The phrase that is translated into English as “a colt that has never been ridden” can be translated in Kalmyk much more succinctly than even the original Greek text since Kalmyk as arkhlata (архлата) a specific word for an unbroken colt. (source: David Clark)
In the Arhuaco translation of Luke 19:35 (in the English translation: “after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.”) the co-translator knew how unruly unbroken colts are so they translated “they held the donkey steady so that Jesus could get on it.” (source: Paul Lundquist in The Bible Translator 1992, p. 246 .)
The Greek that is transliterated as “Porcius Festus” in English means “Swinish festival.” (Source Cornwall / Smith 1997).
In Kalmyk it is transliterated as Pork Pest (Порк Пест) which means exactly what it sounds like: “swine fever.” (Source: David Clark in The Bible Translator 2013, p. 54ff. )
The Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “resurrection” in English is translated in Chicahuaxtla Triqui and Pohnpeian as “live-up” (i.e. return to life) (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel) and in Iloko as panagungar: a term that stems “from the word ‘agungar,’ an agricultural term used to describe the coming back to life of a plant which was wilting but which has been watered by the farmer, or of a bulb which was apparently dead but grows again.” (Source: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
Likewise, in Matumbiyu’ya carries the meaning of “raise from the dead, resuscitate, come back from near death” and is used for dry plants that come back to life when you water them or sick children who revive after being healed. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
In Estado de México Otomi, it is translated as “people will be raised from the dead,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “the dead having to come to life again,” in San Mateo del Mar Huave as “arose from the grave” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), and in Kriol as gidap laibala brom dedbala or “get up alive from the dead” (source: Sam Freney in this article .)
The Greek in Acts 13:11 that is translated as “the hand of the Lord” in English is translated in Kalmyk as “the Lord will punish you” to differentiate the “hand” from the hand of blessing in Acts 13:3. In Western Lawa its is translated as “feel the hand of God,” using a vernacular idiom for punishment. (Source: David Clark in The Bible Translator 2013, p. 54ff. )
The Greek in Luke 21:26 that is translated in some English versions as “people will faint from fear” in rendered in Kalmyk as “people’s hearts will be in their heels.”
The Greek that is translated as “lilies” in English is translated in Kalmyk as “tulips” (lilies are not known). “These have grown in the area for a very long time (since before the tulip mania of the 1630s in Western Europe) and have spread widely. Nowadays they provide a very colorful addition to the steppe in spring time, and fit the context of what Jesus was saying just as well as lilies.” (Source: David Clark in The Bible Translator 2015, p. 117ff. )
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “remember” in English is translated in Mairasi as “it is (or: place it) in your liver’s crack” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Noongar as barrang-dwangka, literally “ear-hold” (source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 15:24:
Kupsabiny: “(A) wise man heads for (a/the) path of life, so that (he) may not fall headlong into the world of the dead.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The road followed by those who have wisdom moves them upwards towards life, and it takes [them] far away from death.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “A wise man follows the path that leads to life so-that he can-avoid death.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “The path-taken-by the wise is the path that leads to life which is not the path that leads to death.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
English: “Wise people walk on a road that leads up to a long life; they do not walk on a road that leads down to the place where dead people are.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Tuvan: “The wise man, in order to avoid the lower world, will tread the heights on the road leading to life.”
Kalmyk: “The wise man, in order to avoid death, in order to live long and happily, goes up.” (Source for this and one above: Alexey Somov in The Bible Translator 2017, p. 51ff. )
