Language-specific Insights

complete verse (Ephesians 5:18)

Following are a number of back-translations of Ephesians 5:18:

  • Uma: “Don’t be drunk, for that causes evil desires to appear. We must be controlled by the Holy Spirit. From that power of the Holy Spirit,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “You should not be/get drunk because it destroys you. Instead that’s what you should do, you should allow/let God’s Spirit rule over you.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Dont’t you get drunk on wine because this can destroy you; but rather, it’s necessary that you are thoroughly inspired by the Holy Spirit.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Don’t be getting drunk, because that of course is destructive, but rather be full of the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Be disgusted now with the habit of getting drunk, for that is what takes you to a messed up life (lit: life which has no fixing-up). It’s necessary that it’s not alcoholic-drink which is controlling and guiding-you-from-within, but rather the Espiritu Santo now.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “In order to live happily, do not give your heart to getting drunk. Because the drunkard is hurting himself. Rather give your hearts up to the Holy Spirit who will teach you what you must do.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Rotuman: “And you (3 or more) to not (get) drunk [lit.: poisoned] with wine, (a) thing that causes violent character; be full (filled) instead with (the) Holy Spirit.” (Ma ’au la se ’oan ’e uaini, tēet ne ho’ ag rạhrạhi; ’an la hoi ke ‘e ’At Ha’a) (for an analysis of this translation, click or tap here)

    “This text has been widely used as a proof text for the ‘Spirit-filled life’ by the so-called Holy Spirit movement. It has therefore been the focus of much interest and controversy among Rotuman readers as to its true meaning.

    “As with all translation, it is important to understand not just the meaning intended by the translator, but also what the readers and hearers take the words to mean. We will try to illustrate this in the comments that follow.

    “Ma … la se. Beginning a sentence with ma gives this conjunction a much stronger force that usual, like saying, ‘But . . . must . . .’ Likewise the use of la with the negative se is also a strong expression, ‘Beware to not …’

    “’an. This plural, referring to three or more people is well understood in Rotuman: ‘you and you and you and . . .’ Any address, or warning, or instruction to the community is always to ’au. This includes all listeners, men, women, young, and old.

    “’oan, ‘drunk’, literally means to be poisoned. The same word is used of fish poisoning, or any other food poisoning or overdose. With wine, the kind it obviously seems to refer to is the new wine which is still bubbling. Fruit wine at this early stage of fermentation is bubbling and foamy, and very poisonous.

    “Community drinking is always by a group (of men). If one person is drinking alone, he is selfish; if only two are drinking together, they arc secretive. Some of the purposes of such community drinking are:

    • relaxation after a hard day’s work
    • sharing, reflecting, evaluating the day’s work
    • leaving lime for the womenfolk to cook dinner
    • guarding against individuals getting drunk

    “‘To not get drunk (poisoned) with wine’ implies certain things. It can mean that moderate drinking is all right; it can mean that drinking is all right unless it causes a person to stagger or vomit. It can also mean that wine is prohibited, but other intoxicating drinks such as kava are allowed.

    “Uaini is a transliteration of the English word ‘wine’. So does this verse speak only of Eastern wine or Western wine, wine made from grapes? The island brew is made from fruit such as oranges, pineapples, bananas, mangoes. The best is reckoned to be what is made from the juice of a green coconut, and this is always white, not red.

    “In fact tēet means ‘a thing’, and it never refers to a liquid like wine. And it is really the excessive drinking rather than the nature of the drink that leads to violence. But in normal community drinking no one drinks to get drunk—it is only an after-work pre-dinner fellowship.

    “Ho’ means to ‘pile up’. The picture is of a person gradually getting more and more drunk, which eventually leads to violent behaviour.

    “ag rahrahi. This expression is made up of two terms, aga or ‘character’, and rạhrạhi (from the root rạhi. ‘fire’), ‘rekindled fire’. It is thus intended to mean fiery or violent character. But it can also be understood in a number of other ways:

    • ‘recklessness’ — and this does not mean the unlawful use of force
    • ‘bravery’ or acting the daredevil
    • ‘prodigality’ or a life of gaiety
    • masculine, ‘macho’ behaviour, without any suggestion of immodesty. (Parents enjoy watching their sons grow up with some wildness in their behaviour.)
    • ‘reconciling’, as the rekindled fire cleans up all inflammable rubbish
    • ‘consistent’ or ‘enduring’

    “This indicates that ag rạhrạhi is really an expected and accepted pattern of behaviour; and in its Rotuman setting a person doesn’t get drunk to be ag rạhrạhi. In community life, (he worst form of behaviour to display or possess is ‘being inconsiderate’.

    “hoi ke. The adverb ke, ‘instead’, again presents the idea of a strong contrast: ‘Never, never get drunk with wine, but always . . .’ Hoi means to be filled with, or to be full of. It is used mainly for filling something with liquid, although it can also mean to be ‘satisfied’ with solid food.

    “From the contrast between the two parts of the verse, it is understood that the person who is filled with the Holy Spirit will not possess or manifest violent character. Therefore the argument and controversy, and sometimes violent action, that have appeared with some people who claim to be ‘filled with the Spirit’, are seen to be a denial of that experience.

    “‘At Ha’a is quite clear in its meaning, ‘the Holy Spirit’. Unlike wine, the Holy Spirit cannot be seen; but still the idea of being filled with the Holy Spirit is clear. In Rotuman ancestral worship a person talked about being ‘possessed’ by the spirit of, say, his father. This was a totally ‘outside of me’ power or infilling.”

    Source: Jotama Vamarasi in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 241ff. )

For the Old Testament quote, see Proverbs 23:31.

devout

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The Greek that is often translated in English as “devout” (or “pious”) is translated in various ways:

  • Lalana Chinantec: “[people who] revere God”
  • Chichimeca-Jonaz: “[people who] obey and worship God”
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “[people who] remember God”
  • San Mateo del Mar Huave: “worshipers of God”
  • 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)
  • Hausa Common Language Bible: “owners of worshiping God” (source: Hausa Common Language Bible Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “godly” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

See also righteous / righteousness.

humble (verb)

The Greek that is translated as “humbled” in English is rendered in Gumuz as “become small” (source: Loren Bliese) and in Uma as “make hearts low” (“proud,” the opposite is translated as proud “make hearts high”) (source: Uma Back Translation).

catch / fish for people

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The Greek in Luke 5:10 that means “catch (or: capture) alive” is usually translated as “catch (people)” of “fish (for people)” in English which implies the fact that the captured or caught are still alive.

The Syriac Aramaic (Classical Syriac) Peshitta translation, however, makes the meaning of “catch alive” more explicit by translating ṣāeḏ ləẖayye (ܨܳܐܶܕ݂ ܠܚܰܝܶܐ) or “catch alive.” Following that translation, other translations that are based on the Peshitta, including the Classical Armenian Bible (vorsayts’es i keans [որսայցես ի կեանս] or “catch for life”), the Afrikaans PWL translation (publ. 2016) (mense vang tot verlossing or ” catch [people] to salvation”), the Dutch translation by Egbert Nierop (publ. 2020) (vangen tot redding or “catch to save”) or various English translations (see here ) explicitly highlight the “alive” as well. (Source: Ivan Borshchevsky)

Some languages have to find strategies on how to deal with the metaphor of “catching.” “In some cases the metaphor can be rendered rather literally, cp. ‘seeking for men’ (Kekchí, where ‘to seek fish’ is the idiomatic rendering of ‘to catch fish’). In several other languages, however, more radical adjustments are necessary, such as making explicit the underlying simile, ‘you will catch men as if you were catching fish’ (Inupiaq); or a shift to a non-metaphorical rendering, sacrificing the play-on-words, e.g. ‘you will be a bringer of men’ (Northern Grebo). In some cases the durative aspect of the construction is best expressed by n occupational term, e.g. ‘youwill be one-whose-trade-is catching men’ (Tae’ and Toraja-Sa’dan).” (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)

Other translations include:

  • Uma: “teach people to become my followers” (source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “fetch people to follow me” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “look for people so that they might be my disciples” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “persuade people” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “as-it-were catch/hunt/fish-for” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

in the last days

The Greek in Acts 2:17 that is translated as “in the last days” in English is translated as

  • “there will be a day” (Eastern Highland Otomi)
  • “when the world is about to turn around” (Isthmus Mixe)
  • “when the time comes that the sky will soon perish” (Lalana Chinantec)
  • “when it will nearly be time for the world to come to an end” (Chichimeca-Jonaz)
  • “while the last day is near” (Tzotzil)
  • “close to when the end comes” (Huichol) (source for this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • “at the [time of] the end of the world (Uma) (source: Uma Back Translation)
  • “day later and very much later” (Bariai) (source: Bariai Back Translation)

they are a law to themselves

The Greek in Romans 2:14 that is often translated into English as “they are a law to themselves” is translated these ways:

  • Bilua: “they follow their own law” (source: Carl Gross)
  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “it is just as if they had a law in their hearts”
  • Highland Totonac: “on their own they think of the law they should do”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “what their head-hearts tell them to do is like the law for them”
  • Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “their very hearts is a law which issues orders to them”
  • Tzeltal: “it is because there are commandments in their hearts”
  • Sierra de Juárez Zapotec: “show that they themselves know what they ought to do” (source for this and five above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Uma: “their own hearts become like the Lord’s Law to them” (source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “they have a Law there in their breath” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “their minds are like their law which directs them” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

See also a law unto themselves.

go in peace

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “go in peace” into English is an idiomatic expression of farewell which is translatable in other languages as an idiomatic expression as well:

  • “go with sweet insides” (Shilluk)
  • “rejoice as you go” (Central Mazahua)
  • “go in quietness of heart” (Chol)
  • “go happy” (Highland Puebla Nahuatl)
  • “being happy, go” (Central Tarahumara)
  • “go and sit down in your heart” (Tzeltal) (source for this and five above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • “have a smooth interior and go” (Bariai) (source: Bariai Back Translation)

    • “Go with-your-liver-good” (Mairasi) (source Enggavoter 2004)

  • “Go home with goodness of your life” (Uma (source: Uma Back Translation)
  • “Go home now, and may your situation be good.” (Western Bukidnon Manobo) (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • “Go with your mind at-peace” (tip_language language=”3135″]Kankanaey[/tip_language]) (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

census

The Greek and Hebrew that is typically translated as “census” in English is translated in these ways: