The Greek in Romans 12:10 that is translated as “outdo one another in showing honor” or similar in English is translated as “always try to find out how the other person will come out better, and not yourselves” in Highland Totonac, as “be genuinely pleased if certain of your fellows should be more prominent than you yourself are” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui, and “each one give honor to the other and not to himself” in Isthmus Zapotec. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Language-specific Insights
peace (inner peace)
The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is usually translated into English as “peace,” when referring to one’s inner peace, is (back-) translated with a variety of idioms and phrases:
- “a song in the body” (Baoulé — see also joy)
- “heart coolness” (Eastern Maninkakan / Moronene) / “inner coolness” (Binumarien) (source for Moronene: David Andersen; Binumarien: Oates 1995, p. 249)
- “coolness” (Pular / Kutu) (source for Kutu: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
- “sit down in the heart” (South Bolivian Quechua) / “my heart sits down” (Northern Grebo)
- “rest the heart” (Central Mazahua) / “rest within” (Lacandon) (source: Nida 1952, p. 40 and 128ff.) / “wait well in your heart” (Yatzachi Zapotec) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
- “quietness of heart” (Chol)
- “kobe (= the abdominal region, including the heart) quiet” (Warao) (source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. )
- “have a quiet mind” (Ngäbere)
- “heart will lie quietly” (Isthmus Zapotec)
- “live quietly” (Central Tarahumara) (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
- “quiet goodness” (Kekchí)
- “goodness of life” (Uma) (source: Uma Back Translation)
- “strength of heart” (Highland Puebla Nahuatl)
- “leaning on the liver” (Kare)
- “sweet insides” (Shilluk)
- “evenness” (Toraja-Sa’dan)
- “having your hearts feel oneness for one another” (Tzeltal)
- “have one heart” (Miskito)
- “well-arranged soul” (Mashco Piro)
- “completeness” (Highland Puebla Nahuatl) (source for this and two above: Nida 1952, p. 128ff.)
- “stomach flat in” (“one’s stomach sticks out when one is upset”) (Kimyal) (source: Young 2022)
- “joy in heart” (Eastern Highland Otomi) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
- “have security in your heart” (Highland Totonac) (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
- “smooth interior” (Bariai) (source: Bariai Back Translation)
- tangnefedd — “an internal condition that makes external peace (heddwch) possible” (Welsh) (source: Rosa Hunt in Journal of European Baptist Studies 1/23 (2023), p. 1ff. ) (source for all non-attributed translations: Bratcher / Nida)
In American Sign Language it is signed with a compound sign consisting of “become” and “silent.” (Source: Yates 2011, p. 52)
“Peace” in American Sign Language (source )
See also peace (absence of strife) and this devotion on YouVersion and this one on Bible Gateway .
flesh (human nature)
The Greek that is often translated as “flesh” in English (when referring to the lower human nature) can, according to Nida (1947, p. 153) “very rarely be literally translated into another language. ‘My meat’ or ‘my muscle’ does not make sense in most languages.” He then gives a catalog of almost 30 questions to determine a correct translation for that term.
Accordingly, the translations are very varied:
- Highland Totonac: “like other men”
- Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “the path of sinful people”
- Mezquital Otomi: “of earthly kind” or “old life”
- Huehuetla Tepehua: “old life”
- Tzeltal: “body”
- Sayula Popoluca: “body that does evil”
- Tabasco Chontal: “old mind” (Source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
- Chichewa: “character that is inclined to evil things” (source: Ernst Wendland in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 319ff. )
- Huautla Mazatec: “the self” (Nida 1947, p. 248)
- Swabian 2007 translation by Rudolf Paul: irdisch menschliche Gesinnung or “earthly-human mind”
- Warao: “old obojona.” Obojona is a term that “includes the concepts of consciousness, will, attitude, attention and a few other miscellaneous notions” (source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. ). See other occurrences of Obojona in the Warao New Testament.
The Toraja-Sa’dan translation uses a variety of terms for the translation of the same Greek term (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight)
- A form of kale tolinona or “corporeal” is for instance used in Romans 9:5 or Colossians 1:22 (and also in Genesis 6:3 and Exodus 30:32)
- A form of mentolinona or “the human” is for instance used in Matthew 16:17 or John 1:14
- Phrases that include pa’kalean or “bodiliness” (also: “human shape”) are for instance used in Romans 6:6 or 1 Peter 2:11 (as well as in Isa 52:14, Isa 53:2, and Lamentations 4:7)
(Source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 207ff. )
See also spirit / flesh, old self, and flesh (John 1:14).
vegetables
The Greek in Romans 14:2 that is translated as “vegetables” in English is translated as “grasses” in Isthmus Zapotec, as “greens” in Tzeltal, as “greens and fruit” in Highland Totonac and as “herbs” in Yatzachi Zapotec. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
reconcile, reconciliation
The Greek terms that are translated as “reconcile” and “reconciliation” in English are translated in various ways. Nida (1952, pp. 140) says this:
“The North Alaskan Inupiatun describe reconciliation in the simple terms of ‘making friends again.’ That is to say, ‘God was in Christ making friends again with the world.’ The Uduk in the Sudan express this same truth, but in the rather interesting phrase ‘meet, snapping fingers together again.’ This expression is derived from the Uduk’s practice of snapping fingers together when they meet each other. Instead of shaking hands, they extend their thumbs and middle fingers and snap fingers together, but only friends will do this. Men who have something against each other refuse to acknowledge each other in this way. And so it is that the natural man is an enemy of God; he refuses to snap fingers with God, but God has come to reconcile man to Himself and through Jesus Christ has brought man into fellowship with Himself. Man and God may now meet ‘to snap fingers together again.’
“The Tai Dam of Indo-China employ quite a different figure of speech. They say that reconciliation consists in ‘rubbing off the corners.’ This does not refer to social acceptability, but to rubbing off the corners so that two objects, meant for each other, will fit together. Man is regarded as being incapable of fitting into the plan and fellowship of God because of the sin which has deformed him and which stands out as an ugly growth on his personality. The corners of iniquity must be rubbed off so that man may be reconciled to God and made to fit into God’s eternal plan for the world.”
Other translations include:
- “our hearts become good toward him” in Tzeltal
- “he makes us his friends again” in Huehuetla Tepehua
- “we are brought close to him” in Highland Totonac
- “he is no longer angry with us” in Sayula Popoluca
- “being put in a state of well-being with God” in Yatzachi Zapotec
- “opposition to God was healed” in Chol (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
- “man has-a-good-relationship/is-in-harmony-again with God” in Muna (source: René van den Berg)
- “have become friends of God” in Western Bukidnon Manobo (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- “brought together with God” in Tenango Otomi (source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
- “receive Deo’s action of peace which came to us” in Bariai (source: Bariai Back Translation)
- “be at peace with Great Above One” in Mairasi (source: Enggavoter 2004)
led by
The Greek that is translated “led by” or similar in English is translated in various ways:
- North Alaskan Inupiatun: “controlled by”
- Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “pleased that (the Holy Spirit) should show the way to them”
- Highland Totonac: “live by the help of”
- Central Tarahumara: “well ordered by”
- Yatzachi Zapotec: whom (the Spirit of God) puts into the road”
saint
The Greek that is translated as “saint” in English is rendered into Highland Puebla Nahuatl as “one with a clean hearts,” into Northwestern Dinka as “one with a white hearts,” and into Western Kanjobal as “person of prayer.” (Source: Nida 1952, p. 146)
Other translations include:
- Ixcatlán Mazatec: “follower of Jesus” (source: Robert Bascom)
- Tzeltal: “whom God possesses”
- Highland Totonac: “child of God”
- Isthmus Zapotec: “person of God”
- Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “one who believes in God”
- Yatzachi Zapotec: “clean-hearted person” (source for this and four above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
- Garifuna: “person consecrated to God”
- Isthmus Mixe: “one who believe God’s words”
- Ayutla Mixtec: “one of God’s”
- Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “person God has cleansed” (source for this and three above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
- Isthmus Zapotec: “God’s person”
- Mezquital Otomi: “God’s believer”
- Huehuetla Tepehua: “servant of God”
- Tzeltal: “one who belongs to God” (source for this and three above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
- Highland Totonac: “chosen” (Source: Herman Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. )
- Kituba: “person of God” (if referring to a person) (source: Donald Deer in The Bible Translator 1973, p. 207ff. )
- Chichewa “(person with a) white heart” since “white” is the word that is used in Chichewa for the translation of “holy.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
risked their necks
The Greek in Romans 16:4 that is translated as “risked their necks” or similar in English is translated as “were nearly killed” in Huehuetla Tepehua and as “almost lost their lives” in Highland Totonac. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)