Language-specific Insights

complete verse (1 Corinthians 7:14)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 7:14:

  • Uma: “For that man who doesn’t believe is offered to the Lord because of his wife. And the woman who does not believe is offered to the Lord because of her husband who believes. If it weren’t like that, certainly your children would be the same as the children of those who don’t believe in the Lord. But as it is, your children are certainly offered to the Lord because of the faith of one of their parents.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Because you the ones trusting in Isa Almasi, even if your husband or wife does not trust in Isa Almasi they are like belonging to God because you are one. And your children also are like belonging to God. Because if this is not true your children are like the children of those who don’t follow God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For you who have believed in our Lord Jesus, who have spouses who are not believers, God will also bless your spouse because of you, even if he has not believed. And he will also bless your children. Because if this were not true, your children would be just like the children of people who have not believed in the Lord.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because the one who doesn’t believe has already been dedicated to God because of his/her being-one-with her/his spouse who believes. If this weren’t true, their children would not be counted in God’s estimation, but the truth of it is, they are also counted as having-been-dedicated to him.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For because his wife has become a believer, even though that man is not yet a believer, God will now separate him out from other men whose wives are not yet believers. Well, it’s just like that if it’s the woman who is not a believer, but her husband has become a believer. For if God’s regarding was not like that of people whose spouse has become a believer, of course his regarding of their children would not be like that either. But this is the truth, even their children, God also separates-them-out from other children whose parents are not believers.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Because the husband who is not a believer has part in the blessings which God gives to the wife who is a believer. If it were that only believers encountered God’s blessings, then the children wouldn’t be blessed. But it is well known that also children encounter the blessings which God gives to the father or mother who is a believer.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

complete verse (Luke 19:46)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 19:46:

  • Noongar: “and saying to them, ‘The Scriptures say this: God says, ‘My house will be called a house of praying’. But you have made it a cave where thieves hide!”” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “He said to them: ‘In the Holy Book, God says like this: ‘My house is a prayer house.’ But you(emphatic), you consider it a house of robbers!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “and he said to them, ‘It is written in the holy book, God says, ‘My house is called a house for prayer’. But you,’ said Isa, ‘you make God’s house like a house for thieves to hide in.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And he said to them, ‘Get out of here, because there is a written word of God which says, ‘My house shall be called a house where people pray.’ However, as for you,’ said Jesus, ‘you’ve made it a place where cheaters stay.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “saying, ‘It is written in God’s word, ‘My house, it is a praying-place of people.’ But as for you, you have turned it into a place-for-cheating your companions!'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “He said to them, ‘It is contained in the written word of God, ‘As for my house where I am worshipped, it will be called a house which is a prayer-place.’ But you have made it a nest of thieves!'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

For the Old Testament quote, see Jeremiah 7:11 and Isaiah 56:7.

complete verse (1 Corinthians 8:6)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 8:6:

  • Uma: “But to us, there is only one God, he is our Father who made everything there is, he alone is the goal of our lives. And our Lord is also only one, Yesus Kristus, he is the one whom God used-as-his-hands to make everything there is, he is the one who gives us life.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “nevertheless for us (incl.), there is only one God, he is our (incl.) Father and he created everything. He is the one who gave us (dual) life so that we (dual) could honor him/make him great as long as we (dual) live. And there is only one Leader of us (incl.), Isa Almasi. Everything was created by Almasi because of his authority from God and Almasi is the reason why we (incl.) are given life.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But in spite of this, as for us (incl.), we by contrast, know that our God is only one, and He is our Father who has created everything. He is the one we look up to (in worship) at all times, and only one is our Lord who is Jesus Christ. By means of Him, everything was created, and by means also of Him, we were given new life.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “we don’t believe it, because as for us by-contrast, there is only-one whom we acknowledge as God. He is our Father who created all that exists and we live to serve and worship/praise him. There is also only-one whom we acknowledge as Lord who is Jesu Cristo. He is the one whom-God -caused-to-create all that exists and through him, we have life that is forever.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “but as for us, really just-one only is the true God who is our Father. He is the origin of everything and we are living to praise and serve him. The Lord Jesu-Cristo is also just-one, he who created all things, and he who is the origin of our new life.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “for us, our God is the only one who lives, he who is our Father. This one is God who made all that we see there is. And we live in order to do the will of God. He who is our boss is Jesus Christ. In connection with him exist all the things we see that are, and it is he who gives us our lives.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

complete verse (Luke 20:30)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 20:30:

  • Noongar: “Then the next brother married his widow, but he died.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “His younger-brother married his widow, but he also just died, he had not yet had-the-opportunity to have children.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then the one following him took the widow as a wife and he died and they also did not have a child.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The second one married his sister-in-law and he died also without having any children.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “So his younger-sibling took-his-place and married the widow, but he died while they also had no children.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “The next one who took-over that wife died like that too, having no children.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

complete verse (1 Corinthians 9:25)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 9:25:

  • Uma: “People who compete, they have many kinds of taboos [i.e., things they won’t do/eat] and they endure all kinds of things, because they really want to get the prize. That prize, it’s a flower [i.e., any decorative plant] that will just wilt in a while. But we, we endure all kinds of things because we desire to get a prize that will last forever.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “The people who want to join in the race, train/practice first and do no longer indulge their desires. They do this in order to win and to be honored. For honoring them they are given a wreath made of leaves and it does not last long. But we (incl.) the ones trusting in Isa Almasi, we (incl.) will be honored, and the good/blessing given to us (incl.) will last forever. That’s why we (incl.) don’t indulge our (incl.) desires.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And as for the one who’s going to race, he works hard so that his body might be trained. The reason he does this is so that he might receive a reward whose value is soon gone. But as for us believers, we work hard also in following our Lord so that we might receive the reward whose value can never be removed forever.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “All who join-in-competing, they thoroughly control and toughen (lit. make-firm) their bodies. And as for them, they do that so they will be able-to-gain a reward that doesn’t last, but we by-contrast, we do it in order to gain a reward that has no end.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Like that too, as for the contestants, their discipline of themselves in everything is very strict so that they will win. But as for the prize that they receive, it’s just foliage made into a circle that soon withers. But as for the prize that we are assured of, it has no ending. Therefore let us not play-at our serving of the Lord, but rather strive-hard-at-it.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “All those who seek to win in a sport do not want to miss any hardening in order to win. They earnestly endeavor to win a crown, one made from only leaves. It doesn’t last many days. But as for us, we endeavor to do what God orders us in order that we be given his blessing, that which will never pass away.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

complete verse (Luke 21:15)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 21:15:

  • Noongar: “because I will give you good words and wisdom, so that not one of these bad people will be able to answer you and say that you are not telling the truth.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “I myself will give you clear answers, with the result that not one of your enemies will be able to refute or reject what you say.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “For I will give you wisdom/knowledge so that you can answer them. And there will be none of your enemies/opponents able to oppose your words or to refute you.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because I am the one who knows how for you to answer their questions, and I will give you wisdom to think so that you might be able to answer. And then, as for your enemies, they will not be able to answer your reasoning and they will not also be able to say that what you are saying is a lie.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “because I will be the very one to give you intelligence/skill to speak and wisdom to answer so that your enemies will thus have no way to defeat you and to contradict what you are saying.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Because I am the one who will give you what you are to say which has far from ordinary understanding/wisdom, which none of your opponents will be able to answer or defeat.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (John 1:14)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For the first part of this verse (“among us” in English translations), translators typically select the inclusive form (including the reader of the gospel) (source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.). SIL International Translation Department (1999) notes, however that the exclusive pronoun is also a possibility: “Though the pronoun us… refers essentially to mankind in general, it is also a specific historical reference to the incarnation and the fact that Jesus lived on earth at a particular time. In this particular context the pronoun must be in the exclusive first person plural….This usage makes the pronominal reference agree with the following.”

Two translations that reflect that divergence are the Uma translation that uses the inclusive form (source: Uma Back Translation) and the Kankanaey that uses the exclusive pronoun (source: Kankanaey Back Translation).

The second occurrence of the pronoun in this verse (“we have seen his glory” in English) is always exclusive (excluding anyone but Jesus’s eyewitnesses). (Source: SIL International Translation Department (1999))

complete verse (1 Corinthians 10:30)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 10:30:

  • Uma: “If I eat that meat and say thank you to God, why does another person disparage me!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “If I give thanks to God for my food, why should people criticise me and-what’s-more I have given thanks for it.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For example, he says, ‘if I give thanks to God for what I eat, why do some of my fellow believers say that it is sinful for me to eat that which I have given thanks for?'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “What moreover will it benefit-you (sing.) if you (sing.) persist in eating what you (sing.) have given-thanks-to God -for, the result being that your (sing.) companion will speak-evil of you (sing.)? Nothing.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But maybe someone says, ‘If I am really thanking God for what I am eating, why should I still be rebuked because of that for which I am thanking God?'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “If I thank God for what I eat, why should some other person criticize what I eat?’ they will tell me.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)