the two” (source: Wallis 2000, p. 103f.) whereas in Mandarin Chinese he is the younger brother.
In Fuyug, Lazarus is assumed to be the oldest sibling on the grounds that he died first, whereas in several Thai translations he is described as the youngest of the three. (Source: David Clark)
The Greek that is often translated in English as “leap (or: leaped)” is translated with appropriate idioms as “trampled” (Javanese), “shook-itself” (Kituba), “wriggled” (Thai), “danced” (Taroko), “stirred” (Toraja-Sa’dan), “sprawled” (Batak Toba), “played” (Shipibo-Conibo). In Dan the clause has to be “her stomach moved” since “leaping” sounded vulgar. (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
In Elhomwe it is ahiirukunusarukunusa or “turned around.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Bill Michell (in Omanson 2001, p. 431) explains why in Cusco Quechua the women on the translation team had to intervene to correct a translation that was too literal:
“In the [Cusco Quechua] project in Peru the first draft of Luke’s Gospel was done by a man. In the case of Luke 1:41 his translation was quite literal. He had the unborn child physically jumping, unhampered and unhindered. This was met with some laughter from the women on the team. They suggested an onomatopoeic expression to communicate the sensation of a sudden movement in the womb: wawaqa ‘wat’ak’ nirqan — ‘the child said, ‘Wat’ak!” The child didn’t jump, it ‘spoke’! This times there were smiles instead of laughter as the women recognized something that was authentically their own.”
See also the Vietnamese (Hanoi) Sign Language translation of John the Baptist.
The Greek that is translated as “(you) foolish people” or “(you) foolish ones” is (back-) translated in a number of ways:
San Blas Kuna: “people having a dark liver” (“incapable of intelligent, thoughtful behavior”) (See Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling.”)
Batak Toba: “those short-of-mind” (“mostly referring to stupidity or ignorance in general”)
Zarma: a word indicating a person who refuses to use the intelligence he has
Chichewa, Yao: expressions implying intractability and willful opposition to common interests or commonly accepted ideas (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
The Greek that is translated as “firstborn” in English is translated in a number of ways:
“he/she that opens the gown” in Batak Toba (because formerly a woman stopped wearing a gown and started using a bodice after the birth of her first child)
“he/she that damages the stalk (i.e. the body)” in Uab Meto (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
“oldest child” in Isthmus Zapotec (source for this and one above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
“firstborn child, who was a boy” in Elhomwe (to make clear, without ambiguity, that Mary did not have daughters before) (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
In Bawm Chin, the term can imply the existence of younger siblings, so a translation is needed that brings out the fact that Jesus is superior to all else, not just the first of a series. (Source: David Clark)
The Greek that is translated in English “housetops” or similar in English is translated in Central Mazahua as “where you meet your fellowmen,” in Sranan Tongo as “street corners,” and in Batak Toba as “the place under the tree” (i.e. a place outside the village, where people gather to discuss public matters.) (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
In Enlhet, “shouting from the housetops” “does not mean ‘a public announcement’ but rather ‘an omen announcing an evil spirit attack upon the village.’ The public announcement is expressed with a different form to announce in front of the house.” (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 169ff. )
The Greek that is translated as “wash” in English has to be specified with an object in some languages. Indonesian for instance translates as “wash hands.” In others languages a derivational form of “to wash” is used that has the meaning “to wash one’s-hands-or-feet” (Sundanese) or “to wash-one’s-hands” (Batak Toba).
