The Greek in Luke 1:41 that is often translated in English as “leap (or: leaped)” is translated with appropriate idioms as “trampled” (Javanese), “shook-itself” (Kituba), “wriggled” (Thai), “danced” (Taroko), “stirred” (Toraja-Sa’dan), “sprawled” (Batak Toba), “played” (Shipibo-Conibo). In Dan the clause has to be “her stomach moved” since “leaping” sounded vulgar. (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
In Elhomwe it is ahiirukunusarukunusa or “turned around.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Bill Michell (in Omanson 2001, p. 431) explains why in Cusco Quechua the women on the translation team had to intervene to correct a translation that was too literal:
“In the [Cusco Quechua] project in Peru the first draft of Luke’s Gospel was done by a man. In the case of Luke 1:41 his translation was quite literal. He had the unborn child physically jumping, unhampered and unhindered. This was met with some laughter from the women on the team. They suggested an onomatopoeic expression to communicate the sensation of a sudden movement in the womb: wawaqa ‘wat’ak’ nirqan — ‘the child said, ‘Wat’ak!” The child didn’t jump, it ‘spoke’! This times there were smiles instead of laughter as the women recognized something that was authentically their own.”
See also the Vietnamese (Hanoi) Sign Language translation of John the Baptist.
The Greek in Luke 11:40 that is translated as “(you) foolish people” or “(you) foolish ones” is (back-) translated in a number of ways:
- San Blas Kuna: “people having a dark liver” (“incapable of intelligent, thoughtful behavior”) (See Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling.”)
- Ekari: “thought not (having) people”
- Kituba, Sinhala, Marathi, Javanese: “people without sense/understanding/intelligence”
- Batak Toba: “those short-of-mind” (“mostly referring to stupidity or ignorance in general”)
- Zarma: a word indicating a person who refuses to use the intelligence he has
- Chichewa, Yao: expressions implying intractability and willful opposition to common interests or commonly accepted ideas (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
- Mairasi: “(you are) beeswax” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
See also insane / fool.
The Greek in Mark 6:20 that is translated into English as “perplexed” is translated as
- “his heart was gone” in Tzeltal
- “hard chased” (as in animals in a hunt) in Piro
- “his mind was killing him” in Navajo (Dinė)
- “his stomach rose up” in Farefare
- “he was very irresolute” (i.e. “it was all wrong with him”) in Indonesian
- “his heart was very divided” in Javanese (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida 1961)
- “confused his head” in Hiligaynon (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
- “his heart was agitated” in Uma (source: Uma Back Translation)
- “his thinking was difficult” in Kankanaey (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
See also Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling” as well as perplexed, perplexed / puzzled, or troubled / perplexed,
The Greek that is translated as “endure for a while” or “temporary” in English versions is idiomatically translated in Kekchí as “they are like passers by,” an apt description of the transient enthusiast for Christianity. In Toraja-Sa’dan it is translated as “their heart is shallow.” in Javanese as “they are not steadfast” and in Pamona as “only a moment is their heart quiet.” (Source: Bratcher / Nida)
In the German translation by Fridolin Stier (1989) it is translated as “a person of the moment (lit.: “blink of an eye)” (ein Mensch des Augenblicks).
The Greek in Luke 1:66that is often translated as “the hand of the Lord was with him” in English is often rendered by another metaphorical expression, such as “he was sheltered by the hand of the Lord” (Javanese), “the Lord carried him on the palm of his hand” (Toraja-Sa’dan), or “the eye of God was always on him” (Tboli).
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “blasphemy” or “blaspheme” is translated in various forms:
The Greek in Luke 15:17 that is translated as “he came to himself” or “he came to his senses” is (back-) translated in a number of ways:
- Sranan Tongo: “he came to get himself”
- Tzeltal: “his heart arrived”
- Thai (translation of 1967): “he sensed himself” (implying realization that he had done wrong)
- Kekchí: “it fell into his heart”
- Tagalog: “his self came back”
- Yaka, Chuukese, Pohnpeian: “he came to wisdom (or: became wise)”
- Kituba: “he understood himself”
- Uab Meto: “his heart came to life again”
- Kaqchikel: “he came out of his stupor”
- Lomwe, Yao: “he was turned, or, aroused (as from sleep), in his heart”
- Javanese: “he became-aware of his own condition”
- Kele: “he thought again about his affair” (source for all above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
- Mairasi: “his own liver’s sky split” (In Mairasi, the liver is the seat of emotions) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
The Greek that is translated with “deny himself” or “deny oneself” is according to Bratcher / Nida “without doubt one of the most difficult expressions in all of Mark to translate adequately.” These are many of the (back-) translations:
