Kekchí – TIPs

hypocrite

The Greek and Hebrew terms that are translated as “hypocrite” in English typically have a counterpart in most languages. According to Bratcher / Nida (1961, p. 225), they can be categorized into the following categories:

those which employ some concept of “two” or “double”
those which make use of some expression of “mouth” or “speaking”
those which are based upon some special cultural feature
those which employ a non-metaphorical phrase

Following is a list of (back-) translations from some languages:

Highland Totonac, Huautla Mazatec, Lacandon, Cuicatec, Highland Puebla Nahuatl: “two-faced”
Obolo: ebi isi iba: “double-faced person” (source: Enene Enene)
Tzeltal, Chol: “two hearts”
Pame: “two mouths”
San Miguel El Grande Mixtec: “two heads”
Kekchí: “two sides”
Shipibo-Conibo: “double (or “forked”) tongue”
Eastern Highland Otomi: “double talk”
Huehuetla Tepehua: “talk false”
Copainalá Zoque: “lie-act”
Kituba, Amganad Ifugao, Chuukese: “lie”
Toraja-Sa’dan: “someone whose lips are fair” (i.e. “gracious”)
Mossi: “have a sweet mouth”
Mazahua: “have a swollen mouth” (from too much speaking)
Tai Dam: “have a straight mouth and a crooked heart”
Kongo: “the bitterness of white” (an idiom based on the fact that white-wash looks nice but tastes bitter)
Malagasy: “spread a clean carpet” (an expression used in Madagascar to describe one who covers up the dirt of an unswept floor just before the arrival of guests)
Zanaki: “those who make themselves out to be good”
Tetelcingo Nahuatl: “those who deceive” (this and all examples above acc. to Bratcher / Nida 1961, p. 225)
Kafa: “one who makes as if his belly is clean” (source: Loren Bliese)
Agatu: ɔcɛ gigbefu — “disguised person acting a part” (source: Mackay, The Bible Translator 1962, 211f)
Mairasi: “deceiver person” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Bauzi: “good on top person” (source: David Briley in Kroneman (2004), p. 502)
Tibetan: kha chos pa (ཁ་ཆོས་པ།), lit. “mouth + religion + person” (used for instance in Matt. 7:5) or sgyu zog can (སྒྱུ་ཟོག་ཅན།), lit. “deception + fraud + person” (used for instance in Matt. 24:51) (source: gSungrab website )
Low German: “actor in a comedy” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006)
Lélé: ne kub so or “make mouth two” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

The English version of Sarah Ruden (2021) uses “play-actor.” She explains (p. li): “A hupokrites is fundamentally an actor. The word has deep negativity in the Gospels on two counts: professional actors were not respectable people in the ancient world, and traditional Judaism did not countenance any kind of playacting. I write ‘play-actor’ throughout.”

vain (worship)

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. )

catch, fish for

The Greek that means “catch (or: capture) alive” is usually translated as “catch (people)” of “fish (for people)” in English which implies the fact that the captured or caught are still alive.

The Syriac Aramaic (Classical Syriac) Peshitta translation, however, makes the meaning of “catch alive” more explicit by translating ṣāeḏ ləẖayye (ܨܳܐܶܕ݂ ܠܚܰܝܶܐ) or “catch alive.” Following that translation, other translations that are based on the Peshitta, including the Classical Armenian Bible (vorsayts’es i keans [որսայցես ի կեանս] or “catch for life”), the Afrikaans PWL translation (publ. 2016) (mense vang tot verlossing or ” catch [people] to salvation”), the Dutch translation by Egbert Nierop (publ. 2020) (vangen tot redding or “catch to save”) or various English translations (see here ) explicitly highlight the “alive” as well. (Source: Ivan Borshchevsky)

Some languages have to find strategies on how to deal with the metaphor of “catching.” “In some cases the metaphor can be rendered rather literally, cp. ‘seeking for men’ (Kekchí, where ‘to seek fish’ is the idiomatic rendering of ‘to catch fish’). In several other languages, however, more radical adjustments are necessary, such as making explicit the underlying simile, ‘you will catch men as if you were catching fish’ (Inupiaq); or a shift to a non-metaphorical rendering, sacrificing the play-on-words, e.g. ‘you will be a bringer of men’ (Northern Grebo). In some cases the durative aspect of the construction is best expressed by n occupational term, e.g. ‘youwill be one-whose-trade-is catching men’ (Tae’ and Toraja-Sa’dan).” (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)

Other translations include:

Uma: “teach people to become my followers” (source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “fetch people to follow me” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “look for people so that they might be my disciples” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “persuade people” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “as-it-were catch/hunt/fish-for” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

cares of the world, worries of this age

The Greek that is translated as “worries (or: cares) of the world (or: this age)” in English is (back-) translated in a number of ways:

Kekchí: “they think very much about these days now”
Farefare: “they begin to worry about this world-things”
Tzeltal: “their hearts are gone doing what they do when they pass through world” (where the last phrase is an idiomatic equivalent for “this life”
Mitla Zapotec and San Mateo del Mar Huave: “they think intensely about things in this world”
Eastern Highland Otomi and Pamona: “the longing for this world”
Tzotzil: “they are very occupied about things in the world”
Central Tarahumara: “they are very much afraid about what will happen in the world”
Shilluk: “the heavy talk about things in the world”

kiss

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The Hebrew and the Greek that is usually directly translated as “kiss” in English is translated more indirectly in other languages because kissing is deemed as inappropriate, is not a custom at all, or is not customary in the particular context (see the English translation of J.B. Phillips [publ. 1960] in Rom. 16:16: “Give each other a hearty handshake”). Here are some examples:

Pökoot: “greet warmly” (“kissing in public, certainly between men, is absolutely unacceptable in Pökoot.”) (Source: Gerrit van Steenbergen)
Southern Birifor: puor or “greet” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Chamula Tzotzil, Ixcatlán Mazatec, Tojolabal: “greet each other warmly” or “hug with feeling” (source: Robert Bascom)
Afar: gaba tittal ucuya — “give hands to each other” (Afar kiss each other’s hands in greeting) (source: Loren Bliese)
Roviana: “welcome one another joyfully”
Cheke Holo: “love each other in the way-joined-together that is holy” (esp. in Rom. 16:16) or “greet with love” (esp. 1Thess. 5:26 and 1Pet. 5.14)
Pitjantjatjara: “when you meet/join up with others of Jesus’ relatives hug and kiss them [footnote], for you are each a relative of the other through Jesus.” Footnote: “This was their custom in that place to hug and kiss one another in happiness. Maybe when we see another relative of Jesus we shake hands and rejoice.” (esp. Rom. 16:16) (source for this and two above: Carl Gross)
Balanta-Kentohe and Mandinka: “touch cheek” or “cheek-touching” (“sumbu” in Malinka)
Mende: “embrace” (“greet one another with the kiss of love”: “greet one another and embrace one another to show that you love one another”) (source for this and two above: Rob Koops)
Gen: “embrace affectionately” (source: John Ellington)
Kachin: “holy and pure customary greetings” (source: Gam Seng Shae)
Kahua: “smell” (source: David Clark) (also in Ekari and Kekchí, source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
San Blas Kuna: “smell the face” (source: Claudio and Marvel Iglesias in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 85ff.)
Chichewa: “suck” (“habit and term a novelty amongst the young and more or less westernized people, the traditional term for greeting a friend after a long absence being, ‘clap in the hands and laugh happily'”)
Medumba: “suck the cheek” (“a novelty, the traditional term being ‘to embrace.'”)
Shona (version of 1966) / Vidunda: “hug”
Balinese: “caress” (source for this and three above: Reiling / Swellengrebel; Vidunda: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Tsafiki: earlier version: “greet in a friendly way,” later revision: “kiss on the face” (Bruce Moore [in: Notes on Translation 1/1992), p. 1ff.] explains: “Formerly, kissing had presented a problem. Because of the Tsáchilas’ [speakers of Tsafiki] limited exposure to Hispanic culture they understood the kiss only in the eros context. Accordingly, the original translation had rendered ‘kiss’ in a greeting sense as ‘greet in a friendly way’. The actual word ‘kiss’ was not used. Today ‘kiss’ is still an awkward term, but the team’s judgment was that it could be used as long as long as it was qualified. So ‘kiss’ (in greeting) is now ‘kiss on the face’ (that is, not on the lips).)
Kwere / Kutu: “show true friendship” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

deny oneself

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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:

Tetelcingo Nahuatl: “not accept self”
Amganad Ifugao and South Bolivian Quechua: “forget self”
North Alaskan Inupiatun: “have no regard for oneself”
Toraja-Sa’dan: “not bother oneself about oneself”
Huautla Mazatec: “cover up oneself”
San Miguel El Grande Mixtec: “not worship oneself”
Tzeltal: “stop doing what one’s own heart wants”
Yaka: “let go that which he wants to do oneself”
Cashibo-Cacataibo: “say, I will not do just what I want to do”
Tzotzil: “say, I do not serve for anything” (in the sense of having no personal value)
Sapo: “not do what is passing through one’s mind”
Central Mazahua: “not take constant thought for oneself”
Tabasco Chontal: “quit what one wants”
Highland Totonac: “undo one’s own way of thinking”
Dan: “put one’s own things down”
Kekchí: “despise oneself”
Kituba: “refuse oneself”
Javanese: “turn one’s back on oneself”
Southern Bobo Madaré: “disobey oneself” (in the sense of denying one’s own wishes)
Huastec: “leave oneself at the side”
Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “leave one’s own way”
Loma: “take one’s mind out of oneself completely”
Panao Huánuco Quechua: “say, I do not live for myself”
Mitla Zapotec: “say No to oneself” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
Copainalá Zoque: “forgetting self”
Huallaga Huánuco Quechua: “declare, I do not live for myself” (source: Nida 1952, p. 154)
Galela: “put self down” (source: Howard Shelden in Kroneman 2004, p. 501)
Mairasi: “shuffle out of one’s vision (=forget) everything which is one’s own” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Q’anjob’al: “do not belong to oneself any longer” (source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. )
Achi: “don’t do only what one wants to do”
Chipaya: “leave one’s own way of living” (source for this and above: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)

Kingdom (of God / heaven)

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The German Good News Bible (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) (1st edition: 1968, 2nd edition: 1982, 3rd edition: 1997) says this about the translation of the Greek expressions that in English are often translated as “kingdom of God” or “kingdom of heaven” respectively:

“An example for how a term evolved is the rendering of ‘heavenly kingdom’ or ‘kingdom of God.’ A verbatim translation will be misunderstood by most readers today: as if it talks about a kingdom that is located in heaven, when in reality it refers in the Bible to God being the ruler, to that area in which that rule has been realized and everything that human beings can expect because of that. Dependent on the context, the term is therefore translated differently in this present version: When it focuses on the presence of God’s kingdom it is rendered as ‘God establishes his rule’ (Gott richtet seine Herrschaft auf), when the focus is on the future it is translated as ‘Once God finalizes his creation (or ‘work’) . . . ‘ (Wenn Gott sein Werk vollendet . . .), and when the focus is on that finished creation it is ‘God’s new world’ (Gottes neue Welt).” (p. 299 — for a longer exposition, see Rudolf Kassühlke in The Bible Translator 1974, p. 236ff. )

The respective translation choice in that German translation:

Likewise in the Gurung translation the term was also, depending on context, rendered in four different ways:

God’s power at work in the world,
the personal response to God, in obedience and receiving blessing,
God’s future open ruling of the world,
the ultimate blessings of God’s rule in heaven.

(Source: Warren Glover in The Bible Translator 1978, p. 231ff. — here you can also find a comprehensive list of examples where which translation was applied.)

Following is a list of (back-) translations from other languages:

Tzeltal: “persons like these will reach God’s government” (as in Mark 10:14 and Luke 18:16: “the Kingdom of God belongs to those”) or “the jurisdiction of God” (in the sense of where God has the authority)
Copainalá Zoque: “like God to rule over”
San Miguel El Grande Mixtec: “agree to God reigning over”
Kekchí: “power (or authority) of God”
Laka: “God’s commanding”
Javanese: “the rule of God”
Huave: “where God rules”
Huastec: “God as ruler”
San Blas Kuna: “God’s government”
Navajo: “what God has charge of”
Sayula Popoluca: “to have God rule over”
Tzotzil: “to have God as chief”
Highland Puebla Nahuatl: “the leadership of God”
Wayuu: “where God is chief” (this and examples above in Bratcher / Nida)
Fuyug “God’s clan”
Mono: “sana lala’aha nang” — “area of chiefly rule”
Martu Wangka: “The Father looks after his own relatives” (source for this and the two preceding: Carl Gross)
Caribbean Javanese: Kratoné Allah (“God’s seat (of a king)”)
Sranan Tongo: Tiri fur Gado (“the Ruling of God”) or Kownukondre fur Gado (“King’s land of God”)
Eastern Maroon Creole: A Nyun Tii fu Massa Gadu / Saramaccan: Di Njunjun Tii u Gadu (both: “the New ruling of God”) (source for this and 2 above: Jabini 2015)
Umiray Dumaget Agta: “protectorate of God” (source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
Lalana Chinantec: “how God is the boss of people’s hearts”
Chichimeca-Jonaz: “God rules as chief”
Chuj: “everything which is in God’s hand” (source for this and two above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Kamo: kuu le Yamba: “kingdom of God” / kuu le Yamba: “kingdom of heaven.” Yamba can mean either “sky/heaven” or “God” and they distinguish between the two meanings by capitalization. The word kuu is an abstract noun meaning “rule/reign.” (source: David Frank)

In Mairasi, a language “where people would rather say something in a new way than in an old way,” there are a number of translations, including “Great Above One’s (=God) rule,” “His power,” “His control,” or “His place of authority/power.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)

In Q’anjob’al, the translators stumbled on an additional difficulty. Newberry and Kittie Cox (in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. ) explain: “‘The kingdom of God’ may be translated ‘where God supervises’ (or literally ‘guards’). However, in Mark 10:15 and Luke 18:17 it is not possible to speak of ‘receiving the kingdom of God,’ for this would imply that one simply takes over the responsibility for guarding God’s country while He rests. Accordingly, the translation is adapted to meet the cultural and linguistic requirements of the language by the form ‘receive God as king.’

In British Sign Language it is translation with a sign that combines the signs for “God” and “rule.” (Source: Anna Smith)

“Kingdom of God” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

The artist Willy Wiedmann envisioned Jesus foretelling the kingdom of God like this:

Click here to see the image in higher resolution. Image taken from the Wiedmann Bible. For more information about the images and ways to adopt them, see here . For other images of Willy Wiedmann paintings in TIPs, see here.

peace (inner peace)

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The Hebrew and Greek that is translated into English as “peace” (or “at ease”) is (back-) translated with a variety of idioms and phrases:

“a song in the body” (Baoulé)
“heart coolness” (Eastern Maninkakan)
“sit down in the heart” (South Bolivian Quechua)
“quietness of heart” (Chol)
“quiet goodness” (Kekchí)
“having your hearts feel oneness for one another” (Tzeltal) (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
“my heart sits down” (Northern Grebo)
“coolness” (Pular / Kutu) (source for Kutu: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
“rest within” (Lacandon)
“have one heart” (Miskito)
“well-arranged soul” (Mashco Piro)
“have a quiet mind” (Ngäbere)
“completeness” (Highland Puebla Nahuatl) (source for this and six above: Nida 1952, p. 128ff.)
“rest the heart” (Central Mazahua) (source: Nida 1952, p. 40)
“joy in heart” (Eastern Highland Otomi) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
momapu laro or “cold/cool-hearted” (as an adjective); mapuhio laro or “make the heart cool” (as a verb) (Moronene) (source: David Andersen)
“inner coolness” (Binumarien) (source: Oates 1995, p. 249)
“wait well in your heart” (Yatzachi Zapotec)
“live quietly” (Central Tarahumara)
“have security in your heart” (Highland Totonac)
“heart will lie quietly” (Isthmus Zapotec) (source for this and three above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Warao: “kobe (= the abdominal region, including the heart) quiet” (source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. )
Welsh: tangnefedd — “an internal condition that makes external peace (heddwch) possible” (source: Rosa Hunt in Journal of European Baptist Studies 1/23 (2023), p. 1ff. )

In American Sign Language it is signed with a compound sign consisting of “become” and “silent.” (Source: Yates 2011, p. 52)

“Peace” in American Sign Language (source )