Language-specific Insights

ponder

The Greek in Luke 2:19 that is translated as “ponder” in English is translated as

  • “continually think-about” in Tboli
  • “turn around in the mind” in Batak Toba
  • “puzzle forth, puzzle back” in Sranan Tongo (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • “constantly setting down her visions” in Mairasi (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • “carried all those words in her heart and then sat thinking” in Enga (source: Adam Boyd on his blog )
  • “moved them in her heart” (bewegte sie in ihrem Herzen) in the German Luther translation
  • “tied those words in her stomach” in Kupsabiny (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)

In Low German idiomatically as “let it pass through her heart again and again” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006).

See also treasured all these things in her heart.

forsakes the partner of her youth

The Hebrew in Proverbs 2:17 that is translated as “forsakes the partner of her youth” or similar in English is translated in Kupsabiny as “leaves her husband who married her when her breast was still pointed and tender.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)

more precious than jewels

The Hebrew in Proverbs 3:15 that is translated as “more precious than jewels” or similar in English is translated in Kupsabiny as “of value/benefit more than stones that buy much money.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)

lame

The Greek that is translated as “lame” in English is translated in various ways:

slow of heart

The Greek in Luke 24:25 that is often translated as “slow of heart” in English is translated as

  • “the heart is hard” in Zarma
  • “very heavy in heart” in Uab Meto
  • “blocked-hearted” in Indonesian
  • “lazy to think” in Tae’
  • “having a heart that delays” in Shona (translation of 1963)
  • “failing-heart-people” in Adamawa Fulfulde (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • “hard-headed” in Kupsabiny (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • “You guys tuberfully-dug are beeswax” in Mairasi (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • “dull heart” in Low German (source: translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006)

    • after my heart

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    The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “(man) after my (or: his) heart” in English is translated in a number of ways:

    • Teutila Cuicatec. “(a man who) respects what I want”
    • Eastern Highland Otomi: “whom I look well on”
    • Chichimeca-Jonaz: “who pleases my heart”
    • Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac: “thinks like I do”
    • Tzotzil: “with his heart the same as mine (we think the same way)”
    • Isthmus Mixe: “his heart and mine meet together”
    • Morelos Nahuatl: “a good man whom I like”
    • Shipibo-Conibo: “does what I desire in my heart” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
    • Kupsabiny: “a person my stomach loves” (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
    • Bariai: “a man who follows my mind (lit. interior)” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
    • Mairasi: “one who has My throat and makes My liver good” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
    • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I am very pleased with his customs” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
    • Tagbanwa: “his ways/nature really please me for they are really in harmony with my ways” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

    your blood be on your own heads

    The Hebrew and Greek that is often translated as “your blood be on your own heads” or similar in English is translated as

    • “you have the guilt if you don’t receive eternal life” in Highland Popoluca
    • “you are to blame if you lose your own souls” in Coatlán Mixe
    • “you will be to blame yourselves when you do not go to a good place” in Isthmus Mixe
    • “you will be lost but you are at fault yourselves” in Morelos Nahuatl
    • “you are the ones who are guilty that you will be lost” in Lalana Chinantec (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
    • “if you die in your bad deeds, it’s your own bad fault” in Bariai (source: Bariai Back Translation)
    • “let your own blood alone eat you” in Kupsabiny (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
    • “You have killed yourselves with your own heart” in Chichewa (source: Wendland 1987, p. 28)
    • “your blood will be to you” (existing idiom) in Kwere (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)