The Greek in Revelation 6:6 that is translated as “for a day’s pay” or similar in English is translated in Elhomwe as “(a bit of food will be bought with) much money.” “‘Senarii’ or ‘a day’s wage’ does not reflect the idea of a large sum of money for a small amount of food; so made explicit.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Language-specific Insights
break heart
The Greek in Acts 21:13 that is translated as “break heart” in English is translated in Elhomwe idiomatically as “make the heart feel pain.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
In the 2008 Moba Yendu Kadapaaonn translation it is translated as “diminish the fluid of my heart.” In Moba, “the word pal (‘heart’) is conceived as a container containing a liquid. The container and the liquid can undergo transformations like any container and its contents when subjected to external pressure. The metaphor of the heart applied to anger perfectly illustrates this image of a container and its contents subjected to strong heat. In Moba, anger is associated with heat. There are various degrees of anger that can be compared to what happens when a pot containing a liquid is put on the fire.” (Source: Bedouma Joseph Kobaike in Le Sycomore 17/1, 2024, p. 3ff. )
the Way
The Greek that is often translated in English as “the Way,” referring to the young church in Acts, is translated in a number of ways:
- Isthmus Mixe: “those who follow the good words about Jesus Christ”
- Morelos Nahuatl; “the Jews who followed that man Jesus
- Lalana Chinantec: “the people who took the trail of Jesus”
- Eastern Highland Otomi: “all who believed on Jesus”
- Rincón Zapotec: “those who had received as truth Christ’s word”
- Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac: “those who walk in the road of the Lord”
- Chichimeca-Jonaz: “who believed that message” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
- Elhomwe: “those who lived according to the Way of the Lord” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
- German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): “Christian(ity)”
In the Mandarin Chinese Union Version, the most commonly used Protestant Chinese Bible, it is translated as zhèdào (这道) or “this way.” Note that dào (道) or “way” is the same word that is also used for Logos (usually “Word” in English) in John 1:1 and elsewhere (see Word / Logos).
die every day
The Greek in 1 Corinthians 15:31 that is translated as “die every day” in English is translated in Elhomwe idiomatically as “walk with death every day.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
fall to the ground
The Greek in Matthew 17:6 that is translated as “fell to the ground” or similar in English is translated in Elhomwe with yaamora ekhove or “fell on their faces,” the same expression that is used in Numbers 14:5 and Numbers 16:45. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
In Gbaya, the ideophone hirr is used to emphasize this expression. Hirr denotes a tight fit — such as the one of the disciples’ faces to the ground. Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)
See also fell to the ground and fell on their faces.
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.
devour
The Greek that is translated as “devour” or similar in English is translated in Elhomwe as “chew,” the term that is used for “eating meat.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
See also eat (meat).
salted with fire
The Greek in Mark 9:49 that is translated in English “(Everyone will be) salted with fire” is translated in Uripiv as “God will test all people with fire, like they test black stones [which are used in cooking]. If a stone is no good, it crumbles to ashes; if it’s good, the fire doesn’t affect it. So also they put salt with food to test its flavor, good or bad.” (Source: Ross McKerras)
In Elhomwe it is translated as “everyone will be cleansed by fire, like salt cleanses things.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
See also complete verse (Mark 9:49).