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:
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)
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 Latvian term liekulis was likely coined by the Bible translation of Ernst Glück (1654–1705) in the late 17th century and is still being used today (source ).
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.”
The Greek that is translated as “for the healing of the nations” in English is translated in Kituba as “heals the people of all nations.” (Source: Donald Deer in The Bible Translator 1973, p. 207ff. )
The Greek that is translated as “saint” in English is rendered into Highland Puebla Nahuatl as “one with a clean hearts,” into Northwestern Dinka as “one with a white hearts,” and into Western Kanjobal as “person of prayer.” (Source: Nida 1952, p. 146)
The translation of the Hebrew that is translated as “witch,” “sorceress” or alike in English is discussed in the attached paper by Robert Priest. He stipulates that in many languages, particularly in the African context, there are two categories of people that could be described with that term.
The first category would include people who offer “magico-religious” services to clients with a variety of goals, including healing, success, protection and others. Often-used anthropological English terms for these individuals include “shaman,” “diviner,” or “traditional healer.”
The other group includes people who are “thought to be the evil reasons for misfortune in the lives of others.”
If the Hebrew or (the transliterated) Greek “Amen” (as part of a prayer) is not transliterated it can also be translated into expressions such as “that is just the way it is” (Huichol), “that’s it” (Shilluk), “may it be thus” (Tzeltal) (source: Bratcher / Nida), or “Let those things thus be” (Kituba) (source: Donald Deer in The Bible Translator 1973, p. 207ff. ).
In Mairasi the translation is aniaut aug or “it’s a tuberful dig.” The preface to Enggavoter 2004 explains: “Truth is like a tuber [sweet potatoes, taro, cassava, yams]. We Mairasi have tubers as our standard food. The leaves are visible above ground. But we planted the plant so that it would produce tubers, but those are beneath the ground. So the vocabulary about ‘truth’ and ‘produce’ or ‘fruit’ is based on words for ‘tubers.’ For example: the word for ‘Amen’ ‘it’s a tuberful dig’ [also used for ‘verily’ or ‘definitely’] has its story like this: We see the leaves of the sweet potato but we do not know: the question is ‘Are there tubers or not?.’ So we dig then we see tubers. Therefore we say that ani ‘dig’ was aut ‘with tubers,’ which is ‘Aniaut!‘ ‘Definitely true!'”
In Huba it is translated as Aɗǝmja or “let it be so.” David Frank (in this blog post ) explains: “Whenever there were persistent problems such as a drought, or a rash of sickness or death, the king (or his religious advisor) would set aside a day and call on everyone to prepare food, such as the traditional mash made from sorghum, or perhaps even goat. The food had to be put together outside. The king or his religious advisor would give an address stating what the problem was and what they were doing about it. Then an elder representing the people would take a handful of that food and throw it, probably repeating that action several times, until it was considered to be enough to atone for all the misfortune they had been having. With this action he was ‘shooting (or casting off) misfortune’ to restore well-being to his people. As he threw the food, he would say that this is to remove the misfortune that had fallen on his people, and everybody would respond by saying aɗǝmja, ‘let it be so.’ People could eat some of this food, but they could not bring the food into their houses, because that would mean that they were bringing misfortune into their house. There is still a minority of people in this linguistic and cultural group that practices the traditional religion, but the shooting of misfortune is no longer practiced, and the term ‘shoot misfortune’ is used now in Bible translation to refer to offering a sacrifice. Aɗǝmja is how they translate ‘amen.'”
Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 22:9:
Uma: “But he forbade me, he said: ‘Don’t! Don’t worship me. Worship God. Because I am just a servant of God, the same as you (sing.) and the same as your (sing.) fellow prophets and all the people who follow the words which are written in this letter.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But he said to me, ‘Don’t prostrate before me, because we (dual) are equally servants of God, like also your brothers, the prophets, and all who believe-obey the words in this book. God is the only one you shall praise.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But he shouted to me, he said, ‘Don’t you worship me, because I and you and your fellow prophets of God and all who obey the words in this book, we are all just the same, servants of God. Only worship God,’ he said.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “But he said to me, ‘Don’t! God alone is the one whom you (sing.) are to worship! Because I also am one who serves God just as you (sing.) and your (sing.) companions who are prophets and all who obey what has been written in this book.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But what he said to me was, ‘Don’t! Don’t you do like that. He only, God, is the one you are to worship. For as for me, I am also his servant like you, like your siblings in believing who are prophets and all who really obey the things said which are written here in this writing.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “But the angel said to me: ‘No, do not worship me. Because I also am just a worker for God like you are a worker for God. Just like your brothers who speak God’s word and like the people who believe this word and are pleased to do whatever word is written in this book, all are workers for God. As for you, worship God,’ he said to me.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Kituba: “. . .:’No, don’t worship me! (But) worship God! We (you and I) all and you (singular) and brothers of you that are prophets of God, and people those all who obey the words that are in this book, we all serve one Lord.’” (Source: Donald Deer in The Bible Translator 1973, p. 207ff. )
