The Hebrew in Jonah 4:8 that is translated as “hot east wind” or similar in English is translated in Elhomwe as “scorching hot wind,” because the hot wind in Malawi only comes from the north. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Language-specific Insights
generously and ungrudgingly
The Greek in James 1:5 that is translated as “generously and ungrudgingly” or similar in English is translated in Elhomwe with one term: “with his whole heart.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
See also scatter / generous and with glad and generous hearts.
fool, insane
The Greek that is translated as “fool” (in Matthew 5:22) or “insane” is translated in Mairasi as “(your/their) vision has dried up.” The opposite (“sane”) is “vision is well-split” (see right mind / sound-minded).
In Elhomwe it is idiomatically translated as “not grasping the head.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
See also You are out of your mind!.
couches
sword (Luke 2:35)
The Greek that is translated as “sword” in English is translated in Elhomwe as “pity.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
invoke your name
birds of the air
The Greek, Ge’ez, and Hebrew phrases that are often translated as “birds of the air” or similar in English “refer to the undomesticated song birds or wild birds, to be distinguished in a number of languages from domesticated fowl. In Tzeltal these former are ‘field birds’.” (source: Bratcher / Nida)
Q’anjob’al also uses an established term for non-domesticated birds. Newberry and Kittie Cox (in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. ) explain: “Qʼanjobʼal has two distinct terms, one to identify domesticated birds and the other non-domesticated birds. The additional descriptive phrase ‘of the air’ seemed entirely misleading, for Qʼanjobʼal speakers had never heard of such creatures. Actually, of course, all that was necessary was the term for non-domesticated birds, for that is precisely the meaning of the Biblical expression.”
In Elhomwe they are just translated as “birds” or “birds of the bush” (i.e., wild birds) to “not give the impression that these are special type of birds.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
See also birds of the air / fish of the sea and birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.
flattering lips
The Hebrew in Psalm 12:2 that is translated as “flattering lips” or similar in English is translated in Elhomwe idiomatically with “sharp tongue.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
See also flattery and smooth talk and flattery.