Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 2:12:
Uma: “People who don’t know the Lord’s Law, if they sin, they are still/nonetheless guilty and fit to be separated from God. God punishes them because of their sins, but he does not punish them because of their breaking of the Lord’s Law. So also people who know the Lord’s Law. If they sin, God will punish them as well, but them he will punish because of their breaking of the Lord’s Law.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “The people not Yahudi they do not know the law of God written by Musa. When/if they sin God punishes them and they go to hell. But their punishment is not as is said in the law. The Yahudi, the ones who were given the law, when/if they sin they are judged (by) whether they were able to follow/obey the law or not. If they did not follow/obey, God punishes them like/as is said in the law.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “As for the people who are not Jews, they do not know what is commanded by the Law that Moses left behind, and when they do evil, they will be judged just the same in the future by God. However, He will not use the Law in His judging them, but He will punish them with death which is forever. And as for the people who are Jews, they by contrast know what is commanded by the Law, and if they do evil, God will judge them according to what they have transgressed there in the Law.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Because all who have sinned, they will be separated from God to be punished forever. As for the Gentiles, they don’t know the law of Moses, so that will not be the basis for God’s condemning them, but they will be punished nevertheless. As for the Jews by-contrast, they do know the law of Moses, so God will use that law in condemning them.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Now then, all people have sins and God will judge them. Concerning the people who do not know the law which the Jews follow, they also will be judged according to what they know. But concerning the people who know what is said in the law which the Jews follow, they will be judged according to that word which is written in the law.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Teutila Cuicatec: “All those who owe sin, who do not know the law that Moses wrote, it will not be that law that will rule what punishment they have, but they will be punished. Also all those who do know that law but owe sin, they will have to be punished as that law commands.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 5:4:
Uma: “Before you (sing.) sold that land, you (sing.) were the owner. And also after you (sing.) sold it, you (sing.) were still the owner of the money [lit., price]. So how is it that there is a purpose in your (sing.) heart to do like that? It is not us (excl.) here that you (sing.) lied-to. It is God [emphatic] that you (sing.) lied-to!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “As-long-as you had not sold it, was it not yours? And when you had sold it, was it not you who decided/ruled what-to-do-with (lit. as to how) the proceeds? Why did you think of doing like this? It is not man/human to whom you lied but God.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Before you sold it, was it not your land? And even after you sold it, you were still the one who was in charge of the money. Why did you plan this bad doing? It is not just people you are trying to fool, but rather it is God.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “The land was certainly yours when you hadn’t yet sold it, and you could make-use-of-it in-any-way. You could use its sale-money for anything too. Why did you (sing.) decide to do that? It was not a person/people you (sing.) lied-to, but rather God.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “For isn’t it so that that land you (pl.) sold was your (pl.) own? Well of course as for what was paid, it was yours (pl.). Now however much you want to give of course it’s up to you (lit. yours will be followed), as long as you tell the truth. Why did you (pl.) decide to tell this lie? What’s happened is it isn’t just man you’ve lied to, but on the contrary it’s God.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Teutila Cuicatec: “The land you sold was your own, was it not? The proceeds from the land were yours, were they not? Why did you plan this? For your sin of deceit you are responsible to God and not to men.”
San Mateo Del Mar Huave: ”So why then; before you sold it, was it not your own to do with as you wished? And also, when you sold it, was not the money in your hand to keep it all if you wanted to? Why did you wish to do that which is wicked there? You have lied to God, not to people,’ he told him.” (Source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 2:5:
Uma: “At that time also, there were in Yerusalem many Yahudi from towns all over the world. Those people were all ones who submitted to Lord God.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “At that time there were in Awrusalam Yahudi from the-many-countries in the world. They were very religious people.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And there were Jews there in Jerusalem who had come from every country here on top of the earth, and they were faithful in carrying out the commands of God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “There were Jews who were serving God who were staying in Jerusalem. They were from all the nations in this world.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Well, at that time, there were in Jerusalem Jews who came from many different lands here under the heavens. As for those people, they were indeed devout-worshippers of God.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “At the same time, there in Jerusalem, there were some godly Jews who came-from the different nations of the whole world.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Mairasi: “At that time Yehudi people, from the various villages and languages of this whole who honored Above-One, lived in Yerusalem.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
Bariai: “And in that day, some people of Iuda who respected God were living in the areas of all tribes on earth, and they went to Ierusalem for the feast and so were visitors.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Kupsabiny: “There were some Jews in Jerusalem who had dedicated themselves to God. They came from different parts of the world.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Desano: “In those days there were many people in the city of Jerusalem from all parts of the world. They had the same belief in God that the Jews did.”
Morelos Nahuatl: “At that time Jews who believed very much went to the town of Jerusalem. They had come from all other nations.”
Teutila Cuicatec: “A number of people of the race of Israel who obeyed what was established in God’s law had come from all over the world and were in the city of Jerusalem that day.” (Source for this and two above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 17:31:
Uma: “For he has made-certain one time later to decide/judge the cases of people all over the world justly. That work of deciding he has handed over to a person whom he chose ahead of time. That person he caused to live again from death, so that it would be clear to all mankind that he is indeed the one he chose to be the Judge of all mankind.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “For God has already appointed the day when he will judge all mankind, and his judgment is straight. And he has already chosen the man who will judge. God has-made-certain-to/assures all mankind that he is the one he has chosen, in that he made this man alive again from his death.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “He has set a day in the future upon which he will inspect all of mankind, and his inspection will be righteous also by means of the person whom he has chosen. He has shown that this which he will do is true because as for that person, he died and God raised him from the dead.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Because there is a day that God has designated when-he-will-judge all people in the world. There is also a person whom he chose to properly judge them, and he confirmed that he is the one whom he chose by-means-of his bringing-him -to-life again.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “For he has already determined the day when he will judge all people for their sins. There is a person whom he has set up to do the judging, and this judging of his is just/righteous. The proof that he is the one set up by God is, he died and then God made him alive again.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Morelos Nahuatl: “Thus God wants that we repent because he set apart a day in order that all people be before him. He chose a man named Jesus in order that on that day which God set apart Jesus would say which people are good and which people are bad. God chose Jesus for that work because Jesus says only what is true. God made Jesus alive from the dead ones and in that way he showed us that he chose Jesus for that work.”
Teutila Cuicatec: “He has already established a day when he will judge with complete fairness all the people of the world. He has already chosen a man who will judge in his stead and he raised that person back to life from among the dead’. By this he has given all people to understand that this is how things are established.”
San Mateo del Mar Huave: “‘For Father God has appointed a day in which to judge all the people of the world. That will be when Jesus will judge. For that reason Father God, when he raised Jesus from the dead, then it was manifested that it was the truth all that he had said that he would do.’ he says.” (Source for this and two above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
The Greek that is translated as “Son of Man” is mostly used by Jesus to refer to himself as well as in the prophecies of Daniel and Enoch (see Enoch 17:34 et al). It is translated in the following languages as (click or tap for details):
Tzotzil: “I who am equal with men” or “The Older Brother of Everybody” (“expressing the dignity and authority of the Messiah and the universality of his work”)
Tenango Otomi: “The Man Appointed” (i.e. the man to whom authority has been delegated) (source for this and preceding: Beekman, p. 189-190, see also Ralph Hill in Notes on Translation February 1983, p. 35-50)
Aguaruna: “One who was born becoming a person” (source for this and two above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Older Sibling of Mankind” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Child of a Person” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “One From Heaven Born of Man/human?” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Man who came from heaven” (source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Yatzachi Zapotec: “One who God sent, who was born a human” (a direct translation would have suggested “that the father is unknown due to the indiscretions of the mother” and where “he is the son of people” is used when one wants to disclaim responsibility for or relationship with a child caught in some mischief — source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Kâte: Ŋic Fâri Wâtuŋne or “the man who is a true support” (source: Renck, p. 106)
Mezquital Otomi: “The son who became a person” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
Alekano: “The true man who descended from heaven” (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation June 1986, p. 36ff.)
Central Tarahumara: “One who has been stood up to help” (“This suggests that Christ has been given authority to some appointed task. A very generic word, help, was selected to fill in the lexically obligatory purpose required by the word which means to appoint or commission. Usually this word is used of menial tasks but not exclusively. The choice of this generic term retains the veiled reference to the character of Christ’s work which He intended in using the ‘Son of Man’ title.”)
Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “He who is relative of all people.” (“The Triqui word for relative is a rather generic term and in its extended sense sometimes is diluted to neighbor and friend. But the primary meaning is relative.”)
Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “The Person who Accompanies All People” (“The literal equivalents ‘son of man’ and ‘son of people’ were both rejected because of the false inference of natural birth involving a human father. Furthermore, it was necessary to expand any translation of the Bible by the addition of the pronoun ‘I’ so as to clarify the fact that Jesus is using the third person in referring to Himself. A common expression used by the Cuicatecos when difficulties befall someone, is to say to that one, ‘don’t worry, we are accompanying you.’ By this they mean they share that person’s sorrow. When wedding guests arrive at the home of a son who has just been married, they say to the father, ‘We have come to accompany you.’ By this they mean that they have come to share the father’s joy. These expressions do not refer to ordinary physical accompaniment, which is expressed by a set of different verbs. For example, visits are always announced by some such greeting as, “I have come to visit you,’ ‘I have come to see you,’ or ‘I have come to ask you something.’ The desire to accompany a friend on a journey is expressed by saying, ‘I will go with you.’ Translation helpers used the verb ‘accompany’ in constructing the phrase ‘I, the Person who Accompanies All People.'(…) It reflects the fact that Jesus closely identified Himself with all of us, understands our weaknesses, shares our burdens, rejoices with us in times of gladness, etc.”) (source for this and the three preceding: Beekman in Notes on Translation January 1963, p. 1-10)
Guhu-Samane: “Elder-brother-man” (“Since the term denotes an elder brother in every way such as honor, power, leadership, representation of the younger, etc. it is a meaningful and fitting — though not ostentatious — title.” Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff. )
Navajo (Dinė): Diné Silíi’ii — “Man he-became-the-one-who” (“This terra presented a difficulty not only in Navajo but also one peculiar to all the Athapaskan languages. It lies in the fact that all these languages, so far as we know, have a word phonetically similar to the Navajo diné which has three meanings: ‘man, people in general,’ ‘a man,’ ‘The People’ which is the name the Navajos use for themselves. (The name Navajo was first used by the Spanish explorers.) Although it seemed natural to say diné biye’ ‘a-man his-son,’ this could also mean ‘The-People their-son’ or ‘a-Navajo his-son,’ in contrast to the son of a white man or of another Indian tribe. Since the concept of the humanity of Christ is so important, we felt that diné biye’ with its three possible meanings should not be used. The term finally decided on was Diné Silíi’ii ‘Man he-became-the-one-who.’ This could be interpreted to mean ‘the one who became a Navajo,’ but since it still would impart the idea of Christ’s becoming man, it was deemed adequate, and it has proven acceptable to the Navajos.”) (Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )
Toraja-Sa’dan: “Child descended in the world” (“using a poetic verb, often found in songs that [deal with] the contacts between heaven and earth”) (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Obolo: Gwun̄ Ebilene: “Child of Human” (source: Enene Enene).
Mairasi: Jaanoug Tat: “Person Child” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Costa Rican Sign Language: “It was impossible to translate the expression ‘Son of Man.’ The son-man sign simply means ‘male child.’ The Costa Rican Sign Language (LESCO) team opted for an interpretation of the term and translated it ‘Jesus.'” (Source: Elsa Tamez (in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 59ff. )
Lokạạ: wẹẹn wạ ọnẹn or “son of a person.” “This translation is symbolic in that it uses indigenous Lokạạ words. However, since the publication of the New Testament in 2006, this phrase has gained popularity within contemporary Lokạạ society as an expression to describe an important person whose career is going well. In the New Testament, the phrase ‘son of man’ is used to describe Jesus as prototypically human, but the Lokạạ phrase is now being used to describe an exceptional person in Lokạạ society.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
In many West African languages, using a third person reference as a first person indicator is common practice with a large range of semantic effects. Languages that use the exact expression “son of man” as a self-reference or reference to another person include Lukpa, Baatonum, Mossi (“son of Adam”), Yoruba (“son of person”), Guiberoua Béte, or Samo. (Source: Lynell Zogbo in: Omanson 2000, p. 167-188.)
In Swahili the expression Mwana wa Mtu or mwana wa mtu or “son/daughter of human person,” which is used by several Bible translations, also has “the idiomatic meaning of ‘a human being’” (source: Jean-Claude Loba-Mkole in An Intercultural Criticism of New Testament Translations 2013, see here). The same is true for the Lingala expression Mwana na Moto — “son/daughter of human person.” (Ibid.)
In Balinese “we are again bordering on theological questions when we inquire as to which vocabulary shall be used to translate the texts where Jesus speaks of himself as ‘the Son of man.’ One of the fixed rules governing the use of these special vocabularies is that one may never use the deferential terms in speaking of oneself. This would be the extreme of arrogance. Now if one considers the expression ‘Son of man’ primarily as a description of ‘I,’ then one must continually indicate the possessions or actions of the Son of man by Low Balinese words. In doing this the mystery of the expression is largely lost. In any case the vocabulary used in most of the contexts would betray that Jesus means the title for himself.
“However, a distinction can actually be made in Balinese between the person and the exalted position he occupies. For example, the chairman of a judicial body may employ deferential terms when referring to this body and its chairman, without this being taken as an expression of arrogance. Considered from this standpoint, one may translate in such a way that Jesus is understood as using such deferential words and phrases in speaking of himself. The danger is, however, that the unity between his person and the figure of “the Son of man” is blurred by such usage.
“On request, the New Testament committee of the Netherlands Bible Society advised that ‘the sublimity of this mysterious term be considered the most important point and thus High Balinese be used.'”
“One of the first things that we did in working through the earlier part of the New Testament was to decide on how we would translate some of the more difficult technical terms. It was immediately obvious that something must be done with the translation of ‘the Son of Man,’ since the literal rendering anak manusia (literally ‘child of a man’) held absolutely no meaning for Malay readers. We felt that the title should emphasize the divine origin and authority of the one who used this title, and at the same time, since it was a title, we decided that it should not be too long a phrase. Finally, a phrase meaning ‘the One whom God has ordained’ was chosen (yang dilantik Allah). It is interesting to note that the newly-begun Common Indonesian (Alkitab Kabar Baik, published in 1985) has followed a similar route by translating ‘the One whom God has chosen’ (yang depilih Allah).”
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 3:19:
Uma: “So relatives, repent from your sins and submit to the Lord God, so that he may forgive your sins. From there, the Lord God will strengthen your hearts and he will order Yesus to come to us. Because he is the one whom God decided upon from-the-start to become our Redeemer King.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Na,’ Petros said, ‘regret and let-go-of your sins, and return now to God so that he will remove/take-away your sins.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And now it is necessary that we (incl.) the descendants of Israel, we must abandon our bad customs. Let’s pray to God and he will forgive us our sins. And then there will be a time when our breath will be given the strength which comes from God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Repent therefore of your sins so you will turn-to-face God, so then he will forget your sins.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Therefore now, repent/be-sorry truly and submit to God, so that you may be forgiven, that your sins may be removed.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Chuj: “Therefore think yourselves; change yourselves, put your minds into God so that your sins will be caused to be finished-remaining out. If thus, there is a time God will send peace to you.”
Teutila Cuicatec: “Now repent of your sins and call on God so that he can forgive you and quiet and encourage your hearts. (Source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 5:29:
Uma: “Petrus answered with the other apostles of the Lord Yesus, they said: ‘We(excl.) still follow the command of God, not the command of man.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Petros and the other commissioned ones answered, they said, ‘What we (excl.) must obey is the command of God, not the command of man/humans.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then Peter and the other apostles answered saying, ‘It is necessary that we obey the commands of God, not the commands which are made by people.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Pedro and his fellow apostles answered and they said, ‘It-is-emphatically -necessary that God is the one we (excl.) obey, not people.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But Pedro and his fellow apostles replied. They said, ‘It’s essential that the will of God is what we (excl.) obey, not the will of men which is contrary to what he instructed us (excl.) to do.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
San Mateo del Mar Huave: “So Peter said, together with the other apostles, they say, ‘It is more necessary that we believe that which Father God has commanded us to do, rather than that which the people command us.'”
Isthmus Mixe: “Then Peter and Jesus’ sent ones answered: ‘By all means we are going to obey what God commands. If people command otherwise, we will not obey.'”
Teutila Cuicatec: “We obey God’s commands for this is more important than the commands of the people of the world.”
Chol: “We (excl.) must obey God even though in doing this we (excl) disobey the commands of men.” (Source for this and four above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
