The phrases that are translated as “clean animals” and “unclean animals” in English: The first draft into Maan had “animals not cursed” and “cursed animals,” which did not express correctly the idea of ritually pure and impure animals. So it was changed to “animals accepted by God for sacrifices” and “animals not accepted by God for sacrifices.”
In Kwere it is translated as animals “which are eaten” vs. “which are not eaten.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
In Makonde is is translated as halali and halamu, derived from the Arabic halal (حلال) and haram (حرام), used for permitted and and forbidden animals in Islam. The Makonde speakers are 90% Muslim and this was chosen because these are widely understood terms and because many of the permitted (clean) foods of Judaism and Islam match. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The Hebrew in Psalm 38:3 that is translated as “there is no health in my bones” or similar in English is translated in Kwere with the idiom “my bones are bursting.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The Hebrew in Psalm 32:9 that is translated as “without understanding” or similar in English is reinforced in Sar with the ideophone (a word that expresses what is perceived by the five senses) páráńg á (“Do not imitate the horse or donkey which are beasts páráńg á). Páráńg á stands for “‘a lot.’ Examples: a person who smells strongly of beer, being terribly thirsty, words that exasperated a person.” (Source: Ngarbolnan Riminan in Le Sycomore 2000, p. 20ff. )
In Kwere it is translated as “they don’t know anything.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The phrase that is rendered in English versions as “land flowing with milk and honey” (“milk and syrup” in Goldingay [2018]) is translated into Afar as niqmatak tan baaxoy buqre kee lacah meqehiyya: “a blessed land good for fields and cattle.” (Source: Loren Bliese)
In the interconfessional Chichewa translation (publ. 1999) it is translated with the existing proverb dziko lamwanaalirenji or “a land of what (type of food) can the child cry for?” (i.e. there is more than enough to eat). (Source: Ernst Wendland in The Bible Translator 1981, p. 107 )
In Kwere it is “good/fertile land.” (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The Hebrew word for “honey”, devash, is also used for syrup extracted from figs, dates, and grapes, or from certain types of palm tree. The phrase “a land flowing with milk and honey” refers to a land that is fertile and thus rich in pasture, fruit, and the grain and flowers from which bees make honey. (Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators) )
In Russian, the phrase молоко и мед (moloko i med) or “milk and honey” is widely used as an idiom in every-day life. (Source: Reznikov 2020, p. 67)
The Hebrew in Joshua 2:15 that is translated as “her house was on the outer side of the city wall” or similar in English is translated in Kwere as “the wall of her house was one with the wall of the city.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The Hebrew and Greek that is often translated as “your blood be on your own heads” or similar in English is translated as
“you have the guilt if you don’t receive eternal life” in Highland Popoluca
“you are to blame if you lose your own souls” in Coatlán Mixe
“you will be to blame yourselves when you do not go to a good place” in Isthmus Mixe
“you will be lost but you are at fault yourselves” in Morelos Nahuatl
“you are the ones who are guilty that you will be lost” in Lalana Chinantec (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
“if you die in your bad deeds, it’s your own bad fault” in Bariai (source: Bariai Back Translation)
“let your own blood alone eat you” in Kupsabiny (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
“You have killed yourselves with your own heart” in Chichewa (source: Wendland 1987, p. 28)
“your blood will be to you” (existing idiom) in Kwere (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is translated as “(was or became) angry” in English is translated in Kwere as “saw anger.” In Kwere, emotions are always paired with sensory verbs (seeing or smelling or hearing). (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
In Bariai it is “to have grumbling interiors” (source: Bariai Back Translation).
The Hebrew that is translated as “discharge” or similar in English is translated in Kalanga with tjigwele, a term that refers to sexually transmitted diseases. (Source: project-specific notes in Paratext)
In Kwere, the term ufila is used which implies pus (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext) and in Newari it is translated as “disease of the semen.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
