“God will cause his Holy Spirit to possess you” in Teutila Cuicatec
“the Holy Spirit will come into your souls with his power” in Desano
“you will receive the Holy Spirit, Father God will give you that” in San Mateo del Mar Huave
“God will send the Holy Spirit to live with you” Mezquital Otomi (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
“you guys will receive Great Above Ones Spirit as a gift from right where Great Above One lives” in Mairasi (source: Enggavoter 2004)
“you will receive the Straight Spirit as a gift to you” in Bariai (source: Bariai Back Translation)
For the Greek in John 19:30 that is translated with an equivalent of “It is finished (or: completed)” in most English Bible translations a perfect tense is used that has no direct equivalent in English. It expresses that an event has happened at a specific point in the past but that that event has ongoing results. The English “Expanded Translation” by Kenneth S. Wuest (publ. 1961) attempted to recreate that by translating “It has been finished and stands complete.”
Irish uses yet a different system of tenses, resulting in these translations:
Atá sé ar na chríochnughadh (Bedell An Biobla Naomhtha, publ. early 17th century): “It is upon its completion”
Tá críoch curtha air (Ó Cuinn Tiomna Nua, publ. 1970): “Completion is put on it”
Tá sé curtha i gcrích (An Bíobla Naofa, publ. 1981): “It is put in completion”
Source for the Irish: Kevin Scannell
In Ojitlán Chinantec it is translated as “My work is finished,” in Aguaruna as “It is completely accomplished,” and in Mezquital Otomi as “Now all is finished which I was commanded to do.” (Source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
In Cherokee an immediate past form of the verb alsgwada (ᎠᎵᏍᏆᏓ) is used. This indicates that “the action is concurrently effected.” (Source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 56)
In Mandarin Chinese, it is translated as chéng le (成了) which means both “it is completed” and “it is finished” (source: Zetzsche), in Ebira it is translated as Ma sị mẹ ta or “I have finally completed/finished it” (source: Scholz /Scholz 2015, p. 98), and in both German and Dutch major translations it is translated as vollbracht and volbracht respectively, which means “finished” but comes from “to bring (or: deliver) completely.”
The following is a contemporary stained glass window in the Catholic Church of the Resurrection in Bryanston, New Zealand:
The Window of the Saviour: Jesus said, “It is accomplished,” and bowing His head He gave up His spirit (John 19:30). This window with its powerful colours of sorrow and mourning yet glory and new life shows the Saviour at the moment of His supreme sacrifice of Himself for love of all humanity. (Source: Catholic Church of the Resurrection in Bryanston )
Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum .
The Greek in Acts 23:3 that is translated in English as “(you) whitewashed wall” is translated in a number of ways:
Lalana Chinantec: “you are like a masonry wall on which they have put white paint. It is no longer evident what it is like inside.” (Source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2ff.)
Bariai: “a disintegrating wall and yet they applied paint to it so that it merely looks good” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
The Greek in Romans 12:2 that is translated in English as some form of “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” is translated into Bilua as “you must not follow this generation’s behavior, but you must allow God in your heart that he make you new in your life and thinking.”
The first part of this phrase (“(don’t be) conformed to this world”) is translated as “live doing as other people do who live here in the world” in Central Tarahumara, as “do like mankind does, people who are here on the earth” in Yatzachi Zapotec, aw “do like people in this sinful world” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui, and “the life of those who walk in sin” in Mezquital Otomi.
The second part (“be transformed by the renewal of your mind”) is translated as “let the way you think become new and changed” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui, as “change so that what you think may become new” in Sayula Popoluca, as “let God change your head-hearts in order that your thoughts will he changed” in Yatzachi Zapotec, as “be different since the Holy Spirit has made your mind new” in Huehuetla Tepehua, and as “in a different way think well” in Central Tarahumara. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
The Greek, Ge’ez, and Aramaic that is translated as “mystery” in English is translated as “wisdom which was hidden” in Mezquital Otomi, as “that was not possible to be understood before” in Huehuetla Tepehua, as “which was not known in time past” in Central Tarahumara (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in Newari as “hidden meaning” or “hidden matter” (source: Newari Back Translation).
Tzotzil: “[people who] are zealously doing what they think is God’s word”
Mezquital Otomi: “[people who] very much believe what they have been taught about God” (source for this and five above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Chichewa interconfessional translation, publ. 1999: “[people who] love God” (source: Wendland 1998, p. 90)
Uma: “[people who] submit to Lord God” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “very religious” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “[people who] are faithful in carrying out the commands of God” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “[people who] are serving God” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “[people who] are indeed devout-worshipers of God” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Bariai: “[people who] respect God” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
Kupsabiny: “[people who] have dedicated themselves to God” (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
German: “God-fearing” (gottesfürchtig) or “pious” (fromm)
Low German translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006: “[people who] take their faith very seriously” (source for this and above: Zetzsche)
HausaCommon Language Bible: “owners of worshiping God” (source: Hausa Common Language Bible Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “godly” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
