Language-specific Insights

stand firm in faith . . . not stand at all

There is a play-on-words in Hebrew in this verse: loʾtaʾaminu (you will not believe) and loʾteʾamenu (you shall not be established). Both believe and be established come from the same Hebrew verb, meaning “be firm.” Translators should try to preserve this play-on-words even though the overall meaning may suffer slightly; for example, New American Bible has “Unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm.” Good News Translation also tries to retain the wordplay with “If your faith is not enduring, you will not endure.” (Source: Ogden / Sterk 2011)

The English New Revised Standard as well as its updated edition and the New International Version recreate the word play in this manner:
“If you do not stand firm in faith,
you shall not stand at all.”

The German Gute Nachricht (Good News) translation uses a different word play by repeating the words “ihr,” “nicht,” and “bleibt”:
wenn ihr nicht bei ihm bleibt, dann bleibt ihr überhaupt nicht (“if you don’t stay with him, then you won’t stay at all”)

Temptation story in Scots (Matthew 4:1-11)

The translation of the New Testament into Scots by Lorimer (1983) has a an alternate translation of Jesus’ temptation in the Gospel of Matthew where the text is in Scots except that the devil is speaking in English.

Lorimer’s son, who edited and released the translation posthumously notes: “In the sole surviving draft, my father spells the Deil’s English like Scots mispronounced. My father’s Scots phonetics merely labour the point. In the transcript here printed, I have accordingly substituted conventional English spelling; and by quoting from the Authorised Version [King James Version] the Deil reminds us how much influence it has exerted in Scotland during the last three hundred and fifty years.” (p. 455n) [Note that only the second of the three statements by the devil is quoted from the Authorised Version, the first is quoted from the Revised Standard Version and the third is a new translation.]

Following is the text (in: Lorimer 1983, p. 455):

Syne jesus wis led awà bi the Spirit tae the muirs for tae be tempit bi the Deil.

Whan he hed taen nae mait for fortie days an fortie nichts an wis fell hungrisome, the Temper cam til him an said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves.”

Jesus answert, “It says i the Buik:

Man sanna live on breid alane, but on ilka wurd at comes furth o God’s mouth.”

Neist the Deil tuik him awa til the Halie Citie an set him on a ledgit o the Temple an said til him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down to the ground. For it says in the Bible:

He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Jesus answert, “Ithergates it says i the Buik: ‘Thou sanna pit the Lord thy God tae the pruif’.”

Aince mair the Deil tuik him awà, this time til an unco heich muntain, whaur he shawed him aa the kíngdoms o the warld an their glorie an said til him, “All this I will give you, if you will only go down on your knees and worship me.”

Than Jesus said til him, “Awà wi ye, Sautan! It says i the Buik:

Thou sal ivurship the Lord thy God, an him sal thou sair alane.”

At that the Deil loot him abee, an immedentlie angels cam an fettelt for him.

pearls before swine

The now commonly-used English idiom “pearls before swine” (meaning something valuable presented to someone who doesn’t recognize its worth) was first coined in 1526 in the English New Testament translation of William Tyndale (in the spelling (cast ye youre) pearles before swyne) (source: Crystal 2010, p. 286). Likewise The now commonly-used German idiom Perlen vor die Säue werfen was made popular in 1522 in the German New Testament translation by Martin Luther (source: Günther 2017, p. 90).

In Russian, this phrase (Не мечите бисер перед свиньями — Ne mechite biser pered svin’yami) is also widely used as an idiom. The wording of the quote originated in the Russian Synodal Bible (publ. 1876). (Source: Reznikov 2020, p. 12)

complete verse (Genesis 28:15)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 28:15:

  • Kankanaey: “It is moreover utterly true that I will be with you (sing.) continually so-that I will take-care-of you (sing.) wherever (lit. even-if where) you-(sing.)-go. Then I will also escort you (sing.) to return to this country here. I will not moreover leave/abandon you (sing.), but rather I will fulfill all that I promised to you (sing.),’ God said.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “I am with you. No matter where you go I will be caring for you. And I will bring you back here. I will not leave you until the work of [my] promise to you has been fulfilled.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Always remember that I am-with you and I will-watch-over you wherever you go. I will-have- you -return to this land and I will- not -leave you until I have-fulfilled my promise to you.'” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I will help you and protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you; I will continue to do for you all that I have promised to do.'” (Source: Translation for Translators)

upright

The Hebrew that typically is translated as “upright” in English is translated in the English Job translation by E.L. Greenstein (2019) as “straight (of path).”

pale

The last word of Nahum 2:10 in Hebrew is of uncertain meaning. It refers to some color, but it is not clear what color. Some translators render it as “black” (the English version by James Moffatt, 1926/1935) or cramoisis — “crimson” (the French Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, 2010), but the majority think that paleness fits better with a description of fear. Translators should use word pictures or idioms which are natural in their languages for expressing reactions to fear; for example, “soul (guardian spirit) disappears and bile is stirred up” (Thai). (See also terrified / afraid and also Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling.”)

honey

The Hebrew of the middle part of Song of Songs 5:1 is translated in many English translations (Authorized Version, Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, Christian Standard Bible, Common English Bible, New Living Translation and the New American Bible among others) as “I ate my honeycomb with my honey.”

Rob Koops remarks on this: “One wonders if they missed the double meaning of ‘my honey,’ (=my loved one) or saw it, chuckled, and left it in the text. I’m not sure how widely ‘honey’ or ‘my honey’ is used in English for a loved one, but for some of us this is quite common.”

become strong in spirit (Luke 1:80)

The Greek in Luke 1:80 that is often translated as “become (or: became) strong in spirit” in English is translated as “was-made-strong as to his soul” in Sundanese. In the English Gospel translation of E.V. Rieu (1952) it is translated as “gathered spiritual strength.”

In Mairasi, it is translated as “increasing in strength of throat (= spirit; will; mind)” (source: Enggavoter 2004).