Language-specific Insights

ponder

The Greek in Luke 2:19 that is translated as “ponder” in English is translated as

  • “continually think-about” in Tboli
  • “turn around in the mind” in Batak Toba
  • “puzzle forth, puzzle back” in Sranan Tongo (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • “constantly setting down her visions” in Mairasi (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • “carried all those words in her heart and then sat thinking” in Enga (source: Adam Boyd on his blog )
  • “moved them in her heart” (bewegte sie in ihrem Herzen) in the German Luther translation
  • “tied those words in her stomach” in Kupsabiny (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)

In Low German idiomatically as “let it pass through her heart again and again” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006).

See also treasured all these things in her heart.

renewal of all things

The Greek in Matthew 19:28 that is translated as “renewal of all things” or similar in English is translated in the German translation by Fridolin Stier (1989) as “renewal of the world” (Welterneuerung).

the Way

The Greek that is often translated in English as “the Way,” referring to the young church in Acts, is translated in a number of ways:

  • Isthmus Mixe: “those who follow the good words about Jesus Christ”
  • Morelos Nahuatl; “the Jews who followed that man Jesus
  • Lalana Chinantec: “the people who took the trail of Jesus”
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “all who believed on Jesus”
  • Rincón Zapotec: “those who had received as truth Christ’s word”
  • Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac: “those who walk in the road of the Lord”
  • Chichimeca-Jonaz: “who believed that message” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Elhomwe: “those who lived according to the Way of the Lord” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): “Christian(ity)”

In the Mandarin Chinese Union Version, the most commonly used Protestant Chinese Bible, it is translated as zhèdào (这道) or “this way.” Note that dào (道) or “way” is the same word that is also used for Logos (usually “Word” in English) in John 1:1 and elsewhere (see Word / Logos).

tomb

The Greek that is translated as “tomb” in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as Felsengrab or ” tomb hewn out of rock” at every first mention in each of the gospels.

mark

The Hebrew in Ezekiel 9:4 and Ezekiel 9:6 that is translated as “mark” or “sign” in Protestant English Bibles was translated in the Latin Vulgate translation as signa thau or “signs of Thau.” The Hebrew had used tav (תָּו) which means “mark” or “sign,” but was interpreted here as strictly referring to tav (taw) (ת), the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

This is a tradition that Catholic Bibles, for into the 1940s which the Vulgate was the source version, have maintained until the present day. While the 16th century English Dhouay-Rheims version translated this directly as mark Thau, later versions either translated this as “X” (New American Bible, including its Revised Edition), but were more commonly using cross (Knox, Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Catholic Bible, Christian Community Bible). In a footnote it usually says something like this: “Literally, ‘with a tau.’ This was the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and in the old script a cross was the symbol for it.”

Indeed, this is what tav looked like historically:

Source: Wikipedia

Protestant Bibles in English, with the exception of the recent Evangelical Heritage Version (2019), all use a form of “mark.”

Other languages have the same tradition. The French Catholic La Bible de Jérusalem uses croix, the Mandarin Chinese Sigao translation says 一個十字記號 (yīge shízì jìhào) or “a mark in the sign of a cross,” the Portuguese Bíblia Ave Maria uses cruz, the Polish Biblia Tysiąclecia uses Taw (and mentions in a footnote that taw used to be written in the form of a cross), the German EinheitsübersetzUng has Taw as well, and the Spanish El Libro del Pueblo de Dios has “T.”

This last translation (“T”) also found its way into a series of stained glass window from the Three choir windows in the Marienkirche, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, of the 14th century (note the “T” in the antichrist’s halo as well as on the forehead on his followers):

Source: Das Antichristfenster by Ludger Каup, 2010

Incidentally, the German word for devil is “Teufel” (in the spelling “tiuvel” in the 14th century), which likely helped the choice of the “T” for the mark.

See also other stained glass windows from the Marienkirche in Frankfurt.

kiss (feet)

The Greek that is translated as “kissing his feet” and “kiss my feet” in these verses in English is translated in Medumba as “massaged his feet,” as people do to show reverence to a chief, especially when imploring his protection or forgiveness. (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)

In Luke 7:38, the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) translates as küßte sie zärtlich or “kissed them tenderly.”

See also kiss and kiss his feet.

Sabbath day’s journey (Acts 1:12)

The Greek that is translated as “Sabbath day’s journey” in English is translated in Elhomwe as “nearly one kilometer,” which was all you can travel on the Sabbath. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated as der nicht weiter von der Stadt entfernt ist, als man am Sabbat gehen kann or “which is no further away from the city than you can walk on the Sabbath.”

About the early translation efforts into Kankanaey, J.B. Newman (2018, p. 82f.) tells this story about her husband Barclay Newman in 1968:

“Barclay and his family had been living in the Philippines for only a short time, when he had a request from a Wycliffe missionary translator to come to a tribal group of people living in the interior hill country near Baguio in the Philippines. The translator knew the language and was working on a translation of the New Testament for this group of people who had never had even a part of the Bible translated into their language.

“‘Barclay recalls that late in the afternoon, after a full day’s work with the translator, he was standing outside, watching a tribal man cooking something on a small fire. The Wycliffe translator was also watching, and as she and Barclay conversed about the days’ translation questions, Barclay asked her, ‘How did you translate Acts 1.12 where the Scripture , ‘The Mount of Olives that was about a Sabbath Day’s journey from Jerusalem?’’

“The translator explained to Barclay that she and her colleague had translated this as, ‘The Mount of Olives that is as far from Jerusalem as can walk on a day of rest.’

“Barclay looked intently at the translator, who then asked, ‘That doesn’t get it, does it?’

“He explained, ‘The phrase goes back to the time of Moses, when the Israelites were living in the desert. In New Testament times it had come to be used as a measurement of distance.’ Then Barclay asked the translator how the people of this tribe measured distance? ‘Do they use miles or kilometers? If so, you could translate either ‘about half a mile’ or ‘about a kilometer.’ Or if they use time to measure distance, you could say ‘about a twenty or thirty-minute walk.’’

“The old squatting gentleman – more naked than not – continued to cook his meat on the small fire. The translator discussed the problem in the old man’s language and finally decided to translate the verse as, ‘The Mount of Olives that is as far from Jerusalem as you can walk in the time that it takes a pot of bananas to cook.’

“Barclay wanted to be very exacting and correct before he agreed to this method of measuring distance, so he asked the translator to inquire of the old tribal man if he meant a big pot of bananas or a small pot of bananas? She repeated Barclay’s question, and the old man’s brown, shriveled up face broke into a wide grin. Then he replied, ‘Any fool – even a white man – ought to know that if you have a big bunch of bananas to cook, you build a big fire and use a big pot, and if you have a small amount of bananas to cook, you build a small fire and use a small pot. It always takes the same amount of time to cook a pot of bananas. Anyone should know that.’

“The translator confirmed that this was true, because she and the other missionary lady who lived and worked with her in the village would go out for a walk each evening while the bananas were cooking, and it always took about the same amount of time, whether it was a big pot or a small pot.”

See also Translation commentary on Acts 1:12.

for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks

The Greek that is translated as “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” or similar in English is translated in Muna as “what comes-out at the lips, it comes from the fullness/overflowing of the heart.”

René van den Berg explains: “It is very impolite in Muna to mention someone’s mouth (wobha) or tongue (lela). The words themselves are not taboo or obscene, but in combination with a possessor they are frowned upon and should be avoided. In fact, if you want to abuse someone, you should refer to his or her mouth or tongue. The implications for translation are obvious (…). [Sometimes] ‘mouth’ was replaced by ‘lips’ (wiwi), a perfectly acceptable term, even when possessed.”

In the German Luther Bible it says: Denn wes das Herz voll ist, des geht der Mund über or “what the heart is full of, with that the mouth flows over” (source: Zetzsche), in Uab Meto it says “his mouth says only what the heart is more than full of,” and in Tzeltal it is “in our hearts arise all those things which come out of our mouths” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel), and in Elhomwe it is translated literally since that exact idiom is used in that language as well (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext).

In Cherokee, “abundance of the heart” is translated as “heart place” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 30).