Language-specific Insights

complete verse (John 1:17)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 1:17:

  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “Moses taught the ancestors of us Israelites the law of God, but Jesus Christ came to teach that God loves mankind, and he teaches us all the true words of God.”
  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “The law about the things of God, the one who gave it was Moses. But the love which was to us and the truth came into being because of Jesus Christ.”
  • Umiray Dumaget Agta: “Even though Moses was caused to speak the rules of God, Jesus Christ was the one appointed to show mercy and to declare the truth.”
  • Guerrero Amuzgo: “. . . but Jesus Christ is the source of all favor and of the words that are true.”
  • Chol: “… . Jesus Christ came and gave us the goodness of his heart and truth.”
  • Tenango Otomi: “By means of Moses the law of God is known. But by means of Jesus Christ the love of God and the true word are known.” (Source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
  • Uma: “From the prophet Musa we received the Law of the Lord God. But [it is] from Yesus Kristus that we really know God, and his grace to us.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “The law of God was given/sent to mankind by Musa but God’s love and the truth are given to mankind by Isa Almasi, he is the one called the Word of God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And by means of Moses, God brought down to earth the laws. But by means of Jesus, God brought down to earth his love/grace for us and the true doctrine.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because God made-known his law through Moses, but his mercy/kindness and the truth concerning him, he made-known to us through Jesu Cristo.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Because God gave his laws to Moises which he was commanding us, but that grace/mercy of his and truth concerning himself, he caused us to comprehend through Jesu-Cristo.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The Law was-given by God to us (incl.) through Moises, but mercy and truth arrived to us (incl.) through Jesus-Christ.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Mairasi: “We have already received the prohibitions Belonging to Above-One, we received them from Musa himself. But His good insides and tuber were revealed in Yesus Kristus.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Bariai: “For the law came about by Moses’ hand, and then the action of kindness and true talk came about by Iesus Kristus’ hand.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Kupsabiny: “Moses gave us the laws and the Savior Jesus brought for us love and the words of truth.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)

sinner

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

  • “people with bad hearts” (“it is not enough to call them ‘people who do bad things,’ for though actions do reflect the heart, yet it is the hearts with which God is primarily concerned — see Matt. 15:19“) in Western Kanjobal
  • “people who are doing wrong things in their hearts” in San Blas Kuna (source for this and above: Nida 1952, p. 148)
  • “people with bad stomachs” in Q’anjob’al (source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. )
  • “those others who don’t fully obey our laws” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • “people with dirty hearts” or “people who are called ‘bad'” in Mairasi (source: Enggavoter 2004).
  • “those who owe sin” in Central Mazahua and Teutila Cuicatec (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • “those without (or: “who don’t know”) God” (Gottlose) in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999)
  • “people of bad deeds” in Bariai (source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • “rejected/despised people” in Kupsabiny (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)

complete verse (Proverbs 16:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 16:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “A person who leaves it to God to rule/guide all his plans becomes strong.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Hand over to the Lord whatever work you do,
    and all your work will succeed.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Commit to the LORD all you (sing.) are-planning to do, and you (sing.) will-be-successful.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “If you (sing.) entrust your (sing.) plans to God, they will be fulfilled.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “Request/Rely on Yahweh to direct what you plan to do;
    if you do that, you will succeed in what you plan.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

wine

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that are translated as “wine” in English is translated into Pass Valley Yali as “grape juice pressed long ago (= fermented)” or “strong water” (source: Daud Soesilo). In Guhu-Samane it is also translated as “strong water” (source: Ernest L. Richert in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff. ), in Noongar as “liquor” (verbatim: “strong water”) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang), in Hausa as ruwan inabi or “water of grapes” (with no indication whether it’s alcoholic or not — source: Mark A. Gaddis), in sar as kasə nduú or “grape drink” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin), or in Papantla Totonac and Coyutla Totonac as “a drink like Pulque” (for “Pulque,” see here ) (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 169ff. ).

In Swahili, Bible translations try to avoid local words for alcoholic drinks, because “drinking of any alcohol at all was one of the sins most denounced by early missionaries. Hence translators are uncomfortable by the occurrences of wine in the Bible. Some of the established churches which use wine prefer to see church wine as holy, and would not refer to it by the local names used for alcoholic drinks. Instead church wine is often referred to by terms borrowed from other languages, divai (from German, der Wein) or vini/mvinyo (from ltalian/Latin vino/vinum). Several translations done by Protestants have adapted the Swahili divai for ‘wine,’ while those done by Catholics use vini or mvinyo.” (Source: Rachel Konyoro in The Bible Translator 1985, p. 221ff. )

The Swahili divai was in turn borrowed by Sabaot and was turned into tifaayiik and is used as such in the Bible. Kupsabiny, on the other hand, borrowed mvinyo from Swahili and turned it into Finyonik. (Source: Iver Larsen)

In Nyamwezi, two terms are used. Malwa ga muzabibu is a kind of alcohol that people specifically use to get drunk (such as in Genesis 9:21) and ki’neneko is used for a wine made from grapes (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext).

In some Hindi translations (such as the Common Language version, publ. 2015 ), one term (dākharasa दाखरस — grape juice) is used when that particular drink is in the focus (such as in John 2) and another term (madirā मदिरा — “alcohol” or “liquor”) when drunkenness is in the focus (such as in Eph. 5:18).

In Mandarin Chinese, the generic term jiǔ (酒) or “alcohol(ic drink)” is typically used. Exceptions are Leviticus 10:9, Numbers 6:3, Deuteronomy 29:6, Judges 13:4 et al., 1 Samuel 1:15, and Luke 1:15 where a differentiation between weak and strong alcohol is needed. The Mandarin Chinese Union Version (2010) translates that as qīngjiǔ lièjiǔ (清酒烈酒) and dànjiǔ lièjiǔ (淡酒烈酒), both in the form of a Chinese proverb and meaning “light alcohol and strong drink.” (Source: Zetzsche)

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about wine in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

See also proceeds from the vine / anything that comes from the grapevine, wine (Japanese honorifics), filled with new wine, and wine (Gen 27:28).

complete verse (John 1:1)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 1:1:

  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “The Word was living when there was still nothing at all. And that Word lived in the same place God did. And that Word was God himself.”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “When the world began, the person who is the Word was already present. He was with God and the person who is the Word was God.”
  • Chol: “In the beginning of the world there already was the Word. This Word already was with God. This Word was (and still is) God.” (Source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Long ago before anything was created, the one who is titled the Word of God already was. This Word of God, he already was with God and he is God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Before the world and heavens/sky was laid-down/spread-out (i.e. existed), there was already Jesus who is called Word/Speech of God. This one referred to as Word, he was already there in the presence of God. Not just in the presence of God but on the contrary, this Word who is Jesus, he indeed is the one who is this God.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The Son of God makes it known how God is. When the world was made, already he was living. He was in fellowship with God. He also is God.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When before still in the past, there already was the one being — called the Word. The Word is/was now with God, and the Word is/was God himself.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Mairasi: “In the very beginning The Message lived. This Message lived together with Great Above One. And This Message Himself was actually Great Above One.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Bariai: “Prior to the coming forth of everything, Talk was existing. This Talk was existing together with God, and this Talk was God.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Kupsabiny: “In the beginning, there was Word. That Word was together with God. That word was God.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Anindilyakwa: “Right at the beginning, long, long ago, Jesus Christ was there, the one who revealed God who was hidden from us. Before God made the heavens and the earth, right at that time the same one was already there with God. And those two, the same one and God, they were the same/shared the same characteristics.” (Source: Julie Waddy in The Bible Translator 2004, p. 452ff.)
  • Classical Quechua: “In the dawn which had no beginning the Son of God was, and the Son of God was God, the Son of God was with God.” (for more information, click or tap here)

    This translation by Juan Roxo Mexía y Ocón from 1648 is explained by him in the following way: “When the inherent meaning of the Quechua word changes ‘the customary catholic meaning of the Gospel,’ it must be avoided. Instead a phrase should be used which conforms to the meaning of the Gospel. For example, [in] John 1:1 In principio should not be rendered by the word in the language which corresponds to principio, that is, callarij. Its proper meaning is ‘beginning of time,’ and the Evangelist is speaking of ‘the beginningless beginning of eternity.’ Nor should the word verbum be rendered by simi, which is the corresponding term. Its proper meaning is ‘a spoken word,’ whereas the Evangelist speaks of the ‘Eternal Word of the Father,’ that is, his only begotten Son.” (Source William Mitchell in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 301ff. ).

cymbals

The musical instrument that is most often translated as “cymbals” in English is translated in the following ways:

  • Laarim: “jingles” (source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Uma: “drum” (source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “tin” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “bamboo clapper” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “percussion-instrument” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “rattling decoration” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Kupsabiny: “drum sticks” (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Paicî: “cooking pot lid” (in 1 Cor. 13:1) (Source: Ian Flaws)
  • Natügu: “smacking things” and “banging things” (in Psalm 150:5) (source: Brenda Boerger in Open Theology 2016, p. 179ff. )

In the UBS Helps for Translators‘ Human-made Things in the Bible (original title: The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible) it says the following:

Description: Cymbals were a percussion instrument consisting of two metal discs that were struck together in order to make a shrill, clashing sound. There were two types of cymbals: (1) flat metal plates that were struck together, and (2) metal cones, one of which was brought down on top of the other, on the open end.

Translation: The equivalent of “cymbal” in many languages is a phrase such as “loud metal.”

Cymbals (source: Susan Mitford (c) British and Foreign Bible Society 1986)

Quoted with permission.

See also clanging cymbal.

complete verse (Luke 4:5)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 4:5:

  • Noongar: “Then the Devil took him up. In one moment, he saw everything, all the countries of all the kings of the World.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “After that, the King of Evil-ones carried him going to a high place. In just the blinking of an eye he showed him all the kingdoms in the world,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then Isa was taken by the leader of demons up to a very high place and he showed him all the places/countries in the world in one-shutting of the eye.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then Satan took Jesus to a very high mountain and in a wink of an eye he showed him all of the kingdoms here on the earth.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When that was finished, then the Diablo led him to a high place and in-a-moment showed him all the nations in the world.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Another thing Satanas did was he caused Jesus to accompany him to a high mountain. And then he caused him to view in one glance all the kingdoms here under the heavens.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “And when it was done then he took him so that they ascended and went to an area very high up, and then quickly he showed him the big areas of all the great chiefs on earth.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Kupsabiny: “The Enemy (then) took Jesus along to the top of a certain hill/cliff and showed him in a vision/revelation all the countries.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Mairasi: “Then the malevolent spirit took Yesus to a very high place on top of a tall mountain. Then he quickly showed Him every village where kings ruled in the world.” (Source Enggavoter 2004)
  • Amele: “And then Seten took Jisas and they (dual) went up the mountain and very quickly he showed Jisas all the ground kingdoms.” (Source: John Roberts in this article )

complete verse (John 1:11)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 1:11:

  • Lalana Chinantec: “He came back to his place, but they didn’t accept the Owner of the place where they were living.”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “He was born among us who are of his nation, and nearly all of us, his fellow countrymen, didn’t believe in him.”
  • Aguaruna: “He arrived at his own place but his relatives did not welcome him.”
  • Ojitlán Chinantec: “He came to the earth, his land, but his countrymen did not receive him.” (Source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
  • Uma: “He arrived in his own town, but his fellow townspeople did not want to receive him.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “He came here to his place/country but he was not received by his tribe.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Even though he came to his own towns, there were not many of his companions there who accepted him.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “He came to his country/town, and his countrymen didn’t receive/accept him either.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “He came here to the nation he had chosen, but even they, these people he had chosen as his own, they didn’t receive him.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “He lived in his own land. But the inhabitants didn’t look favorably upon him.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “He went to his own countrymen/townmates, but the majority of them did not receive him.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Mairasi: “He Himself came to His own place, but His own kinsmen did not receive Him.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Bariai: “He went to his village of origin, yet his people didn’t receive him.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Kupsabiny: “He came to his world but people refused to welcome (him),” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)