Language-specific Insights

complete verse (John 3:16)

Following are a number of back-translation of John 3:16:

  • Tezoatlán Mixtec: “For since God loves very much the people of this world, therefore he gave his only son to arrive in this world, and whoever trusts in him, they will never die. Instead they will be able to live forever.”
  • Ayutla Mixtec: “Because since God loves so much the people of this world, therefore he sent me, his only son to this world. So whoever trusts in me, they will never die before God, instead they will receive life that never ends.”
  • Uma: “Like this God loves all people in the world, with the result that he gave his Only Child, so that whoever believes in that his Child, they will not receive punishment/condemnation, but they will receive good life forever.”
  • Kankanaey: “Since God’s love for people in this world is great, he sent his only Child so that whoever believes in him, he would not be separated from God to be punished, but rather there would be in him life that has no end.”
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “God very much loves the people who live here on earth. Therefore he sent his only son to be killed in order that every one who believes in him will not be lost, rather he will have the new life forever.”
  • Tagbanwa: “For God really values very much all people here under the heavens. Therefore he gave his one-and-only Son, so that as for whoever will believe-in/obey and trust-in/rely-on him, he won’t get to go there to suffering/hardship, but on the contrary he will be given life without ending.”
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “All mankind is very big in the breath of God and because of this, even his only son he did not hold back, but rather he sent him here so that all who believe in him, their souls will not be punished, but rather they will be given life without end.”
  • Miahuatlán Zapotec: “Because God greatly loves people of the world, because of it, God sent his only son to earth so that all men who believe in God’s son, those men will not be lost to the evil thing. On the contrary, they will have life forever.” (Source for this and above: John Williams in the Seeing Scripture Anew blog.)
  • Yakan: “God really loved mankind, therefore he gave/handed over his only Son to be killed so that all who trust in his Son will not be separated from God but will live forever there in the presence of God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Keley-I Kallahan: “Since God loves all people on earth so much, he sent his only child, so that all people who believe-obey him will not be far from God in the underworld of darkness, but will be given a second life with God that never ends.” Richard Hohulin (in Holzhausen 1991, p. 35ff.) explains how he and his team arrived at this translation (display by clicking or tapping here)

    The biblical text says that God loved “the world.” The Kalanguya [the speakers of Keley-I Kallahan] would understand this to mean that God so desired the earth that He gave His Son for it. This, of course, is not the meaning of this biblical passage. John did not mean the physical world, but the totality of all people on earth, to whom God’s love is directed. Therefore, the translator completes the sentence with “all people on earth” and thus expresses unmistakably for the Kalanguya what it is about.

    Now the little word “so” is still missing. But there is simply no corresponding word. Instead, the translator discovers the prefix naka, which is placed before the verb. It expresses about the same thing: God loves with great power, beyond what can be expected. So the prefix is added and thus the meaning is established.

    The next difficulty is the statement that God gave His “Son.” For this, too, the exact corresponding word is missing; the Kalanguya know only the more general word “child.” It could be supplemented to “child who was a boy.” But that would be a cumbersome, unnatural way of expressing it. Moreover, the Kalanguya would see in the emphasis on the child being masculine an indication that God just gave a boy, not a girl. So the translator leaves it with the word child. He can assume that in many other parts of the gospel it is clearly expressed that Jesus was masculine.

    Now it is still said that God “gave” his son. The Kalanguya would never say this, because they use that word only for giving things. People, in their view, cannot be “given.” The translator must take this into consideration as well. Finally, the word “send” is chosen as a substitute.

    Also, with the word “lost” or “perish” the translator struggles. The Kalanguya have no concept of eternal punishment or a hell. According to their traditional religion, they believe that after death people go to the underworld and continue to exist there as spirit beings. But this is not conceived as a punishment, but as the fate of all people. The translator builds on that concept, but tries to add that there is something terrible, terrifying behind the biblical concept of perishing. The result is a whole descriptive sentence for the one word “They will be far from God in the underworld of darkness.” Is this not going too far? Doesn’t the translator go beyond the original text with this? But what other possibilities are there for him? After all, he doesn’t want to give his people the idea that Jesus came only to save them from getting lost somewhere in the jungle and never being found again.

    The expression “eternal life” presents a final difficulty. For the word eternal, the Ifugao expression “unending” could be used. But if left at that, people would misunderstand it. Either they would understand in their traditional idea of the continued existence in the realm of the dead or as a continued life without dying. Neither of these is the meaning of the passage. So here, too, an explanatory paraphrase must express what is meant: “They will be given a second life with God that will never end.”

    A single verse — but how many questions there were to clarify, how many problems to consider! Yes, Bible translation is not an easy undertaking. It requires a good knowledge of the language, a deft touch, and also the courage to go beyond the usual notion of a literal translation in order to fully express the meaning of the original text. But it is worth the effort, because now also the Kalanguya can hear and understand it in their language: “Since God loves all people on earth so much, he sent his only child, so that all people who believe-obey him will not be far from God in the underworld of darkness, but will be given a second life with God that never ends.”

  • Daniel Shaw reflects on the complex translation of this verse into Samo. Click or tap here to see the story.

    As I learned in Sunday school, John 3:16 is what the Bible is all about — the Gospel in a nutshell. But how was I to communicate this verse without these key words? Like any other language, Samo is not deficient. I knew Nida and Taber’s famous dictum, ‘If it can be said in one language, it can be said in another.’ I quickly realized I had to get beyond the horizontal and surface plane. This was not just about how to translate John 3:16. That would have been simply a matter of applying translation principles to a particular language problem — a transposition of human ideas. Rather, I wanted to help them deal with the theological issue of who God is: God’s power, God’s relationship with human beings, and the far-reaching implications of that relationship for dealing with issues of life, death, and eternal life. I needed to get beyond the immediate text to the whole of Scripture and allow the Samo to stand in awe at this incredible God who included them in his plan for humanity. What could this mean for them individually and as a group of former cannibals living in the dense rain forest on the Island of New Guinea?

    As a translator I knew how to solve the lexical and semantic problems. As an anthropologist I knew the importance of considering both the cultural setting of those who first received John’s Gospel, as well as the need to understand the Samo culture. I knew the value of analyzing collocational ranges. I appreciated the value of text /communication styles and how these are used for effective presentation of a mes¬sage. I also knew the Samo were aware of a ‘guy in the sky’ who was always ready to zap them when they did wrong (mothers would caution playing children not to make too much noise lest they attract his attention). But this was not the concept of God characterized in John 3:16 by the apostle.

    Eventually I discovered the concept of the ayo, of the oldest among a group of brothers who lived in a longhouse. This was a benevolent, caring man who was never in charge but always in control — a traffic director for the entire household. They spoke of him as ‘the authority person.’ When combined with an all-inclusive possessive pronoun this term eventually became the term we used for God — oye ayo, ‘our authority person.’ (See God.) When extended to all the people who ‘sleep in all the places of the earth’ (a way to communicate ‘the world’ — see world) the Samo began to appreciate God in a whole new way, in relationship to themselves and to their enemies.

    The relationship between the ayo and those in a longhouse reflected a strong, caring concern for everyone in the household — ‘love.’ For the Samo, a very practical, down to earth people surviving in a hostile environment, belief was a matter of experience. How do they know something is true? They see it, hear it, feel it! In short, they experience truth. This has profound implications far beyond trying to translate John 3:16. It relates to the broader context of all of John chapter 3, including Nicodemus’s awe of Christ and Israel’s experience with the brass serpent in the desert, particular experiences tied to the history of a specific people in a particular time and place. More broadly, it is about how humans experience God.

    As a Bible translator I was, in fact, communicating through this verse in its place within a text, an entire semantic constellation tied to the very purpose of Scripture. Suddenly the Samo found themselves in the flow of human involvement with a caring God who knew them and wanted to have an intimate, family-type relationship with them — not merely sit in judgment and zap them without warning. As a result of understanding John 3:16, the Samo also found themselves in relationship with people beyond their recognized circle of alliance, with the whole of humanity beyond their borders, including people they normally considered enemies (see thief (parable of the wise householder)). That the ‘one in control’ of their feared enemies, the Bedamoni, also had authority over them was not only revelatory, it was transforming. This new understanding — experienced through relationship — had eternal implications for a ‘life that would not end’ and gave insight to a spirit world populated by evil beings, but also included the pool of ancestors who constantly reentered the world to energize a newborn baby and move through the cycle of life once again to join the ancestors and assist the living in their struggle. These new and far-reaching theological insights relating to the Samo also challenged my understanding of the text, forced me to reevaluate my own assumptions, and made me appreciate more deeply the Samo from whom I learned so much about God. (Source: Shaw / Van Engen 2003, p. 177f.)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: God So Loved the World (John 3:16) .

complete verse (Luke 2:14)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 2:14:

  • Noongar: “‘Great, great thanks to God, high in his Holy Country, and peace on our Earth. Peace to all good people. God is happy with them.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “‘Come let us worship God who is in heaven! and on earth, people whom he likes receive goodness of life.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “‘God is worthy to be praised in heaven and on earth may the people who please God be in peace/have peace.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “they said, ‘Let us (inc.) praise God who is in Heaven. And here on the earth may the situation become peaceful of all those people with whom God is pleased.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘God in heaven is honored/praised. The people on earth who make-him-happy will-be-at-peace.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “‘Praise God who is in the high-part of the sky/heaven. And here under the heavens, peace/protection of mind/inner-being is what he will give to people who are pleasing to him.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Kupsabiny: “God is big/great in heaven/up | peace is coming | to people who please/love God.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “Let’s lift up Deo’s name who is living very high up! | And the people on earth whom Deo is happy with, his action of peace (lit. “of a smooth interior”) remains with them.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Mairasi: “‘We who are in the Heaven, we must honor Great Above One [God]! And then you guys, you who live in the world, you who are in Above-One’s vision [who are pleasing to Him], good peace is intended to be yours!’ said they.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Hausa Common Language Bible: “’Glory to God over there in heaven! | On earth let peace it remain | together with those whom God he feels pleasure of them!’” (Source: Hausa Common Language Back Translation)
  • Pfälzisch translation by Walter Sauer (publ. 2012): “Honor belongs to God in heaven | and peace shall reign on earth | among the people | because he loves them.”
  • Low German translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006: “Praise and honor for God the Lord above | and peace down here on earth for people who mean it with all their heart and have the favor.”
  • Hawai’i Creole English: “Up in heaven where God lives, | may he continue to be awesome! | And here on earth | If God likes what people are doing | He’ll make their hearts rest within them.” (Source for this and two above: Zetzsche)
  • English: “‘God is great! He lives in the highest place above. | He will bless the people on earth who please him. | They will have peace in their minds.’” (Source: EasyEnglish Bible)
  • English: “‘May all the angels in the highest heaven praise God! And on the earth may the people to whom God has shown his favor have peace with him!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

flute players

The Greek that is translated in English as “flute players” (who were hired to express grief) is translated in Muna as “flute players” as well but has an explanatory note in brackets following the translation “[as-a-sign of grief].”

René van den Berg explains: “Music in Muna is always associated with joyous occasions, and to indicate that the presence of the flute players was perfectly normal then (such people were often hired musicians) the explanatory note in brackets was added.”

in Kankanaey it is translated as “nose-fluters” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation), in Tagbanwa as “players of stringed-instruments” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation), and in Tenango Otomi as “musicians” (source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation).

See also flute (Jeremiah 48:36) and flute.

phylacteries, tefillin

The Greek that is translated as “phylacteries” or “tefillin” in many English translations is translated in Uma as “prayer headbands” (source: Uma Back Translation), in Yakan as “containers for the writing copied from the holy-book which are tied to foreheads and arms” (source: Yakan Back Translation), in Kankanaey as “storage-place of verses that are part of the law, that they tie around foreheads and arm/hands” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation), and in Tagbanwa as “that which is bound round the head and arm which containing a few words of the written word of God” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).

In Lokạạ it is translated as yakubẹẹn bạ yafọngi kaa likạ or “boxes where words are written,” therefore “describing the appearance of the item rather than its function.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

The now commonly-used German term Denkzettel (literally “contemplation note”), which today is primarily used with the meaning of a penalty or an experience that’s supposed to change a person’s behavior, goes back to Martin Luther’s 1522 New Testament translation for “phylacteries.” It was kept through and including the revision of 1912. (Source: Redewendungen aus der Bibel )

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about phylacteries (source: Bible Lands 2012)

Sabbath day’s journey (Acts 1:12)

The Greek that is translated as “Sabbath day’s journey” in English is translated in Elhomwe as “nearly one kilometer,” which was all you can travel on the Sabbath. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated as der nicht weiter von der Stadt entfernt ist, als man am Sabbat gehen kann or “which is no further away from the city than you can walk on the Sabbath.”

About the early translation efforts into Kankanaey, J.B. Newman (2018, p. 82f.) tells this story about her husband Barclay Newman in 1968:

“Barclay and his family had been living in the Philippines for only a short time, when he had a request from a Wycliffe missionary translator to come to a tribal group of people living in the interior hill country near Baguio in the Philippines. The translator knew the language and was working on a translation of the New Testament for this group of people who had never had even a part of the Bible translated into their language.

“‘Barclay recalls that late in the afternoon, after a full day’s work with the translator, he was standing outside, watching a tribal man cooking something on a small fire. The Wycliffe translator was also watching, and as she and Barclay conversed about the days’ translation questions, Barclay asked her, ‘How did you translate Acts 1.12 where the Scripture , ‘The Mount of Olives that was about a Sabbath Day’s journey from Jerusalem?’’

“The translator explained to Barclay that she and her colleague had translated this as, ‘The Mount of Olives that is as far from Jerusalem as can walk on a day of rest.’

“Barclay looked intently at the translator, who then asked, ‘That doesn’t get it, does it?’

“He explained, ‘The phrase goes back to the time of Moses, when the Israelites were living in the desert. In New Testament times it had come to be used as a measurement of distance.’ Then Barclay asked the translator how the people of this tribe measured distance? ‘Do they use miles or kilometers? If so, you could translate either ‘about half a mile’ or ‘about a kilometer.’ Or if they use time to measure distance, you could say ‘about a twenty or thirty-minute walk.’’

“The old squatting gentleman – more naked than not – continued to cook his meat on the small fire. The translator discussed the problem in the old man’s language and finally decided to translate the verse as, ‘The Mount of Olives that is as far from Jerusalem as you can walk in the time that it takes a pot of bananas to cook.’

“Barclay wanted to be very exacting and correct before he agreed to this method of measuring distance, so he asked the translator to inquire of the old tribal man if he meant a big pot of bananas or a small pot of bananas? She repeated Barclay’s question, and the old man’s brown, shriveled up face broke into a wide grin. Then he replied, ‘Any fool – even a white man – ought to know that if you have a big bunch of bananas to cook, you build a big fire and use a big pot, and if you have a small amount of bananas to cook, you build a small fire and use a small pot. It always takes the same amount of time to cook a pot of bananas. Anyone should know that.’

“The translator confirmed that this was true, because she and the other missionary lady who lived and worked with her in the village would go out for a walk each evening while the bananas were cooking, and it always took about the same amount of time, whether it was a big pot or a small pot.”

See also Translation commentary on Acts 1:12.

devout

The Greek that is often translated in English as “devout” (or “pious”) is translated in various ways:

  • Lalana Chinantec: “[people who] revere God”
  • Chichimeca-Jonaz: “[people who] obey and worship God”
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “[people who] remember God”
  • San Mateo del Mar Huave: “worshipers of God”
  • Tzotzil: “[people who] are zealously doing what they think is God’s word”
  • Mezquital Otomi: “[people who] very much believe what they have been taught about God” (source for this and five above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Chichewa interconfessional translation, publ. 1999: “[people who] love God” (source: Wendland 1998, p. 90)
  • Uma: “[people who] submit to Lord God” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “very religious” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “[people who] are faithful in carrying out the commands of God” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “[people who] are serving God” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “[people who] are indeed devout-worshipers of God” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “[people who] respect God” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Kupsabiny: “[people who] have dedicated themselves to God” (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • German: “God-fearing” (gottesfürchtig) or “pious” (fromm)
  • Low German translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006: “[people who] take their faith very seriously” (source for this and above: Zetzsche)
  • Hausa Common Language Bible: “owners of worshiping God” (source: Hausa Common Language Bible Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “godly” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

See also righteous / righteousness.

fast (verb)

The Aramaic, Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “fast” in English is translated in Isthmus Mixe as “going without food to worship God,” in Lacandon as “leaving eating in order to talk to God” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.), in Vidunda as “resting to eat” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext), and in Kankanaey as “endure hunger” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation).

See also fast (Luke 5:33).

Cananaean

The Greek transliteration of the Aramaic kanan (קַנָאַן) has the same meaning than the Greek zēlōtḗs (Ζηλωτὴν) (see Zealot) but is often transliterated itself in English Bible translations as “Cananaean” or similar. Some modern English translations, however, translate the Aramaic form identical to the way they translate the Greek term in Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13. The Good News Bible (publ. 1966/1976), for instance, uses “Patriot” for both and the Contemporary English Version (publ. 1995) uses “Eager One.”

Likewise, Yakan translates it as “challenger” in both cases and Kankanaey as “Patriot because he had-concern-for his country.” (Source: Back translations)

In Iyojwa’ja Chorote, the translation for the Aramaic term is “one who fought against the Romans who had made themselves chiefs of the Jews” (and for the Greek: “who belonged the parties of the Zealots.”) (Source: Roger Omanson in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 416ff. )