The Greek that is translated into English as “vain” or “in vain” in English is (back-) translated in various ways:
- Cashibo-Cacataibo: “say I am important, but they do not believe it”
- Kekchí: “has no meaning when they praise me”
- Toraja-Sa’dan, Pamona: “uselessly”
- Copainalá Zoque: “uselessly they remember”
- Farefare: “their religion is their mouth”
- Southern Subanen: “their worship has no meaning”
- Tzotzil: “they say they love me, but this means nothing”
- Southern Bobo Madaré: “they worship me but they do not mean what they say”
- Central Mazahua: “it is of no value that they honor me”
- San Blas Kuna: “their thinking is not in their hearts” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
- Mairasi: “tribute of theirs for me [which] will-be-on-their-own” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
- Guhu-Samane: “with the front teeth of their mouths they worship me” (“‘In vain’ caused puzzlement [because] why should their efforts to worship God produce no results, try as they may? [But the idiom] ‘with the front teeth of their mouths they worship me’ comes from the picture of one who is making a pretense at eating food, hence their deceit is apparent.’ Source: Ernest L. Richert in Notes on Translation December 1963: p. 4-7; reprinted in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff.)
The Greek that is translated as “first commandment” in English is translated in Guhu-Samane as “the head of the rest of the commandments… .” This solves a potential confusion for Guhu-Samane speakers whether the commandment is “the first in point of time, or of importance. [This way] it speaks obviously of the primacy of the commandment.”
Source: Ernest L. Richert in Notes on Translation December 1963: p. 4-7; reprinted in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff..
The Greek that is typically translated as “the elders of the church” in English is translated as “the old men who believe” in Sayula Popoluca, “those who care for the assembly of Christ” in Rincón Zapotec, “those in authority among the brothers” in Central Mazahua, and “the supervisors of the creed” in Guhu-Samane (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.).
See also elder.
The Greek that is translated as “warming himself at the fire” in most English translations is translated in Guhu-Samane with the idiom “he fire-cured (himself).”
Source: Ernest L. Richert in Notes on Translation December 1963: p. 4-7; reprinted in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff..
The Hebrew that is translated as “majestic” in most English translations is translated in Guhu-Samane as “the quality of the bull-roarer call.” Ernest Richert explains: “In searching for a suitable equivalent for ‘majestic’ it was learned that the bull-roarer had the important function not only of announcing poro ceremonies [poro is the traditional religion], but also the arrival of a great or important person. Of a notable man it is said that his name had the quality of the bull-roarer call. Thus the passage is translated: ‘O Lord, our Lord in all the great earth your name has the quality of the bull-roarer call’.”
Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff.
The Greek that is translated as “there you will see him” in English is translated in Guhu-Samane as “there you will see his substance.”
“There you will see him” caused “puzzlement: Will see him, but in spirit form, or corporeal? (A valid question for people of this culture to whom the spirits of departed ones frequently appear.) [But] ‘there you will see his substance’ is now clearly and unambiguously understood to mean Christ would be seen corporeally.”
Source: Ernest L. Richert in Notes on Translation December 1963: p. 4-7; reprinted in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff..
The Greek that is translated as a form of “your feet shod (in readiness) for the gospel of peace” in English translations is translated in Guhu-Samane as “tying to your feet the pads of the gospel of peace…” “This denotes the readiness for and commissioning to the task at hand.”
Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff.
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “birthright” in most English translations is translated in Guhu-Samane as “the right of the first child of the vine.”
Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff.
The Greek terms that are translated “spirit” and “flesh” are a fundamental contrast, but one which is variously expressed in different languages. Often, however, “spirit” is equivalent to “heart” (Eastern Highland Otomi, Loma, Guerrero Amuzgo, Highland Puebla Nahuatl), and “flesh” may be rendered as “body” (Guerrero Amuzgo, Highland Puebla Nahuatl, Tzeltal) or “you yourself” (Central Tarahumara).
The following translations are illustrative of the contrastive expressions: “your hearts are ready but your bodies are weak” (Highland Puebla Nahuatl), “your heart is strong but you yourselves are not strong” (Central Tarahumara), “your heart has strength, but your body does not have strength” (Tzeltal), “your heart desires to do good, but your heart is weak,” in which “heart” must be used in both clauses since it not only stands for the center of the personality, but is also the symbol of typical human nature (Loma). (Source for this and all above Bratcher / Nida)
In Guhu-Samane an idiomatic expression with “your desire is there, but sleep has slain your body” is used. (Source: Ernest Richert in Notes on Translation December 1963: p. 4-7; reprinted in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff.)
The Greek that is translated as “(he is our) peace” in most English translations is translated in Guhu-Samane as “He is our peace-feather.”
Richert explains: “This affords a delightful cultural and physical ‘exegesis’ for the future teachers, who apply it in this manner. They have an idiom, ‘he is my pinion,’ meaning ‘he is my mainstay;’ for no bird can fly without its pinion feathers. Therefore they first apply this to Christ in his relationship to mankind before the event of Calvary. Then as the feather must be carved in order to be the effective symbol of peace, so Christ was crucified in order to bring peace on earth. In the context of Eph. 2 this is very meaningful to the Guhu-Samanes.”
Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff.
The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that are translated as “wine” in English is translated into Pass Valley Yali as “grape juice pressed long ago (= fermented)” or “strong water” (source: Daud Soesilo). In Guhu-Samane it is also translated as “strong water” (source: Ernest L. Richert in Notes on Translation December 1963: p. 4-7; reprinted in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff.).
See also proceeds from the vine / anything that comes from the grapevine.
This verse is translated in Guhu-Samane as “The man who is unmovable in a test is in a happy condition. For those who love God are the ones into whose armbands he promised to insert the victory flower of life. So then, after the test is over that man will have the victory flower inserted.”
Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff.
Handman (2015, p. 115) comments on this: “This suggests that Richert created an underlying message that put the verse in logical, sequential order. God promised man ‘the crown of life’ before anyone actually received it. Therefore, the promise appears before the description of receiving the gift. The underlying message likely mirrored the following organization:
A man who perseveres under a trial is a good man. God promised this crown of life to those who love him. When he passes the test, then he will receive the crown of life.
“‘Crown of life’ in the Greek and most English versions becomes ‘flower of life (slipped through an armband)’ in Richert’s translation, a reference to a flower put in a man’s armband as a sign of prestige or victory. Richert was concerned to use the right words and expressions, in the right order, to make the biblical text as comprehensible as possible.'”
See also crown of life.