Language-specific Insights

tohu wa-bohu

The Hebrew assonance tohu wa-bohu is often translated in English as “formless void” or some equivalent, but in some translations and languages attempts have been made to recreate some of its literary flavor:

  • English: wild and waste (Fox 1995); welter and waste (Alter 2004); void and vacant (James Moffatt 1935); complete chaos (New Revised Standard Version, updated edition 2021)
  • German: Irrsal und Wirrsal (Buber / Rosenzweig 1976); wüst und wirr (Einheitsübersetzung, 1980/2016)
  • French: vide et vague (La Bible de Jérusalem, 1975)
  • Ancient Greek: aóratos kaí akataskévastos (ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος) (Septuagint)

A number of modern languages have also adopted form of tohu wa-bohu as an idiom for a state of chaos. These include:

See also formless void.

word play in Isaiah 5:7

The Hebrew of Isaiah 5:7 employs a word play with “justice” and “bloodshed” (mišpāṭ — miśpāḥ) and “righteousness” and “cry” (liṣḏāqāh — ṣə‘āqāh) that the German common language version (Die Gute Nachricht, 1982) is able to replicate:

Er hoffte auf Rechtsspruch
— und erntete Rechtsbruch,
statt Liebe und Treue
nur Hilfeschreie.

Source: John Ellington in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 301ff.

See also poetry in Isaiah 5:1-6.

remove the roof

The Greek that is translated in English with “remove the roof” is translated into Avaric with an existing term: t’ox bichize. “Demolishing a roof in order to reach the interior of a house is an entirely familiar action, used, for example, in assaults on strongholds and fortified buildings in wartime; there is even a special phrase for this in Avaric (t’ox bichize).” (Source: Magomed-Kamil Gimbatov and Yakov Testelets in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 434ff. .

In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated with the professional term Dach abdecken or “unroof.” In Luke 5:19, the Greek text only implies the removing of the roof but Berger / Nord add deckten einige Ziegel ab or “remove some roof tiles” for clarification.

See also Mark 2:1-12 in Russian Sign Language.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Is there precedent for coming in through the roof in Mark 2:1-12 .

the sun’s light failed

The Greek that is usually translated as “the sun’s light failed (or: darkened)” in English is translated by the predominant US Catholic English New American Bible (1970, 1986) as eclipse of the sun. (Source: Jost Zetzsche)

In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated idiomatically with die Sonne versagte ihren Dienst or “the sun refused to be of service.”

love (John 21:15-17)

The different Greek words (agapaō and phileō) that are used in the conversation between Jesus and Peter (the first two times, Jesus asked Peter whether he “agapaōs” him, to which Peter answers that he “phileōs” Jesus, whereas the third time, Jesus’ question and Peter’s answer are both “phileō“) and that are typically all translated “love” in English are differentiated in some translations:

  • The English translation by Blackwelder (1980) differentiate with love and have affection, Cassirer (1989) with love and hold dear, Pakaluk (2021) has cherish and love, and Ruden (2021) has love and close friend
  • A number of German translations (Luther 2017, Neue Genfer Übersetzung 2011, Menge 2010, BasisBibel 2021) use lieben (for agapaō) vs. lieb haben for phileō (“love” vs. “be very fond of”); the translation by Fridolin Stier (1989) has “love” and “be a friend”
  • Likewise, the French Bible Segond 21 (publ. 2007) uses aimer vs. avoir l’amour with a similar difference than the former German translations
  • The Burmese Myanmar Standard Bible (2017) has hkyit (ချစ်) vs. hkyithkain (ချစ်ခင်), also “love” vs. “love / be fond of.”
  • Kayaw makes a distinction as well (source: Anonymous)

See also Translation commentary on John 21:15.

Do you not say: ‘Four months more - then comes the harvest’?

The Greek in John 4:35 that is translated as “Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’?” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as Ihr kennt doch die alte Bauernregel: ‘Nach der Saat der Monde vier, steht die Ernte vor der Tür’ or “You know the old country lore: ‘After sowing the moons are four, then the harvest knocks at the door.'” The “country lore” is written exactly in the style of a German country lore, including the rhythm of the language and the rhyme at the end of the lines.

dwell, tabernacle

The term in John 1:14 that is translated as “tabernacle” or “dwell” (also: “lived”) in English versions is translated in Hakha Chin as “made his village among us,” an expression that shows he was not just a casual visitor. (Source: David Clark)

Huehuetla Tepehua translates it as “came and lived with us here a little while.” (Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)

In the German translation by Fridolin Stier (1989) it is translates as “he pitched (or: lived in) his tent among us.”

See also tabernacle (noun).

phylacteries, tefillin

The Greek in Matthew 23:5 that is translated as “phylacteries” or “tefillin” in many English translations is translated in Uma as “prayer headbands” (source: Uma Back Translation), in Yakan as “containers for the writing copied from the holy-book which are tied to foreheads and arms” (source: Yakan Back Translation), in Kankanaey as “storage-place of verses that are part of the law, that they tie around foreheads and arm/hands” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation), in Tagbanwa as “that which is bound round the head and arm which containing a few words of the written word of God” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation), in Central Mazahua as “the little leathers that are tied at their elbows and at their foreheads where they put God’s word,” in Navajo as “little leather bundles with holy words in them” (source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2-20), and in Cherokee as “headband” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16).

In Lokạạ it is translated as yakubẹẹn bạ yafọngi kaa likạ or “boxes where words are written,” therefore “describing the appearance of the item rather than its function.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

The now commonly-used German term Denkzettel (literally “contemplation note”), which today is primarily used with the meaning of a penalty or an experience that’s supposed to change a person’s behavior, goes back to Martin Luther’s 1522 New Testament translation for “phylacteries.” It was kept through and including the revision of 1912. (Source: Redewendungen aus der Bibel )

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about phylacteries (source: Bible Lands 2012)