The English translation “the word of God came to John” of the Greek original uses the verb “come.” Javanese translates “John was-commissioned with God’s word,” Kituba as “God made-known his message to him” (Kituba) and in Nyakyusa-Ngonde the verb for “found” is used and in Tzeltal “arrived in the heart of.” (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Language-specific Insights
lyre
The musical instrument that is most often translated as “lyre” or “lute” in English is translated in the following ways:
- Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016: pangwe (a musical instrument that is made from a hollow tube filled with pellets or small stones to create a rain-like sound) or “five stringed instrument” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “guitar” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Newari: “sitar ” (source: Newari Back Translation)
- Adilabad Gondi: chondka (source: Adilabad Gondi Back-Translation)
- Nyakyusa-Ngonde: marimba (source: Nyakyusa-Ngonde back translation)
In the UBS Helps for Translators‘ Human-made Things in the Bible (original title: The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible) it says the following:
The lyre consisted of a sound box out of the ends or sides of which projected two arms. The arms supported a crosspiece. Strings descended from the crosspiece over the sound box. As with the nevel, the number of strings could vary. Their varying thickness and tension gave the instrument a range of notes. The lyre was normally made of wood. The strings were made of animal intestines (perhaps from sheep).
The strings were normally plucked with the fingers. The kinor in particular is frequently depicted as an instrument that accompanied singing.
Job 21:12: For the stringed instrument (kinor in Hebrew) accompanying the tambourine, French Common Language Version has “guitar” and the French La Bible de Jérusalem has “zither,” which seems to be an instrument used in 1 Samuel 10:5. The first line of this verse may also be rendered “The children sing as people play the tambourine and the lyre.” In some languages these instruments will be a local drum and a stringed instrument; the latter may be a guitar. If no instruments can be found to render any of the instruments in this verse, the translator may have to express the whole verse differently; for example, “The children dance and sing and make joyful sounds/music.”
The identity of the instrument called sabka’ in Aramaic in Daniel (Hebrew) is uncertain. New Revised Standard Version, updated edition renders it “trigon,” which is a small triangular lyre-type instrument with four strings. Probably trigon is technically correct, but it is unknown to the average English reader. Good News Translation has attempted to find a better-known equivalent with “zither,” but the zither has far too many strings (over thirty). Some translations use “lyre” for sabka’ and render the Aramaic word qathros before it as “zither”. Revised English Bible has “triangle,” but most readers will wrongly identify that as a percussion instrument. Common English Version avoids the problem by rendering only the first three instruments in the list and grouping the last three together, including sabka’ as follows: “Trumpets, flutes, harps, and all other kinds of musical instruments.”
Lyre (source: Knowles, revised by Bass (c) British and Foreign Bible Society 1994)
Quoted with permission.
large lyre / harp
The musical instrument that is most often translated as “harp” or “large lyre” in English is translated in the following ways:
- Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016: “two stringed instrument” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
- Hiligaynon: “instruments which have strings to praise you,” “beautiful to-be-listened-to instruments,” or kudyapi (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
- Newari: sarəngi (source: Newari Back Translation)
- Adilabad Gondi: karnaat (source: Adilabad Gondi Back-Translation)
- Nyakyusa-Ngonde: zeze (source: Nyakyusa-Ngonde back translation)
- Mairasi: kecapi (“like a ukulele”) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
- Natügu: “ukulele” (source: Brenda Boerger in Open Theology 2016, p. 179ff. )
- Cherokee: “musical instrument made of suspended wires” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16)
In the UBS Helps for Translators‘ Human-made Things in the Bible (original title: The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible) it says the following:
Description: The exact identification of the nevel is very problematic. Some take it to be a kind of harp. The harp consisted of a neck projecting out of a soundbox. Strings were stretched from the extremity of the neck down its length and into the sound box. The body of the harp was made of wood and its strings of animal intestines (perhaps from sheep). The number of strings varied.
Others place the nevel in the category of lyres, where the strings are stretched over top of and parallel to the soundbox. While this is the interpretation preferred here, we will discuss the harp-type of instrument, since the identification is problematic and many translations have preferred “harp” for nevel.
Usage: The strings were plucked either with the fingers or with a thin piece of ivory or metal to give a resonating sound, probably in a lower register than that made by the kinor.
Translation: In several Psalms (33.2; 92.3; 144.9), the nevel is linked to the Hebrew word ‘asor, which could indicate it was “ten-stringed.”
Some degree of cultural adaptation must be made in the translation of these stringed instruments since cultures differ from each other in the shape, the number of strings, and the function of their instruments. Translators will have to select an equivalent instrument in the receptor language. In most passages the most accurate translation for nevel will be “guitar” or some equivalent medium-sized stringed instrument on which the strings are stretched over a sound box and are plucked.
In those passages where nevel and kinor appear together it is recommended that the translator use an instrument that can vary in size and then render the two words as “large and small X,” for example, “large and small guitars.” Alternately, it may be possible to select two stringed instruments that are similar in construction but different in size, for example, “guitar and lute.” It is also possible to say “large and small stringed instruments” or to combine the two, saying “stringed instruments.”
Psalms 33:2: “Praise the LORD with the lyre” (New Revised Standard Version, updated edition) contains two major translation problems. The first problem is that in many languages, the phrase “with the lyre” must be changed into a verb phrase or clause; for example, the whole line may be rendered “Praise the LORD by playing music on the lyre” or “Make music with the lyre, and praise the LORD.” The second problem, which applies also to the second line of this verse, is the terms to be used for the musical instruments here. In languages in which there are several stringed instruments, translators may use one of the smaller ones for kinor (“lyre”) and a larger one for nevel (“harp” in New Revised Standard Version, updated edition). In languages where there is little or no choice, they should use the known local stringed instrument for the kinor, and a more generic expression for the nevel. Where there are no known stringed instruments, it will often be necessary to say “small instruments with strings” for kinor and “large instruments with strings” for nevel.
Harp (source: Knowles, revised by Bass (c) British and Foreign Bible Society 1994)
Quoted with permission.
complete verse (Psalm 68:5)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 68:5:
- Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“The father of the orphans, the protector of widows,
is God who lives in the holy places.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation) - Newari:
“God who lives in the holy temple
is the father of those who have no father or mother
and is the protector of those whose husbands have died.” (Source: Newari Back Translation) - Hiligaynon:
“The God, who dwells/lives in his holy temple, takes-care of the orphans/parentless and protects the ones-who-lost-their-spouse women/(widows).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation) - Laarim:
“God who is staying in his House which is Holy,
he cares for orphans and widows.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation) - Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Mungu ambaye anakaa katika makao yake patakatifu,
ni baba ya yatima,
mlinzi wa wajane.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation) - English:
“God, who lives in his sacred temple, is like a father to those who are orphans, and he is the one who protects widows.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
complete verse (Psalm 69:2)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 69:2:
- Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“I am drowning in deep mud
where there is no foothold.
I have entered into deep waters;
waves have drowned me” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation) - Newari:
“I have been sinking deep into the mud.
My feet are not able to rest on the ground.
I have gotten caught in deep water.
I have been sinking in the deep flood.” (Source: Newari Back Translation) - Hiligaynon:
“(It) seems that I am-going-down/sinking into deep mud and I do-not-have a foothold/place-to-set-(my feet).
(It) seems that I (am) in a deep water and am-covered-up by waves.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation) - Laarim:
“I enter deep mud
and there is no place for my feet to stand.
I stay in a deep place in sea,
and the water becomes near to swallow me which are powerful.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation) - Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Nazama katika matope mengi,
ambamo siwezi hata kusimama.
Niko katikati penye maji yenye kina kirefu,
maji ambayo yanakwenda kwa nguvu, yananizamisha.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation) - English:
“I continue to sink in the deep mud, and there is no solid ground for me to stand on.
I am in deep water, and flood waters are swirling around me.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
complete verse (Psalm 69:34)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 69:34:
- Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“The heaven and the earth praise Him,
the lake and everything that walks in them,” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation) - Newari:
“Heavens, earth, ocean and all that is in them,
praise Him!” (Source: Newari Back Translation) - Hiligaynon:
“[You (plur.)] praise God, all you (plur.) who (are) in the heavens, on the earth, and in the seas/oceans.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation) - Laarim:
“You (plur.) let heaven and earth praise him,
and sea and all living things which are inside,” (Source: Laarim Back Translation) - Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Mbingu na dunia vimsifu Mungu,
bahari na vyote ambavyo vimo humo vimsifu.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation) - English:
“I desire that everything will praise God— everything that is in heaven and on earth, and all the creatures that are in the seas.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
complete verse (Psalm 72:1)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 72:1:
- Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“Give the child of the king your wisdom of judging justly,
You God give the child of the king your righteousness.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation) - Newari:
“O God, teach the king how to carry out justice.
Teach the king’s son the matter of becoming righteous.” (Source: Newari Back Translation) - Hiligaynon:
“O God, teach the king of your (sing.) righteous judgement.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation) - Laarim:
“God, give your king your wisdom,
so that he judges matter in a right way,
and give him your goodness.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation) - Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Ee Mungu, umwongoze mfalme wetu kuongoza vizuri,
umfundishe kutawala kwa unyofu.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation) - English:
“O God, enable me, the king whom you appointed in Israel, to rule justly.
Show/Teach me how to judge matters fairly” (Source: Translation for Translators)
complete verse (Psalm 73:13)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 73:13:
- Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
“Surely I have kept my heart pure in vain;
in vain I have washed my hands in my innocence.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation) - Newari:
“If so, is it in vain that I have kept my heart pure?
Even though I have lived without doing evil deeds, is it in vain?” (Source: Newari Back Translation) - Hiligaynon:
“So my living clean and without sin has- no -value?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation) - Laarim:
“Truly, I kept my heart to be pure for nothing,
and I kept myself to be pure for nothing.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation) - Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
“Nimejitahidi bure kuwa na moyo mweupe,
na kujilinda, ili nisitende dhambi.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation) - English:
“So, God, I think it is useless that I have always done what you want me to,
and that I have not sinned.” (Source: Translation for Translators)