The Greek term exodos (ἔξοδος) that is used in Luke 9:31, is typically translated as “departure” in English, but a handful of English translations use exodus, including the New Revised Standard Version, updated edition (2021) (“They appeared in glory and were speaking about his exodus”), the New Living Translation (2004, 2007), and The Second Testament by Scot McKnight (2023) (“who, appearing in splendor, were talking about his exodus”).
The French translation of Chouraqui (1985) uses exode (Apparaissant dans leur gloire, ils parlent de son exode) and the Danish Authorized Version (last revision 1992) uses udgang, the same term that is used in Hebrews 11:22 for the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt (note that the Old Testament Exodus book is called Anden Mosebog or “The second book of Moses” in Danish).
A number of translations don’t use the term for “exodus” in the translation but point to it in a note, including the French Nouvelle Français courant (latest rev. 2007) and the Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, édition intégrale (1977 / 2010) (“Jesus must bring about the new exodus through his death, resurrection, and ascension”), the CatalanTraducció Interconfessional (1995), or the various Catholic Christian Community Bibles (see here).
The note in Sarah Ruden’s translation (2021, p. 200) says this: “In this context, Moses and Elijah are the perfect interlocutors. Moses led the exodus (from the Greek for, literally, the ‘road out’; ‘departure’ is the word I use here) of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, and Elijah made his exit from earth on a heavenly chariot. Also, Moses and Elijah sum up the main authority of scripture, ‘the law and the prophets’: Moses was said to have written the Pentateuch, and Elijah was an exemplary prophet.”
The Greek word that mean both “wind” and “spirit” (pneuma) in English allows for a number of word plays in the text of the New Testament, such as in John 3:8 and Acts 2:2 vs. Acts 2:4 (note that in the case of the example in Acts 2, two different words are used in Greek — pnoé and pneuma — but both come from the same root word).
Languages that have been able to maintain the word play — and, in the case of Acts 2 — strengthen it:
Another meaning of pnoé and pneuma in Acts 2 is “breath.” Which leads Iver Larsen to explain another translation solution: “I have been wondering why English versions translate the Greek word for breath pnoé with wind in Acts 2:2. The only other instance is in Acts 17:25: “Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath” (here and below New International Version). The verb pnéó means ‘blow’ and can be used for both a wind blowing and a puff of air from a person breathing on something or someone. Acts 2:2 is related to John 20:22: ‘And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.” A different verb is used, but semantically similar. I consider this as a foreshadowing or promise of Acts 2:2, so a connection would be nice to have. In Acts 2:2 I take the one breathing mightily on the disciples to be the resurrected Christ. Only after his resurrection could Jesus release the full power of the Spirit to the disciples. These verses are also connected to Genesis 2:7: ‘God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath (Septuagint: pnoé) of life.’ In Danish there is a close connection between “spirit” (ånd) and breath/breathe (ånde). So, in Acts 2:2 we [in The Bible in Everyday Danish, 2022] use the word ‘åndepust‘ which I cannot translate properly into English, but something like ‘puff of breath/spirit.'”
The 1985 French translation by Chouraqui, which uses souffle sacré or “sacred breath” for Holy Spirit, likewise uses souffle or “breath” in Acts 2:2 (source: Laurence Belling).
The now commonly-used English idiom “eye for an eye” (meaning revenge or retribution) was first coined in 1526 in the English New Testament translation of William Tyndale. (Source: Crystal 2010, p. 285)
Likewise in Mandarin Chinese, the phrasing that was coined to translate “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” — yǐyǎn huányǎn, yǐyá huányá (以眼还眼，以牙还牙 / 以眼還眼，以牙還牙) — has also become a Chinese proverb (see here ).
Other languages that have idioms based on the Hebrew that is translated “an eye for an eye” in English include:
In Alekano it is translated as “if someone gouges out your eye, gouge out his eye,” since in that language body parts need to have an obligatory possessive designator attached. (Source: Larson 1998, p. 42)
The Hebrew in Exodus 7:17 that is translated as “Thus says the Lord, ‘By this you shall know that I am the Lord.’” or similar in English is translated in the DanishBibelen på Hverdagsdansk (publ. 1985, rev. 2015 et al.) as “But now the God of the Hebrews [hebræernes Gud] is telling you: You will see that I am their God.”
Iver Larsen explains: “Each nation had their own god who should protect the people and fight their enemies. The people should then worship their god. Pharaoh knew his own gods, and YHWH was not one of them. However, he is told that this unknown god, called YHWH, is the God of the Hebrews, the God of Israel. YHWH will now show that he is fighting for his people, the Hebrews. He will also show that he is more powerful than the Egyptian gods. For the last sentence maybe we could say: By this you will know that I am the God of the Hebrews. The implication is that the Hebrews are his people and he is going to fight for them.”
Sabaot translate this phrase in connection with verse 16 as this: “When he arrives, tell him, ‘The God of the people of Israel has sent me to come and tell you to release my people to go and worship/bow to me there in the wilderness. But you have made your head hard (stubborn) until now. So, he has said that you shall today know/understand who/how he is through the amazing things he is going to do.” (Source: Iver Larsen)
The Greek that is translated in English as “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” is translated into Arop-Sissano as “God’s Talk became a person lamat and lived among us.”
Nystrom explains: “In Arop, if you want to talk about the real essence of something — its most important part — you talk about the lamat of it. Arops say, ‘I don’t want to tell you everything they said at the meeting, but the talk lamat is like this,’ and they proceeded to tell you the main point of what was said.” (Nystrom 2012, p. 198f.)
In the DanishBibelen 2020, a Bible translation version intended for non-churched people, it is translated as menneske i kød og blod or “human in flesh and blood.” (Source: Iver Larsen)
The Greek in Luke 3:1 that is typically translated in English as “in the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius” is translated by the ItalianLa Sua Parola è Vita translation as Passarono circa due decenni. Era adesso il quindicesimo anno del regno dell’imperatore Tiberio Cesare or “About two decades passed. It was now the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius Caesar.” Cotrozzi (2019) explains: “There is a time gap between the last events recounted in 2:52 and those in 3:1. Jesus was 12 at the end of chapter 2 but about 30 years old when he began his work (3:23). As a result, some 18 years must have elapsed since 2:51-52. However, this is not readily apparent to most modern readers. All the more so since the gap coincides with a break at chapter level and is followed by the same name (Herod) as in 1:5 which seems to indicate continuity. What most readers are not aware of is that the same name refers in Luke to two different historical figures, Herod the Great (1:5) and his son Herod Antipas (3:1). Only a few Bibles — DanishBibelen på Hverdagsdansk and Den Nye Aftale, EnglishNew Living Translation, FrenchLa Parole de Vie, GermanDie Gute Nachricht and Neues Leben Übersetzung, and SpanishTraducción en lenguaje actual — make this clear in the text.”
The Hebrew, Greek, and Latin that is sometimes translated as “ark of the covenant” in English (other English options: “pact chest” [translation by John Goldingay, 2018] or “Coffer of the Covenant” [translation by Everett Fox, 1995]) is translated in various ways:
Mairasi: Anasi Farjora or “Covenant Place” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Following is an artwork by Sister Marie Claire , SMMI (1937–2018) from Bengaluru, India:
For more information about images by Sister Marie Claire and ways to purchase them as lithographs, see here . For other images of Sister Marie Claire paintings in TIPs, see here.
In American Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines “box” and the wings of the cherubim on top of the ark (see Exod 25:18 and following). (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Ark of the covenant” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
The Hebrew that is translated as “fear of the Lord” in English is translated in the DanishBibelen 2020 “love of God.”
Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators explains: “Another interesting case is Isaiah 11:2 where it says that the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. This last part, i.e. fear of God, we translate as ‘love of God’. That could be taking the biblical concept of fear a bit too far but I stand by it. Love probably at least was an aspect of the Hebrew concept of fear of God.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )
