The Greek that is translated as “room upstairs” of “upper room” in English is translated in a 1922 translation into Chagatai, a precursor language of both Uzbek and Uighur, with bala-xāna, “small room” of “children’s room.” “It is safe to say that the cultural structure of the Uighurs influenced the choice of this word for the translation. At the time of the translation, the attic room commonly used by the Uighurs living in East Turkistan was known as “bala-khana”, due to its smaller size compared to other rooms. Therefore, it is understood that the translators translated the source text by considering word choices such as this that would help society understand the text better. This choice of the translators can again be explained by the concept of cultural equivalents.” (Source: F. Erbay and F.N. Küçükballı in Acta Theologica 2025 45/2, p. 133ff. )
Language-specific Insights
abyss, bottomless pit
The Greek and Ge’ez that is translated as “abyss” or “bottomless pit” in English is translated as “unfathomably deep place” or “land below” in Indonesian, “land below” in Batak Toba, or “the deep where the earth opens its mouth” in Sranan Tongo (a term well-known from folk tales). (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
In a 1922 translation into Chagatai, a precursor language of both Uzbek and Uighur, it is translated with hāwiyat, derived from the Arabic Islamic Al-Hāwīya (الهاوية), “the lowest level of the hell” (Source: F. Erbay and F.N. Küçükballı in Acta Theologica 2025 45/2, p. 133ff. and Hawiya )
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated as as Höllenschlund or “entrance to hell (lit.: “throat of hell”).”
See also bottomless pit.
expert in the law / lawyer
The Greek that is translated as “expert in the law” or “lawyer” in English is translated in a 1922 translation into Chagatai, a precursor language of both Uzbek and Uighur, with the Arabic loan word ahl shari’at (اهل شريعت), meaning “people of the (Islamic) law (Shari’a).” (Source: F. Erbay and F.N. Küçükballı in Acta Theologica 2025 45/2, p. 133ff. )
Passover
The Hebrew and Greek pesach/pascha that is typically translated in English as “Passover” (see below) is translated in a variety of descriptive ways of various aspects of the Jewish festival. (Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight):
- Ojitlán Chinantec: “the feast of the passing by of God’s angel”
- Lalana Chinantec: “the day would come which is called Passover, when the Israel people remember how they went out of the land of Egypt”
- Huehuetla Tepehua: “the celebration when they ate their sheep”
- Umiray Dumaget Agta: “the celebration of the day of their being brought out of bondage”
(source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.) - Obolo: ijọk Iraraka — “Festival of Passing” (source: Enene Enene)
- Guhu-Samane: “special day of sparing” (source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff. )
- Yakan: “The festival of the Isra’il tribe which they call For-Remembering” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Wolof: “Festival of the day of Salvation” (“the term ‘pass over’ brings up the image of a person’s crossing over a chasm after death”) (source: Marilyn Escher)
- Bura-Pabir: vir kucelir fəlɓəla kəi — “time-of happiness-of jumping-over house”
- Berom: Nzem Gyilsit Nelɔ — “Festival-of jumping-of houses”
- Nigerian Fulfulde: Humto Ƴaɓɓitaaki / Humto Sakkinki — “Festival-of passing-over”
- Hausa: Bikin Ƙetarewa — “Festival-of going-over” (source for this and three above: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
- Jula: “Feast of end of slavery” (source: Fritz Goerling)
- Bafanji: laiŋzieʼ — “pass-jump over” (source: Cameron Hamm)
- Tiéyaxo Bozo / Jenaama Bozo: “Salvation/Rescue (religious) feast” (source: Marko Hakkola)
- Sabaot: Saakweetaab Keeytaayeet — “Festival of Passing-by” (source: Iver Larsen)
- Language spoken in India and Bangladesh: “Festival of avoidance”
- Vlax Romani: o ghes o baro le Nakhimasko — “the Day of the Passing”
- Saint Lucian Creole: Fèt Délivwans — “Feast of Deliverance” (source: David Frank)
- Finnish: pääsiäinen (“The term is very probably coined during the NT translation process around 1520-1530. It is connected to a multivalent verb päästä and as such refers either to the Exodus (päästä meaning “to get away [from Egypt]”) or to the end of the Lent [päästä referring to get relieved from the limitations in diet]. The later explanation being far more probable than the first.”)
- Northern Sami: beas’sážat (“Coined following the model in Finnish. The Sami verb is beassat and behaves partly like the Finnish one. Many Christian key terms are either borrowed from Finnish or coined following the Finnish example.”)
- Estonian: ülestõusmispüha — “holiday/Sunday of the resurrection” — or lihavõttepüha — “holiday/Sunday of returning of meat”
- Karelian: äijüpäivü — “the great day” (“Here one can hear the influence of the Eastern Christianity, but not directly Russian as language, because the Russian term is Пасха/Pasha or Воскресение Христово/Voskresenie Hristovo, ‘[the day of] the resurrection of Christ,’ but the week before Easter is called as the great week.”) (Source for this and three above: Seppo Sipilä)
- Russian (for Russian speaking Muslims): праздник Освобождения/prazdnik Osvobozhdeniya — “Festival of-liberation” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
- Kono: laaŋumɛ̃ɛ̃ or “skip over the person” (provisional term). Alesha Hagemeyer explains in this blog post that laaŋumɛ̃ɛ̃ is a play on the term laaɲámɛ̃ɛ̃ or “to skip over the water” which is traditionally used for the sacrifice of a sheep or a goat after the death of a family member. That term literally means “to skip over the water” so that “their loved one will pass over the water and enter the presence of God”
- Chagatai (a precursor language of both Uzbek and Uighur): faṭīr, derived from the Arabic word fiṭr for the holiday celebrated by Muslims after fasting in Ramadan (ʿĪd al-Fiṭr / عيد الفطر) (source: F. Erbay and F.N. Küçükballı in Acta Theologica 2025 45/2, p. 133ff. )
- Low German: Osterfest “Easter” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006)
- Spanish Sign Language: pass through + miracle (source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )
“Passover” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España - English: Passover (term coined by William Tyndale that both replicates the sound of the Hebrew original pesah — פסח as well as part of the meaning: “passing over” the houses of the Israelites in Egypt) — oddly, the English Authorized Version (King James Version) translates the occurrence in Acts 12:4 as Easter
Many Romance languages follow the tradition from Latin that has one term for both “Easter” and “Passover” (pascha). Portuguese uses Páscoa for both, Italian uses Pascha, and French has Pâque for “Passover” and the identically pronounced Pâques for “Easter.”
In languages in francophone and lusophone (Portuguese speaking) Africa, indigenous languages typically use the Romance word for “Easter” as a loanword and often transliterate pesach/pascha. In Kinyarwanda and Rundi Pasika is used, in Swahili and Congo Swahili Pasaka, and in Lingala Pasika. In some cases, the transliteration of “Passover” is derived from the European language, such as Umbundu’s Pascoa (from Portuguese) and Bulu’s Pak (from French).
As John Ellingworth (in The Bible Translator 1980, p 445f. ) points out “in most contexts only the presence or absence of the definite article distinguishes them [in French la pâque for Passover and Pâques for Easter]. Since most African languages do not have definite articles, there remains no way to distinguish between the two terms where the general population has borrowed the word for Easter and the Bible translators have borrowed the word for Passover to use in their translation. Some even consider the references to [Passover] before the death of Christ as prophetic!”
See also this devotion on YouVersion .
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Passover .
chief priest
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “chief priest” in English is translated in Muyuw as tanuwgwes lun or “ruler-of peace offering.” (Source: David Lithgow in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 118ff. )
In a 1922 translation into Chagatai, a precursor language of both Uzbek and Uighur, it is translated with a form of the Arabic loan word Imam (امام), also used in Islamic contexts. (Source: F. Erbay and F.N. Küçükballı in Acta Theologica 2025 45/2, p. 133ff. )
lawful
The Greek that is translated as “lawful” in English is translated in a 1922 translation into Chagatai, a precursor language of both Uzbek and Uighur, with the Arabic loan word jayiz (جائز), meaning “permitted (because there is no prohibition by religion)” in an Islamic context. (Source: F. Erbay and F.N. Küçükballı in Acta Theologica 2025 45/2, p. 133ff. )
law
The Greek, Hebrew, and Ge’ez that is translated in English as “Law” or “law” is translated in Mairasi as oro nasinggiei or “prohibited things” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Noongar with a capitalized form of the term for “words” (Warrinya) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
In Yucateco the phrase that is used for “law” is “ordered-word” (for “commandment,” it is “spoken-word”) (source: Nida 1947, p. 198) and in Central Tarahumara it is “writing-command.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
In a 1922 translation into Chagatai, a precursor language of both Uzbek and Uighur, it is translated with the Arabic loan word shari’at (شريعت), originally meaning “(Islamic) law (Shari’a).” (Source: F. Erbay and F.N. Küçükballı in Acta Theologica 2025 45/2, p. 133ff. )
