The Greek in 1 Corinthians 3:12 that is translated as “gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw” in English is translated in Enlhet as “expensive things and ordinary things cheap.” (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )
In Matumbi, “silver and precious stones” as “valuable gems and valuable stones” (for instance rubies or sapphires vs. something like marble). The Matumbi word for “sliver” is used for “money” and the Matumbi don’t see a clear distinction between precious metals and rock. The word for “straw” is maakapi, i.e. the material left over after harvesting corn. It’s considered relatively useless but can be used to build a shelter, just like the Greek tat is translated as “straw.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
The Greek in Ephesians 5:2 that is translated as “gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” or similar in English is translated in Matumbi as “and gave himself to be an offering having a good smell on the altar to God.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
The Greek in Matthew 27:52 that is translated as “many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep” in English is translated in Matumbi as “many of those who died being accepted by God, they were raised.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
Stephen Hre Kio reports on the translation of the Greek word into Falam Chin that is translated as “woman” in English, specifically when it refers to Jesus addressing his mother (see The Bible Translator 1988, p. 442ff. ):
“No child would call his parents by their names, either half name or full name, in private or in public. To do so would show disrespect of a high degree. It would be an open insult. The only possible situation where the children might address their parents by name would be where a combination of an endearment title and the name was used as a form of introduction, and the listeners were people not familiar with the parents. For example, the son Za Hu can introduce his father to an unfamiliar audience by saying, ‘This is my father U Kaw Kaw. . .’ If he does it without saying ‘my father,’ Za Hu is creating a distance between himself and his father, but not disrespect. If he addresses his father as ‘Man!’ and his mother as ‘Woman!,’ he is in real trouble. He would be creating an image of being uncultured, disrespectful and downright contemptuous.
“That is precisely the situation we find in John 2:4 and 19:26, where Jesus addressed his mother as ‘woman’ (Greek gunai). To translate this utterance literally would be Nunau in Falam Chin, and this would be offensive to Falam readers. Although we find the same utterance in John 20:13, by two angels who say to Mary, ‘Woman, why are you crying?,’ this is not as offensive as the other uses. The difference lies in the person who said it. For the angels to say to the woman “Woman,” is acceptable. But for the son to say ‘Woman’ to his mother demonstrates utter disrespect and contempt or even extreme anger. That is precisely what we found the text of John put in the mouth of Jesus. But is that actually what Jesus meant when he said ‘Woman’? Fortunately, we are told that ‘Jesus’ use of ‘woman’ (RSV) in direct address was normal and polite. . . It showed neither disrespect nor lack of love. . .’ (quoted from: Newman / Nida 1980). In Falam, the word ‘woman’ Nunau, will have to be avoided and replaced by Ka Nu, meaning ‘My Mother.’ This is the only choice possible in the situation. ‘Woman’ (Nunau) would be insulting, and ‘mother’ Nu Nu would be childish.”
Abel Tabalaka (in Scriptura 81 (2002), p. 453ff. ) reports something similar from the translation into the apparent semantic equivalent mosadi into Tswana. Readers found this also unacceptably rude and it might therefore distort the meaning of the Greek text (even though it’s used in all Tswana Bibles except the the 1993 paraphrase by Biblica where the word is just skipped.)
In Elhomwe and Matumbi it is translated as “mother,” because “woman” would be impolite. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The Greek in Acts 10:24 that is translated as “close friends” or similar in English is translated in Matumbi idiomatically as “friends of the heart.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
The Greek, Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated in English as “thunder” is translated in Q’anjob’al with the existing idiom “the sun trembles.” (Source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. )
In Matumbinjai means “thunder” and/or “lightning.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
The Greek in Ephesians 6:5 that is translated as “singleness of heart,” “sincere heart” or similar in English is translated in Matumbi idiomatically as “a clean heart that is free of lies.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
The Greek in Matthew 6:17 that is often translated as “comb your hair” in translations for languages of people with predominantly type 1 – 3 hair (straight, wavy, curly — see Hair Typing System ) if the translators are attempting to communicate the importance of looking one’s best in this verse (see complete verse (Matthew 6:17)). It is more easily translatable directly as “put oil on your head” in many languages for people in regions of sub-Saharan Africa, Melanesia, and Australia with type 4 hair (see kinky hair ) where it is more common to use oil in hair care. This is the case in Matumbi, whose speakers’ “hair becomes brittle when they wash it without oil, because their hair isn’t naturally oily.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
