The Greek and Hebrew terms that are translated as “hypocrite” in English typically have a counterpart in most languages. According to Bratcher / Nida (1961, p. 225), they can be categorized into the following categories:
those which employ some concept of “two” or “double”
those which make use of some expression of “mouth” or “speaking”
those which are based upon some special cultural feature
those which employ a non-metaphorical phrase
Following is a list of (back-) translations from some languages:
Mazahua: “have a swollen mouth” (from too much speaking)
Tai Dam: “have a straight mouth and a crooked heart”
Kongo: “the bitterness of white” (an idiom based on the fact that white-wash looks nice but tastes bitter)
Merina Malagasy: “spread a clean carpet” (an expression used in Madagascar to describe one who covers up the dirt of an unswept floor just before the arrival of guests)
Zanaki: “those who make themselves out to be good”
Tetelcingo Nahuatl: “those who deceive” (this and all examples above acc. to Bratcher / Nida 1961, p. 225)
Kafa: “one who makes as if his belly is clean” (source: Loren Bliese)
Bauzi: “good on top person” (source: David Briley in Kroneman (2004), p. 502)
Tibetan: kha chos pa (ཁ་ཆོས་པ།), lit. “mouth + religion + person” (used for instance in Matt. 7:5) or sgyu zog can (སྒྱུ་ཟོག་ཅན།), lit. “deception + fraud + person” (used for instance in Matt. 24:51) (source: gSungrab website )
Low German: “actor in a comedy” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006)
Lélé: ne kub so or “make mouth two” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
The Latvian term liekulis was likely coined by the Bible translation of Ernst Glück (1654–1705) in the late 17th century and is still being used today (source ).
The English version of Sarah Ruden (2021) uses “play-actor.” She explains (p. li): “A hupokrites is fundamentally an actor. The word has deep negativity in the Gospels on two counts: professional actors were not respectable people in the ancient world, and traditional Judaism did not countenance any kind of playacting. I write ‘play-actor’ throughout.”
“Son of x, son of y” must be rendered as “son of x and grandson of y” in Tibetan or else it will sound like two different people.
Note: The same translation solution is chosen in many contemporary English Bibles that emphasize easy readability, such as the Contemporary English Version, Common English Bible, Good News Translation, God’s Word, or New Living Translation.
The Greek that is translated as “antichrist” in English is translated in Tibetan as ma shi ka’i bstan dgra (མ་ཤི་ཀའི་བསྟན་དགྲ།) or “Christ’s-teaching-enemy.” (Source: gSungrab website )
The Greek and Latin that is translated as “archangel” in English is translated in Tibetan as pho nya mchog (ཕོ་ཉ་མཆོག) or “best messenger.” (gSungrab website )
“In working as a Bible translator in Tibetan, the overriding aesthetic value that guided the translation was the sonic quality of the oral-aural transmission and reception. The primary quality control measure of almost everything that was translated, regardless of genre, whether it was a genealogy, a list of vices, a hymn, narrative, prophecy, poetry or didactic teaching, was all measured through the lens of ‘does this verse or section sound melodious and pleasing to the ears?’ The concern of our mother tongue translators was that a holy and sacred text must inherently be melodious and sweet sounding to the ear, or no one would consider it to be sacred, nor would they want to read it or listen to it being read aloud. Furthermore, if the text is melodious and sweet to the ears (snyan po) and has an appealing ‘flavor’ (bro ba), then it will also be kho bde po — easy to comprehend (literally ‘smooth to the ear’) and kha deb po — easy to read (literally ‘smooth to the mouth’). It would also more easily lend itself to memorization, recitation and being sung-all highly important aspects in a Tibetan context. (…) More typically, poetry is versified with an uneven number of syllables in lines of seven and nine syllables, a form of synalepha [suppression of a vowel at the end of word when it is followed by another word beginning with a vowel] grouped as 1-0-1-0-1-0-0. Though lines of 11, 13, 15 syllables (and so on) are possible, the pattern of 7 or 9 is by far the most prevalent in Tibetan literature.
“Given the structure of the Beatitudes in Matthew’s Gospel, with rhythmic parallel patterns (see Translation commentary on Matthew 5:3) (…), the team decided to render this section in poetic form to not only promote ease of memorization and recitation, but to enhance the euphonic appeal [having a pleasant sound]. The text follows a typical nine syllable synalepha structure.” (Quoted in Watters / de Blois 2023)
The Greek that is typically translated as “tempt” or “temptation” in English is translated in Noongar as djona-karra or “reveal conduct” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang) and in Tibetan as nyams sad (ཉམས་སད།), lit. “soul + test,” or in some cases as slu (སླུ།) or “lure / lead astray” (for instance in 1 Cor. 7:5 or Gal 6:1) (source: gSungrab website )
The Greek that is typically transliterated in English as “Satan” is transliterated in Kipsigis as “Setani.” This is interesting because it is not only a transliteration that approximates the Greek sound but it is also an existing Kipsigis word with the meaning of “ugly” and “sneaking.” (Source: Earl Anderson in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 85ff. )
In Morelos Nahuatl it is translated as “envious one” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.) and in Tibetan: bdud (བདུད།), lit. “chief devil” (except in Rev. 20:2, where it is transliterated) (source: gSungrab website ).
The Greek that is typically translated as “gentleness” in English is translated in Suki as gitusaena inae or “not-snatching way.” (Source L. and E. Twyman in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 91ff. )
In Tibetan it is translated as sems dul ba (སེམས་དུལ་བ།), lit. “mind + tame.” (Source: gSungrab website )
