Language-specific Insights

the Holy Spirit through David foretold

The Greek in Acts 1:16 that is translated “the Holy Spirit through David foretold” or similar in English is translated in the following ways:

  • “David had told this as he was being given the words by the Holy Spirit” (Isthmus Mixe)
  • “the Great Spirit of God was within the heart of David when he wrote the word ahead of time how Judas did” (Lalana Chinantec)
  • “David told about this before it happened through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac)
  • “as the Holy Spirit said, which David wrote” (Rincón Zapotec) (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

grain

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “grain” (or: “wheat”) is translated in Kui as “(unthreshed) rice.” Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) explains: “Padddy [unthreshed rice] is the main crop of the country and rice the staple diet of the people, besides which [grain] is unknown and there is no word for it, and it seemed to us that paddy and rice in the mind of the Kui people stood for all that corn meant to the Jews.” “Paddy” is also the translation in Pa’o Karen (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. ).

Other translations include: “wheat” (Teutila Cuicatec), “corn” (Lalana Chinantec), “things to eat” (Morelos Nahuatl), “grass corn” (wheat) (Chichimeca-Jonaz) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), “millet” (Lambya) (source: project-specific notes in Paratext), “food” (Nyamwezi) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext) or ntimumma lujia / “seeds for food” (Lokạạ — “since Lokạạ does not have specific terms for maize and rice that can be described as grains”) (source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

become your father, begotten you

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “(today I have) begotten you (or: have become your father)” or similar in English is translated as “I have presented you before all people so that they might know that you are my own Son” in Teutila Cuicatec, as “you I have appointed now that you rule” in Tenango Otomi, and as “today I have given you work” in Lalana Chinantec. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

See also complete verse (Acts 13:33) and only begotten son / (one and) only son.

without him not one thing came into being

The Greek in John 1:3 that is translated as “without him not one thing came into being” or similar in English is translated in Huehuetla Tepehua as “if it hadn’t been for him there would not have been the world or anything” and in Tenango Otomi as “of all the things there are, there is not one that he did not make.” (Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February, 1970, p. 1-125.)

In Lalana Chinantec, the double-negative is turned into a positive: “All things came into being because that person made all that exists.” (Source: Larson 1998, p. 159)

In Bakairí, Jesus (Logos) had to stay the “focal character” so it’s translated as “He was the maker of all things.” (Source: Callow 1972, 61)

witness

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and and Greek that is translated as “witness” in English is translated in these ways:

  • “truly have seen” in Highland Popoluca
  • “telling the truth regarding something” in Eastern Highland Otomi
  • “know something” in Lalana Chinantec
  • “verily know something to be the truth” in San Mateo del Mar Huave
  • “we ourselves saw this” in Desano
  • “tell the truth about something” in Eastern Highland Otomi
  • “know something is true because of seeing it” in Teutila Cuicatec (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • “ones who will confirm that these-things that you have seen are true” in Kankanaey (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • “ones who are to testify about these things, because it all happened before your eyes” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

bound themselves by an oath

The Greek that is translated in English as “bound themselves by an oath” or similar is translated in Lalana Chinantec as “cursed themselves.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

In Vame, “oath” is translated as “swear with a curse.” Drew Maust (in The Bible Translator 2019, p. 35ff. ) explains: Acts 23:12 describes a group of men who bind ‘themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they have killed Paul’ (Christian Standard Bible). Most French versions, however, lack explicit reference to a curse, translating the verb ἀναθεματίζω ‘to curse’ by s’engager par serment (to swear an oath; Nouvelle Français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). From the information in a standard lexicon and a recent technical exegetical commentary on the passage in question, it is apparent that a fuller translation of ἀναθεματίζω in the context of Acts 23:12 includes the notion of a curse, contrary to the majority of French translations (especially in light of the way the event is recounted two verses later in 23:14 with the addition of ἀναθέματι ‘a curse’). The Vame translators and I discussed the different interpretative options before the translators opted for making explicit the idea of a curse in their translation (‘swear with a curse’).”