Translation Insights and Perspectives
The Greek that is translated as “crown of thorns” in English is translated in Navajo as “a hat of a plant that had sharp thorns,” in Inupiaq as “a head-gear of prickly branches,” in Aguaruna as “a thing to crown him with out of thorns,” and in Chol as “woven thorns.”
See also crown of life and complete verse (James 1:12).
The Greek that is translated in English as “sour wine” or “vinegar” is translated in Inupiaq as “wine,” in Navajo as “sour grape juice,” in Aguaruna “bitter drink, and in tip_language language=”7658”]Yatzachi Zapotec[/tip_language] as “cheap wine.”
(Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
See also proceeds from the vine / anything that comes from the grapevine and wine.
The Hebrew that is often translated as “treacherous enemies” in English is translated in Inupiaq with a term that implies that they have no reason to be his enemies.
The Greek that is often translated as “he gave up his spirit” in English is translated in a variety of ways:
The Hebrew that is often translated as “open wide their mouths against me” is translated in Inupiaq as “accuse.”
The Greek that is translated as “casting” or “drawing lots” in English is often translated with a specific idiom, such as “to take out bamboo slips” — 規 矩 掣 籤 guījǔ chè qiān (in most Chinese Bibles), “each to pick-up which is-written (i.e. small sticks inscribed with characters and used as slots)” (Batak Toba), a term for divination by means of reed stalks (Toraja-Sa’dan). In some cases a cultural equivalent is not available, or it is felt to be unsuitable in this situation, e.g. in Ekari where “to spin acorns” has the connotation of gambling, one may have to state the fact without mentioning the means, e.g. “it came to him,” (source for this and all above: Reiling / Swellengrebel). In Shipibo-Conibo there was no equivalent for “casting lots” so the translation for Mark 15:24 is descriptive: “they shook little things to decide what each one should take” (source: Nida 1952, p. 47).
In Purari it is translated as “throw shells” (source: David Clark), in Kwara’ae (in Acts 1:26) as “they played something like dice to find out who of the two God chose (God revealed his will that way)” (source: Carl Gross), in Navajo as “draw straws,” in Yatzachi Zapotec as “raffle,” in Chol “choose by a game” (source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.), and in Inupiaq a term for “gambling” is used. The same Inupiaq term is also used in Esther 3:7, “though there winning and losing is not in view, but rather choosing by chance” (source: Robert Bascom)
The stand-alone term that is translated “lots” in English is translated as “two pieces of potsherd” in Highland Totonac. (Source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.)
The Hebrew that is often translated as “(do not let them) rejoice over me” in English is translated in Inupiaq as “(not) gloat.”
The Greek that is translated as “neighbor” in English is rendered into Babatana as “different man,” i.e. someone who is not one of your relatives. (Source: David Clark)
In Inupiaq, it is rendered as “a person outside of your building,” in Tzeltal as “your back and side” (implying position of the dwellings), in Indonesian and in Tae’ as “your fellow-man,” in Toraja-Sa’dan it is “your fellow earth-dweller,” in Shona (translation of 1966) as “another person like you,” in Kekchí “younger-brother-older-brother” (a compound which means all one’s neighbors in a community) (sources: Bratcher / Nida and Reiling / Swellengrebel), and in Mairasi “your people” (source: Enggavoter 2004).
In Matt 19:19, Matt 22:39, Mark 12:31, Mark 12:33, Luke 10:27, it is translated into Ixcatlán Mazatec with a term that refers to a person who is socially/physically near. There is also another term for “neighbor” that means “fellow humans-outsiders” which was not chosen for these passages. (Source: Robert Bascom)
The Hebrew that is translated as “(take) delight” in English is translated in Inupiaq as “look for your happiness.”
The Greek that is translated as “tradition” in English is translated in Kekchí as “the old root-trunk” (in which the life of a people is likened to a tree), in Central Tarahumara, as “to live as the ancients did,” in Inupiaq as “sayings passed down from long-ago times,” in Navajo as “what their fathers of old told them to follow,” in Toraja-Sa’dan as “the ordinance maintained by the forefathers,” in Tzeltal as “word that has been kept from the ancients” (source for this and all above Bratcher / Nida), and in Gumuz as “the life of your fathers” (source: Loren Bliese).
In Obolo it is translated as orọmijọn̄: “the deeds of the ground” (source: Enene Enene).
The Greek that is rendered as “faithful” in English is (back-) translated in various ways:
See also faith / believe.