Many languages have terms for siblings that define whether one is younger or older in relation to another sibling.
In Fuyug, Tae’, Batak Toba, and Mandarin Chinese, Martha was assumed to be the older of the two sisters because she is mentioned first. (Sources: David Clark [Fuyug] and Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Navajo (Dinė) translates accordingly but for a different reason: “since Martha seemed to take the responsibility of the housework, she was probably the older of the two” (source: Wallis 2000, p. 103f.) whereas in Mandarin Chinese he is the younger brother.
In Fuyug, Lazarus is assumed to be the oldest sibling on the grounds that he died first, whereas in several Thai translations he is described as the youngest of the three. (Source: David Clark)
The Greek that is translated as “all generations” in English is rendered “all people in all time” (Sranan Tongo), “all descendants of man” (Apache), “all those-who-will-be-being-born as-time-goes-on” (Navajo (Dinė)).
The Greek in Philippians 2:1 that is translated into English as “comfort from love” or “consolation of love” is translated into Navajo (Dinė) as “if by loving your minds can be put to that place of refuge.” (Source: Nida 1964, p. 228)
In Western Highland Purepecha “consolation” in this verse is translated as “God takes sadness from our hearts” and in Aymara as “preparing the heart.” (Source: Nida 1952, p. 131)
The Greek in James 1:12 that is translated in English as “crown of life” is translated in Navajo (Dinė) as “the life-way prize” (source: Nida 1964, p. 238) and in Owa as “the wage of your souls” (source: Carl Gross).
In Chichewa (interconfessional translation) translated as mphotho or “prize (of life)”. Ernst Wendland (1987, p. 120) explains: “A Chewa Chief might wear a special sea shell or bracelet as a sort of badge of office, but these would be magically endowed to give him super-natural protection against his enemies. Because of these underlying associations, such terms would not be appropriate here. Instead the word mphotho ‘prize,’ ‘reward’ (for achievement) has been used.”
The Greek that is translated as “crown of thorns” in English is translated in Navajo (Dinė) as “a hat of a plant that had sharp thorns,” in North Alaskan Inupiatun as “a head-gear of prickly branches,” in Aguaruna as “a thing to crown him with out of thorns,” and in Chol as “woven thorns.”
Chichewa “spoiled wine” (vinyo wosasa — the word “wosasa” is used to refer to any food or drink that has become bad and produces bad smell because it has either overstayed or exposed to bacteria and other infections) (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Bariai: “sour wine juice” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
Cherokee: “sour” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16)
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “doubt” in English versions is translated with a term in Tzeltal that means “heart is gone.” (Nida 1952, p. 122)
In other languages it is represented by a variety of idiomatic renderings, and in the majority of instances the concept of duality is present, e.g. “to make his heart two” (Kekchí), “to be with two hearts” (Punu), “to have two hearts” (Maan), “to stand two” (Sierra de Juárez Zapotec), “to be two” or “to have two minds” (Navajo (Dinė)), “to think something else” (Tabasco Chontal), “to think two different things” (Shipibo-Conibo), “to have two thoughts” (Yaka and Huallaga Huánuco Quechua), or “two-things-soul” (Yucateco).
In some languages, however, doubt is expressed without reference to the concept of “two” or “otherness,” such as “to have whirling words in one’s heart” (Chol), “his thoughts are not on it” (Baoulé), “without thought in the heart” (Kako), or “to have a hard heart” (Piro). (Source: Bratcher / Nida, except for Yucateco: Nida 1947, p. 229, Kako: Reyburn 2002, p. 191, Huallaga Huánuco Quechua: Nida 1952, p. 123, and Maan: Don Slager)
In Elhomwe the same verb for “to doubt” and “to be amazed” is used, so often “to ask questions in heart” is used for “to doubt.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
In Chokwe “kwalajala is ‘to doubt.’ It is the repetitive of kuala, ‘to spread out in order, to lay (as a table), to make (as a bed),’ and is connected with kualula ‘to count.’ [It is therefore like] a person in doubt as one who can’t get a thing in proper order, who lays it out one way but goes back again and again and tries it other ways. It is connected with uncertainty, hesitation, lack of an orderly grasp of the ‘count’ of the subject.” (Source: D. B. Long in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 87ff. )
