Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 8:1:
Uma: “So because of that, there is no longer any punishment for us who are connected with Kristus Yesus.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “So-then, we (incl.), the ones who are one with Isa Almasi, now we (dual) are no longer punished by God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “As for us, (incl.) who have been made one with Jesus Christ, there is no longer God’s punishment for us.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Therefore all of us who are united with Cristo Jesus, we will absolutely not be punished.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Now, that we walk with Jesus Christ, now we will not go to punishment. Because he who walks with Jesus Christ has permitted that the Holy Spirit teaches him how to live. Now he no longer does the evil which his heart had in it before.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Mairasi: “Right now we who live in the palm of Yesus Kristus’ hand have nothing at all of which we can be accused.” (Enggavoter 2004)
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 10:28:
Noongar: “‘You speak the truth,’ Jesus said. ‘Do this and you will live.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “Yesus said: ‘Your (sing.) answer is right/true. Do like that, you (sing.) will get/attain good life.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “‘Your answer is right,’ said Isa. ‘Do that and you will be given everlasting life.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then Jesus said to him, ‘What you said is true. If you do that, you will be given life without end.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “‘Your (sing.) answer is correct,’ Jesus said. ‘If you (sing.) do that, you (sing.) will have life that has no ending.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “‘Really true is what you answered there,’ said Jesus. ‘Provided you always obey those, this life will be yours.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 10:8:
Uma: “After that the speaker that I had heard from heaven earlier spoke to me again, he said to me: ‘Go take that letter/paper that is opened up in the hand of the angel that is stepping on the sea and on the land over there.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Then I heard again the voice that had spoken to me from heaven. The voice said to me, ‘Go, fetch the paper roll that is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the soil.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then the one I heard speaking in heaven spoke to me again, He said, ‘Go to the angel who stands one foot on the land and the other on the sea and get the scroll which has been opened.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “I then heard again that voice from heaven saying, ‘Go get the unrolled paper that-aforementiond angel is holding who is standing on the ocean and the land.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “After that, I again heard that speech coming from heaven. I was being spoken to again, saying, ‘Approach that angel who is stepping there in the ocean and on the land, and ask for that open writing he is holding.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “The one I had heard speaking from heaven again spoke to me and said: ‘Go now. Take the paper held by the angel who stands on the sea with one foot and on land with the other.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 8:33:
Uma: “Who dares to bring-accusation-against us who have already been chosen by God! Because God himself says that we are no longer guilty.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “We (incl.) the ones chosen by God to be made (by him) his people, is there any one who can accuse us (incl.) that we (incl.) have sinned? There is none, because we (incl.) have been forgiven and are considered straight by God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “There is nobody who can accuse us chosen ones of God because God has already regarded us as righteous.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Who perhaps will be able to accuse us whom God has chosen? Because God is the one who counts us as righteous.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Concerning all of us whom God has chosen, no one can say that we still have sin. Because God himself cleared our sin.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
The cardinal directions “east” and “west” are easy to translate into Maan here since the language uses “where the sun comes up” and “where the sun goes down.” For “north” the translator had “facing toward the sun rising to the left,” and for “south” she had “facing toward the sun rising to the right.” So the listener had to think hard before knowing what direction was in view when translating “to the north and south, to the east and west.” So, in case all four directions are mentioned, it was shortened by saying simply “all directions.” Manya uses a similar nomenclature for the cardinal directions. (Source: Don Slager)
Likewise, Yakan has “from the four corners of the earth” (source: Yakan back-translation) or Western Bukidnon Manobo “from the four directions here on the earth” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo back-translation).
Kankanaey is “from the coming-out and the going-away of the sun and the north and the south” (source: Kankanaey back-translation), Northern Emberá “from where the sun comes up, from where it falls, from the looking [left] hand, from the real [right] hand” (source: Charles Mortensen), Amele “from the direction of the sun going up, from the direction of the sun going down, from the north and from the south” (source: John Roberts), Ejamat “look up to see the side where the sun comes from, and the side where it sets, and look on your right side, and on your left” (source: David Frank in this blog post ).
In Lamba, only umutulesuŵa, “where the sun rises” and imbonsi, “where the sun sets” were available as cardinal directions that were not tied to the local area of language speakers (“north” is kumausi — “to the Aushi country” — and “south” kumalenje — “to the Lenje country”). So “north” and “south” were introduced as loanwords, nofu and saufu respectively. The whole phrase is kunofu nakusaufu nakumutulesuŵa nakumbonsi. (Source C. M. Doke in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 57ff. )
“West” is translated in Tzeltal as “where the sun pours-out” and in Kele as “down-river” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel).
In Morelos Nahuatl, “north” is translated as “from above” and “south” as “from below.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
In Matumbi cardinal directions are defined as in relation to another place. “East” for instance typically is “toward the beach” since the coast is in the eastern direction in Matumbi-speaking areas. “North” and “south” can be defined as above or below another place. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
The Hebrew text that gives instructions where to place items in the tabernacle with the help of cardinal directions (north and south) had to be approached in the Bambam translation specific to spacial concepts of that culture.
Phil Campbell explains: “There are no words in Bambam for north and south. In Exodus 26:35, God instructs that the table is to be placed on the north side and the lamp on the south side inside the tabernacle. The team wants to use right and left to tell where the lamp and table are located. In many languages we would say that the table is on the right and the lampstand is on the left based on the view of someone entering the tabernacle. However, that is not how Bambam people view it. They view the placement of things and rooms in a building according to the orientation of someone standing inside the building facing the front of the building. So that means the table is on the left side and the lampstand is on the right side.”
Following are a number of back-translations of John 1:14:
Aguaruna: “That word, when he arrived here, was born a human being, and in this way he lived with us. That completely good person was a speaker of the truth. And also we came to know his greatness because his Father, God, had said to his only Son, ‘You are great.'”
Yatzachi Zapotec: “The Person who is the Word was born human and he was with us. He loved mankind very much and he taught mankind all the true words of God. We saw him and we realized that he is the Person of greatest worth because he is the only Son of our Father God.”
Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac: “And the One who is called Word, he became a Person, and he lived in our midst. And we saw how he had power. That power is that of the only Son of Father God. He is very kind and merciful and all which he says it is true.” (Source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
Uma: “That Word, he became man[kind], and he lived among us (incl.). We (excl.) saw his power. That power of his he received from his Father, for He is the Only Child. [It is] from him that we know God and his grace [lit., white insides] to us.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “So-then, the Word appeared/was-born here in the world having a human body and living among mankind. All love and truth was there with him. We (excl.) were-able to see his power and his brightness, and this his power and brightness were fitting for him for he is the only Son of God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the one called the Word of God became human and joined himself to us. He is very gracious and his words are very true. We saw his great high rank which is the high rank of the only child of God. And as for that high rank of his, it was given to him by his Father God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “The Word, he became a person and stayed-with us (excl.). He was consistently-compassionate and what he said was all true. We (excl.) saw his godhood which was the godhood of the only Child of God who came-from his Father.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “This Jesus who is called Word, he became a human and then lived here in the world together-with us. His praiseworthiness/glory was experienced by our (excl.) eyes, this glory of his being the glory of the one-and-only Son/child of God the Father. We (excl.) also comprehended the big-size of his grace/mercy and that everything which he revealed/came-out-with is indeed truth.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “He who makes known how God is became a person. He lived here where we live. We saw that he is the greatest. He is the greatest because he is God’s only son. He spoke only what is true and he loves the people without limit.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “That which is-being-called the Word was-born and dwelt/joined-with us (incl.) here. We (excl.) have-seen his high-position as the only Child of the Father. He is very [intensifier] merciful and what he is-telling is pure truth.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Mairasi: “This Message lived as a person, and He lived among us and we saw the height of His shining Glory. This person is the only Child of Our Father, He Himself has good insides and gave us goodness which is tuberfully correct.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
Bariai: “And the Talk became human, and so he came living in our (excl.) midst. And so we saw his light and his great power, it’s the light of the one child whose Father sent him to come. He was full of the action/practice of a soft interior and true talk.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Kupsabiny: “That word became a person, it came to live with us and we saw his greatness. That greatness is what a son who is only one, gets from where the father is. He loved people completely and brought the word of truth.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Anindilyakwa: “And that same one who revealed God who was hidden from us, he became a human being like us. He was born, he had flesh and bones and then he lived here and went around with us people. He is rich in love, he was very kind and he kept on and on speaking the truth. We saw that he was the leading powerful and beautiful one, the one who was his Father’s one and only Son, the one who came from his Father to here.” (Source: Julie Waddy in The Bible Translator 2004, p. 452ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 5:4:
Uma: “And if we become able to endure, we can defeat temptation, to-the-point-that God likes our behavior. And if we know that God likes our behavior, our hope in God gets stronger-and-stronger.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “If/when we (incl.) endure our (incl.) hardships, God is pleased with us (incl.). And if/when we (incl.) know that God is pleased with us we (incl.) are assured that there is (something) good that we (incl.) expect/hope-for from God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And if we are able to endure, this pleases God; and when we know that God is pleased with our behavior, then it is absolutely true that there is something good which we can expect.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “And when we have endured hardship, it is confirmed that our faith is steady/persevering. And if our faith is persevering, we expect that God’s plan for us will be fulfilled.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “When we endure all the suffering we go through then God looks well upon us. When God has looked well upon us then we know that there will come the day we will see the good he gives.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “And when we are strong in enduring trouble, then we will indeed be proven men, and if we are proven men, then we will wait for God to do well with us.”
Teutila Cuicatec: “When we find patience it comes out that we are good, when it comes out that we are good we hope in God.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Mairasi: “Furthermore that fact of our having well-split bones [diligence] will increasingly work in our liver until we will experience good life/behavior. Then that good life/behavior which we experience will work in our liver with the result that our vision resting place [hope] will increasingly certainly get strong.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 16:14:
Uma: “From there, he again appeared to his eleven disciples while they were eating. He admonished/reprimanded them because they faith was lacking and their hearts hard. Even though there had been people who had seen him, they still hadn’t believed that he had indeed come back alive.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “After that, Isa appeared to his eleven disciples while they were eating. He scolded them because they did not believe and because they were stubborn (lit. had hard heads). He said, even though they had been told by those who had seen him that he was alive again from his death, they had not believed.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then Jesus also appeared to the eleven disciples while they were eating. He scolded them for the hardness of their thinking, for they wouldn’t believe the people who had reported that they had seen Jesus alive.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Then Jesus appeared to eleven of his disciples while they were eating and scolded them because of their absence of faith and hardness of their minds/thoughts, because they had not believed what those who had seen him upon his coming-to-life again had reported.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “And then Jesus next went-to-see/meet his eleven disciples. He coincided it with their eating. He rebuked then because their believing was still lacking, and because of their stubbornness (lit. the hardness of their heads) that they didn’t believe those he had-gone-to-see/meet on his coming alive again.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
