Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 1:4:
Uma: “That Good News tells who the Child of God is, our Lord Yesus Kristus. According to his birth as mankind, Yesus is the descendant of King Daud of old. But that Yesus is also the Child of God, for he is holy the same as God. That is clear because God caused him to live again, and with that amazing sign he made-clear that he indeed is the Child of God.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But he is really God. By God’s power it is clear that he truly is the Child of God because he was made alive again from his death.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “As for Jesus Christ our Lord, he is the holy God because he is also the son of God, because this was shown to us by means of the great power of God which was used to raise him from the dead.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Concerning also his holy godhood, God showed that he was his Child when he made-him-alive again by-means-of his power.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “But concerning the holy soul of Jesus Christ, it clearly is apparent that he is not just a person, it is strongly apparent that he is the Son of God, because he resurrected after he died.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Central Tarahumara: “And the Very Good Spirit, God’s Spirit, raised up Jesus Christ when he was already dead. And all of the people were thus truly shown that Jesus Christ is the only Son of God.”
Central Mazahua : “The Spirit which comes from God caused him to arise when he had died. Thus it was made known powerfully that he is the Son of God. This is Jesus Christ who is our Lord.”
Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “But Christ is Son of God according to his spirit because his spirit is entirely good. And God himself has shown that Jesus is his very Son. And very powerfully did God with him when he rose from among the dead by God’s agency. And Jesus Christ has become the Lord who has authority over us.” (Source for this and two above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
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 this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding the readers of the letter). Chicahuaxtla Triqui, one the other hand, selects the inclusive form.
Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff. and Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 8:35:
Uma: “Who will separate us from the love of Kristus? Whether there’s difficulty or suffering, whether persecution or hunger or lack, whether there’s disaster, or if we should actually be killed, the love of Kristus for us does not let go.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Therefore we (dual) are assured that no matter what befalls/happens (connotation bad) to us (dual), Isa Almasi really loves us (dual). If we (dual) are in trouble/sorrows or in suffering/difficulties or in persecution, it does not mean that he no longer loves us (dual). Even if we (dual) lack food and clothing, even if we (dual) are in danger or even if we (dual) are killed, Almasi’s love for us (incl.) really does not move.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And if that’s the case then there is nothing that can separate us from Christ; even though we are in great difficulty because of hardships and trouble and people harming us; even if we are in great difficulty because of hunger and we have no clothing; even if we are harmed and we are killed, that cannot remove our value in the breath of Christ.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “So what then is able to separate us from Cristo’s love? Can perhaps difficulty or worry or people’s hardshipping us? Can also hunger or lack of clothes or fearful happenings or even our being killed?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Now nothing can stop Christ from loving us. Even though we suffer, he loves us. Or if we live in sad circumstances. he loves us. Or if people persecute us, he loves us. Or if there isn’t anything to eat, he still loves us. Or if there are no clothes to wear, he loves us. Or if we live in danger, hated by the people, he loves us. Or if it is we must die, still he loves us.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “Therefore people can’t cause that Christ should not love us. It is certainly true that trouble can come to us, and we can be in agony of heart, and various things can bother us. And famine can come upon us, and clothing for us to wear be lacking. And we may have to go where it is dangerous to go, and they may kill some of us. That’s how we will suffer, but Christ will not loose his grip of us, but Christ will keep on loving us.”
Hopi: “Christ loves us, and who can separate us from him? No one. We may suffer. We may be afraid of something. We may be persecuted. We may be hungry. We may lack clothing. We may be in danger. We may be killed by the sword. But in going through these things, we will not be separated from Christ.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 1:7:
Uma: “That’s why I send this letter to all Kristen people in Roma. God loved you and called you to be/become his holy followers. Greetings: I call-out to God our Father and to the Lord Yesus Kristus, that he bless you from his grace [lit., white insides] and give you peace/well-being [lit., goodness of life].” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “That’s why I here write to you the ones there in the land/place of Roma. God loves you and you were chosen by him so that you are his people. May it be that God, our (incl.) Father and Isa Almasi our (incl.) Leader always take-care-of you. May it be also that they give you peace in your livers.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And because of this, I will write to all of you in the town of Rome who are precious in the breath of God and whom He has made His subjects. As for our Father God and our Lord Jesus Christ, may he show favor to you and give you a peaceful situation.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Here then is my letter to all of you there whom God loves and has called to become his people. May you have the grace/kindness and peace that come from God our Father and the Lord Jesu Cristo.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “I greet you, you inhabitants of Rome. God loved you and thus he called you to be in his hand. I want that God our Father and also our Lord Jesus Christ will bless you and put peace in your hearts.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Central Mazahua: “You who are in Rome, I greet you. Very much God loves you. He summoned you to be his people. God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord look on you well and cause you to rest in your hearts.”
Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “And I write a letter to you, you who are the ones in the city Rome. And you are the ones whom God loves, and God himself has called you that you should be those who believe in God. Well then, God in heaven is our Father, and Jesus Christ is the Lord who has authority over us. And I wish that the two of them would do favors to you and that the two of them would make you peaceful in your hearts, I wish.” (Source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Chichewa: “. . . May God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ favour you in heart and give you peace.” (Interconfessional translation, publ. 1999) (Source: Wendland 1998, p. 69)
The Greek that is translated as “Son of Man” is mostly used by Jesus to refer to himself as well as in the prophecies of Daniel and Enoch (see Enoch 17:34 et al). It is translated in the following languages as (click or tap for details):
Tzotzil: “I who am equal with men” or “The Older Brother of Everybody” (“expressing the dignity and authority of the Messiah and the universality of his work”)
Tenango Otomi: “The Man Appointed” (i.e. the man to whom authority has been delegated) (source for this and preceding: Beekman, p. 189-190, see also Ralph Hill in Notes on Translation February 1983, p. 35-50)
Aguaruna: “One who was born becoming a person” (source for this and two above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Older Sibling of Mankind” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Child of a Person” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “One From Heaven Born of Man/human?” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Man who came from heaven” (source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Yatzachi Zapotec: “One who God sent, who was born a human” (a direct translation would have suggested “that the father is unknown due to the indiscretions of the mother” and where “he is the son of people” is used when one wants to disclaim responsibility for or relationship with a child caught in some mischief — source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Kâte: Ŋic Fâri Wâtuŋne or “the man who is a true support” (source: Renck, p. 106)
Mezquital Otomi: “The son who became a person” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
Alekano: “The true man who descended from heaven” (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation June 1986, p. 36ff.)
Central Tarahumara: “One who has been stood up to help” (“This suggests that Christ has been given authority to some appointed task. A very generic word, help, was selected to fill in the lexically obligatory purpose required by the word which means to appoint or commission. Usually this word is used of menial tasks but not exclusively. The choice of this generic term retains the veiled reference to the character of Christ’s work which He intended in using the ‘Son of Man’ title.”)
Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “He who is relative of all people.” (“The Triqui word for relative is a rather generic term and in its extended sense sometimes is diluted to neighbor and friend. But the primary meaning is relative.”)
Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “The Person who Accompanies All People” (“The literal equivalents ‘son of man’ and ‘son of people’ were both rejected because of the false inference of natural birth involving a human father. Furthermore, it was necessary to expand any translation of the Bible by the addition of the pronoun ‘I’ so as to clarify the fact that Jesus is using the third person in referring to Himself. A common expression used by the Cuicatecos when difficulties befall someone, is to say to that one, ‘don’t worry, we are accompanying you.’ By this they mean they share that person’s sorrow. When wedding guests arrive at the home of a son who has just been married, they say to the father, ‘We have come to accompany you.’ By this they mean that they have come to share the father’s joy. These expressions do not refer to ordinary physical accompaniment, which is expressed by a set of different verbs. For example, visits are always announced by some such greeting as, “I have come to visit you,’ ‘I have come to see you,’ or ‘I have come to ask you something.’ The desire to accompany a friend on a journey is expressed by saying, ‘I will go with you.’ Translation helpers used the verb ‘accompany’ in constructing the phrase ‘I, the Person who Accompanies All People.'(…) It reflects the fact that Jesus closely identified Himself with all of us, understands our weaknesses, shares our burdens, rejoices with us in times of gladness, etc.”) (source for this and the three preceding: Beekman in Notes on Translation January 1963, p. 1-10)
Guhu-Samane: “Elder-brother-man” (“Since the term denotes an elder brother in every way such as honor, power, leadership, representation of the younger, etc. it is a meaningful and fitting — though not ostentatious — title.” Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff. )
Navajo (Dinė): Diné Silíi’ii — “Man he-became-the-one-who” (“This terra presented a difficulty not only in Navajo but also one peculiar to all the Athapaskan languages. It lies in the fact that all these languages, so far as we know, have a word phonetically similar to the Navajo diné which has three meanings: ‘man, people in general,’ ‘a man,’ ‘The People’ which is the name the Navajos use for themselves. (The name Navajo was first used by the Spanish explorers.) Although it seemed natural to say diné biye’ ‘a-man his-son,’ this could also mean ‘The-People their-son’ or ‘a-Navajo his-son,’ in contrast to the son of a white man or of another Indian tribe. Since the concept of the humanity of Christ is so important, we felt that diné biye’ with its three possible meanings should not be used. The term finally decided on was Diné Silíi’ii ‘Man he-became-the-one-who.’ This could be interpreted to mean ‘the one who became a Navajo,’ but since it still would impart the idea of Christ’s becoming man, it was deemed adequate, and it has proven acceptable to the Navajos.”) (Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )
Toraja-Sa’dan: “Child descended in the world” (“using a poetic verb, often found in songs that [deal with] the contacts between heaven and earth”) (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Obolo: Gwun̄ Ebilene: “Child of Human” (source: Enene Enene).
Mairasi: Jaanoug Tat: “Person Child” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Costa Rican Sign Language: “It was impossible to translate the expression ‘Son of Man.’ The son-man sign simply means ‘male child.’ The Costa Rican Sign Language (LESCO) team opted for an interpretation of the term and translated it ‘Jesus.'” (Source: Elsa Tamez (in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 59ff. )
Lokạạ: wẹẹn wạ ọnẹn or “son of a person.” “This translation is symbolic in that it uses indigenous Lokạạ words. However, since the publication of the New Testament in 2006, this phrase has gained popularity within contemporary Lokạạ society as an expression to describe an important person whose career is going well. In the New Testament, the phrase ‘son of man’ is used to describe Jesus as prototypically human, but the Lokạạ phrase is now being used to describe an exceptional person in Lokạạ society.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
In many West African languages, using a third person reference as a first person indicator is common practice with a large range of semantic effects. Languages that use the exact expression “son of man” as a self-reference or reference to another person include Lukpa, Baatonum, Mossi (“son of Adam”), Yoruba (“son of person”), Guiberoua Béte, or Samo. (Source: Lynell Zogbo in: Omanson 2000, p. 167-188.)
In Swahili the expression Mwana wa Mtu or mwana wa mtu or “son/daughter of human person,” which is used by several Bible translations, also has “the idiomatic meaning of ‘a human being’” (source: Jean-Claude Loba-Mkole in An Intercultural Criticism of New Testament Translations 2013, see here). The same is true for the Lingala expression Mwana na Moto — “son/daughter of human person.” (Ibid.)
In Balinese “we are again bordering on theological questions when we inquire as to which vocabulary shall be used to translate the texts where Jesus speaks of himself as ‘the Son of man.’ One of the fixed rules governing the use of these special vocabularies is that one may never use the deferential terms in speaking of oneself. This would be the extreme of arrogance. Now if one considers the expression ‘Son of man’ primarily as a description of ‘I,’ then one must continually indicate the possessions or actions of the Son of man by Low Balinese words. In doing this the mystery of the expression is largely lost. In any case the vocabulary used in most of the contexts would betray that Jesus means the title for himself.
“However, a distinction can actually be made in Balinese between the person and the exalted position he occupies. For example, the chairman of a judicial body may employ deferential terms when referring to this body and its chairman, without this being taken as an expression of arrogance. Considered from this standpoint, one may translate in such a way that Jesus is understood as using such deferential words and phrases in speaking of himself. The danger is, however, that the unity between his person and the figure of “the Son of man” is blurred by such usage.
“On request, the New Testament committee of the Netherlands Bible Society advised that ‘the sublimity of this mysterious term be considered the most important point and thus High Balinese be used.'”
“One of the first things that we did in working through the earlier part of the New Testament was to decide on how we would translate some of the more difficult technical terms. It was immediately obvious that something must be done with the translation of ‘the Son of Man,’ since the literal rendering anak manusia (literally ‘child of a man’) held absolutely no meaning for Malay readers. We felt that the title should emphasize the divine origin and authority of the one who used this title, and at the same time, since it was a title, we decided that it should not be too long a phrase. Finally, a phrase meaning ‘the One whom God has ordained’ was chosen (yang dilantik Allah). It is interesting to note that the newly-begun Common Indonesian (Alkitab Kabar Baik, published in 1985) has followed a similar route by translating ‘the One whom God has chosen’ (yang depilih Allah).”
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 10:3:
Uma: “They close their eyes to the way that God prepared. They refuse to submit to Kristus in order to become straight in God’s sight, they prefer to follow their own way, wanting to make themselves straight in their following of the Lord’s Law.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “They do not understand as to how people can be forgiven and considered straight by God. They think-mistakenly that they will be forgiven because-of their following the law. And they are not willing to follow what God said as to how he forgives them and considers them straight.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For they would not accept God’s way for people to become righteous. Rather what they used was their own way which was their obedience to the Law; and they did not follow the way of God, for Him to consider people righteous.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Because they have been ignoring God’s plan to count people as righteous and simultaneously they have been trying to-be-made-righteous through the good that they have been doing, so they have not humbled (lit. lowered) themselves to receive the righteousness that comes from God.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Because they do not know how God determined to clear people. They think they will seek on their own how to bring about their getting right with God. Therefore they do not want to believe the way God clears people.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Mezquital Otomi: “Because they do not know for themselves the road that God has appointed so that one may live well with him, and they are putting forth every effort to walk well by themselves (contrary to the right road) in the sight of God. For that reason they have not wanted to believe God and so he was not able to say they were righteous.”
Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “They do not know how it is that God can say that our hearts are straight, and they wish to bring about themselves that their hearts will be straight, and so they do not obey the word which God has said.” (Source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 1:26:
Uma: “So, because they refused to worship him, that’s why he just allowed them to follow the shameful desires of their heart. Even women no longer behaved like the behavior of ordinary mankind. The women wived [i.e., married or had intercourse with, normally used of men to women] other fellow women.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Therefore God abandoned them to do shameful things indulging/giving-into the desire of their bodies. Even the women do not like/want a man. That is what they want their fellow female and/so-that they do evil/bad. But this is not right/proper.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And since people pay no attention to God, He also pays no attention to them so that they might carry out their very ugly desires. Even the women, it’s no longer men that they sleep with, but they become sexually aroused by other women.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “That’s the reason God has let-them-alone so that they do the shameful-things their bodies desire. Even the women, they have changed what their bodies properly desire so that it’s their fellow women whom they sleep-with, not men.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Therefore God gives the road to the people to do the shameful things they walk by. The women do not want to marry and live with husbands, rather with their fellow women they do shameful things.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “Therefore God abandoned them that they should do ugly things like their hearts wanted them to do. The women left off talking with the men [polite term for intercourse] and they talked among themselves in a very dirty way.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “cover over” (a figure of speech which is also employed in Hebrew, but which in many languages is not acceptable, because it implies “hiding” or “concealment”)
Warao: “not being concerned with him clean your obonja.” Obonja 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.)
Martu Wangka: “throw out badness” (source: Carl Gross)
Kyaka: “burn the jaw bones” — This goes back to the pre-Christian custom of hanging the jaw bones of murdered relatives on ones door frame until the time of revenge. Christians symbolically burned those bones to show forgiveness which in turn became the word for “forgiveness” (source: Eugene Nida, according to this blog )
Koonzime: “remove the bad deed-counters” (“The Koonzime lay out the deeds symbolically — usually strips of banana leaf — and rehearse their grievances with the person addressed.”) (Source: Keith and Mary Beavon in Notes on Translation 3/1996, p. 16)
Ngbaka: ele: “forgive and forget” (Margaret Hill [in Holzhausen & Ridere 2010, p. 8f.] recalls that originally there were two different words used in Ngbaka, one for God (ɛlɛ) and one for people (mbɔkɔ — excuse something) since it was felt that people might well forgive but, unlike God, can’t forget. See also this lectionary in The Christian Century.
Amahuaca: “erase” / “smooth over” (“It was an expression the people used for smoothing over dirt when marks or drawings had been made in it. It meant wiping off dust in which marks had been made, or wiping off writing on the blackboard. To wipe off the slate, to erase, to take completely away — it has a very wide meaning and applies very well to God’s wiping away sins, removing them from the record, taking them away.”) (Source: Robert Russel, quoted in Walls / Bennett 1959, p. 193)
Gonja / Dangme: “lend / loan” (in the words of one Dangme scholar: “When you sin and you are forgiven, you forget that you have been forgiven, and continue to sin. But when you see the forgiveness as a debt/loan which you will pay for, you do not continue to sin, else you have more debts to pay” — quoted in Jonathan E.T. Kuwornu-Adjaottor in Ibadan Journal of Religious Studies 17/2 2010, p. 67ff. )
Kwere: kulekelela, meaning literally “to allow for.” Derived from the root leka which means “to leave.” In other words, forgiveness is leaving behind the offense in relationship to the person. It is also used in contexts of setting someone free. (Source: Megan Barton)
Merina Malagasy: mamela or “leave / let go (of sin / mistakes)” (source: Brigitte Rabarijaona)
Mauwake: “take away one’s heaviness” (compare sin as “heavy”) (source: Kwan Poh San in this article )
