Language-specific Insights

capture you with her eyelashes

The Hebrew in Proverbs 6:25 that is translated as “capture you with her eyelashes” or similar in English is translated in Vidunda as “trap you with her eyes” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext).

The Hebrew that is translated as “be at peace” in English is translated in Newari as “don’t go out of your mind when they look at you” (source: Newari Back Translation).

your bone and your flesh

The Hebrew that is translated in English as “I am your bone and your flesh” (or: “my bone and my flesh”) is translated into Afar as anu sin qabalaay sin nabsi kinniyo: “I am your blood and body.” (Source: Loren Bliese)

It is translated likewise in Kutu and in Kwere. In Vidunda, it is translated as “family.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In Elhomwe it is translated with the idiomatic mbalaaka, literally “of my knee.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

See also become one flesh and our body.

ruddy

The Hebrew in 1 Samuel 16:12 that is translated with “ruddy” in English is translated in Mandinka as “light-skinned.” “‘Light-skinned’ could be considered a cultural equivalent. Although there are a few people with reddish skin in Mandinka, this is not an attractive trait. The UBS Handbook (A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel by R.L. Omanson and J. Ellington) suggests that ‘ruddy’ may have referred to the hair, but medical people know that reddish hair is a sign of malnutrition.” (Source: Rob Koops)

In Vidunda it is translated as “healthy/strong” and in Kwere as “powerful” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext).

See also ruddy (Song of Songs 5:10).

fast (verb)

The Aramaic, Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “fast” in English is translated in Isthmus Mixe as “going without food to worship God,” in Lacandon as “leaving eating in order to talk to God” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.), in Vidunda as “resting to eat” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext), and in Kankanaey as “endure hunger” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation).

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with a sign referring to abstinence from food and drink. (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)


“Fast” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

See also fast (Luke 5:33).

clothed in crimson

The Hebrew in Proverbs 31:21 that is translated as “clothed in crimson” or similar in English is translated in Vidunda as “enough clothes.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

cakes of figs

The Hebrew that is translated as “cakes of figs” or similar in English is translated in Vidunda as “piles of dried figs” because the concept of pressing figs into a cake is not known. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

See also lump of figs (2 Kings 20:7).

break the bow of Israel

The Hebrew in Hosea 1:5 that is translated as “break the bow of Israel” or similar in English is translated in Vidunda as “reduce the military strength of Israel.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

kiss

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The Hebrew and the Greek that is usually directly translated as “kiss” in English is translated more indirectly in other languages because kissing is deemed as inappropriate, is not a custom at all, or is not customary in the particular context (see the English translation of J.B. Phillips [publ. 1960] in Romans 16:16: “Give each other a hearty handshake”). Here are some examples:

  • Pökoot: “greet warmly” (“kissing in public, certainly between men, is absolutely unacceptable in Pökoot.”) (Source: Gerrit van Steenbergen)
  • Southern Birifor: puor or “greet” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • Chamula Tzotzil, Ixcatlán Mazatec, Tojolabal: “greet each other warmly” or “hug with feeling” (source: Robert Bascom)
  • Afar: gaba tittal ucuya — “give hands to each other” (Afar kiss each other’s hands in greeting) (source: Loren Bliese)
  • Roviana: “welcome one another joyfully”
  • Cheke Holo: “love each other in the way-joined-together that is holy” (esp. in Romans 16:16) or “greet with love” (esp. 1 Thessalonians 5:26 and 1 Peter 5:14)
  • Pitjantjatjara: “when you meet/join up with others of Jesus’ relatives hug and kiss them [footnote], for you are each a relative of the other through Jesus.” Footnote: “This was their custom in that place to hug and kiss one another in happiness. Maybe when we see another relative of Jesus we shake hands and rejoice.” (esp. Rom. 16:16) (source for this and two above: Carl Gross)
  • Kamba: “greet with the greeting of love” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • Balanta-Kentohe and Mandinka: “touch cheek” or “cheek-touching” (“sumbu” in Malinka)
  • Mende: “embrace” (“greet one another with the kiss of love”: “greet one another and embrace one another to show that you love one another”) (source for this and two above: Rob Koops)
  • Gen: “embrace affectionately” (source: John Ellington)
  • Kachin: “holy and pure customary greetings” (source: Gam Seng Shae)
  • Kahua: “smell” (source: David Clark) (also in Ekari and Kekchí, source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • San Blas Kuna: “smell the face” (source: Claudio and Marvel Iglesias in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 85ff. )
  • Chichewa: “suck” (“habit and term a novelty amongst the young and more or less westernized people, the traditional term for greeting a friend after a long absence being, ‘clap in the hands and laugh happily'”)
  • Medumba: “suck the cheek” (“a novelty, the traditional term being ‘to embrace.'”)
  • Shona (version of 1966) / Vidunda: “hug”
  • Elhomwe: “show respect by hugging” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Balinese: “caress” (source for this and three above: Reiling / Swellengrebel; Vidunda: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Tsafiki: earlier version: “greet in a friendly way,” later revision: “kiss on the face” (Bruce Moore [in: Notes on Translation 1/1992, p. 1ff.] explains: “Formerly, kissing had presented a problem. Because of the Tsáchilas’ [speakers of Tsafiki] limited exposure to Hispanic culture they understood the kiss only in the eros context. Accordingly, the original translation had rendered ‘kiss’ in a greeting sense as ‘greet in a friendly way’. The actual word ‘kiss’ was not used. Today ‘kiss’ is still an awkward term, but the team’s judgment was that it could be used as long as long as it was qualified. So ‘kiss’ (in greeting) is now ‘kiss on the face’ (that is, not on the lips).)
  • Kwere / Kutu: “show true friendship” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated as heiliger Kuss or “holy kiss” in the epistles. The translators note (p. 62): “It is possible that this is an early practice in which Christians communicate the Holy Spirit to one another or rekindle it.”

See also The kiss of Christian love (image), Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth and kissed (his feet).