Rincón Zapotec

rudder

The Greek that is translated as “(small) rudder” in English is translated in Yatzachi Zapotec as “(a small) stick,” in Mezquital Otomi as “a (little) metal,” in Rincón Zapotec as “(little) wooden hand” (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.), in Eastern Highland Otomi as “thing that is in the water that steers the boat,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “paddle that steered the ship” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), and in Tetelcingo Nahuatl as “board to steer” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.).

author of life

The Greek that is translated as “author of life” in English is translated as “the one who give eternal life” in Rincón Zapotec, as “the one who gave us (incl.) our life” in Chichimeca-Jonaz, as “the Lord that gives life” in Eastern Highland Otomi, as “him who causes us to live” in Morelos Nahuatl, as “that man who has caused everything to be that there is” in San Mateo del Mar Huave, or as “gives life to people” Tepeuxila Cuicatec. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

every species of beast and bird and of reptile and sea creature

The Greek that is translated as “every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature” in English is translated in Rincón Zapotec as “every animal of the field which walks on the earth, and every winged animal and the snakes dragging their stomachs on the earth and also every animal in the sea.” (Source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.)

holy ground

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “holy ground” is tranlated as “you are before me and I am good” in Morelos Nahuatl and “where I myself am and I am God” in Rincón Zapotec. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

justification, justify

The Greek that is translated as “justify” in English is translated into Tzotzil in two different ways. One of those is with Lec xij’ilatotic yu’un Dios ta sventa ti ta xc’ot ta o’ntonal ta xch’unel ti Jesucristoe (“we are seen well by God because of our faith in Jesus Christ”) (source: Aeilts, p. 118) and the other is “God sees as righteous” (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.).

Other (back-) translations include:

Bilua: “straigthened” (Rom 3:20: “Nobody can be straightened in God’s presence…”) (source: Carl Gross) (see also: righteous)
Western Highland Purepecha: “he sees him with the goodness of his Son” (“justification”)
Highland Puebla Nahuatl: “heart-straightening”
Western Kanjobal: “having a straight soul” (source for this and two above: Nida 1952, p. 145)
Central Mazahua: “no longer carrying sin in God’s estimation.”
Rincón Zapotec: “come out good before God”
Guhu-Samane: “God called one right” (source for this and two above: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.)
Mairasi: “already straight: completely clean” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Uma: “straight in God’s sight” (Source: Uma back-translation)
Yakan: “be reckoned straight/righteous by God” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Ekari: “maa nigajawii (“deem us right through favor”) (source: Marion Source in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37f. )
Tzeltal: “exonerated us of our sin in God’s sight” (source: Marianna C. Slocum in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 49f. )
Kwara’ae: “regard as righteous” (source: Norman Deck in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 34ff. )
Manikion: “heart sits next to Jesus” (source: Daud Soesilo)
Obolo: ben itip-oyerebet isan̄a: “take away condemnation” (source: Enene Enene)
Kui: “to obtain release to become a righteous person” (source: Helen Evans in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. )
Highland Totonac: “make free”
Sayula Popoluca: “call righteous”
Isthmus Zapotec: “clean hearts”
Central Tarahumara: “make people to be right-doing”
Tzeltal: “straighten heart” (Source for this and two above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Warao: “straighten 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.)

peaceable

The Greek that is typically translated as “peaceable” in English is translated in a variety of ways:

Central Mazahua / Yatzachi Zapotec: “not start fights”
Mezquital Otomi: “not be contentious”
Rincón Zapotec: “live peaceably”
Eastern Highland Otomi: “know to reconcile the hearts of our fellowmen”

(Source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.).

living oracles, living words

The Greek that is translated as “living oracles” or “living words” or similar in English is translated in the following ways:

Eastern Highland Otomi: “word of God that will never finish”
Copainalá Zoque: “word that told us how to live”
Isthmus Mixe: “good words for us that we might obtain the good life”
Ayutla Mixtec: “words of life”
San Mateo del Mar Huave: “word of God”
Rincón Zapotec: “the law which spoke of life” (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “the indestructible words of God” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)

filled with the Holy Spirit, full with the Holy Spirit

The Greek that is rendered in English as “filled with the Holy Spirit” or “full with the Holy Spirit” is translated in various ways:

Tboli: “the Holy Spirit is with / lives with one”
Shipibo-Conibo: “the Holy Spirit permeates one” (using a term said of medicines)
Cuyonon: “one is under the control of the Holy Spirit” (esp. Luke 4:1, Acts 7:55, Acts 11:24)
Ngäbere: “the full strength of the Holy Spirit stays in one”
Tae’ (translation of 1933): “one carries the Holy Spirit in his inner being” (source for this and all above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Yamba and Bulu: “the Holy Spirit filled one’s heart” (source: W. Reyburn in The Bible Translator 1959, p. 1ff. )
Rincón Zapotec: “the Holy Spirit comes to be completely with one”
Eastern Highland Otomi: “one walks with the Holy Spirit of God”
Chuj: “God’s Spirit enters into one”
Morelos Nahuatl: “the Holy Spirit enters one’s heart to rule”
Teutila Cuicatec: “God’s Spirit possesses one” / “in all the authority of the Holy Spirit”
Isthmus Mixe: “have the Holy Spirit (in one’s head and heart) very much” or “Holy Spirit enter one completely”
Lalana Chinantec: “one’s heart really obeyed what the Holy Spirit wanted”
Chichimeca-Jonaz: “one’s heart full of God’s Holy Spirit” (source for this and seven above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Yawa: “God’s Spirit gives one power” (source: Larry Jones)

The following story is relayed by Martha Duff Tripp as she led the translation of the New Testament into Yanesha’ (p. 310):

I continue to work with Casper Mountain [an Yanesha’ translator] on translation. As we start the book of Luke, we run into another problem. In Chapter 1, verse 15, the text reads (speaking of John the Baptist), “and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit.” The Amueshas [Yanesha’s] have never associated their word for “fill” with anything except pots and baskets. How can a person be “filled”? Even their word for a full stomach is not the word for “fill.” We talk together about what “filled with the Holy Spirit” means (obsessed with or possessed by). The thought comes to me of what the Amueshas [Yanesha’s] say about the shaman. They say that he can “wear” the spirit of the tiger, that they can tell when he is wearing the tiger spirit because he then will act like a tiger. Their word for “wear” is the same word as to “wear or put on a garment.” Can this possibly be the way to say “filled with God’s Spirit”? As I cautiously question Casper about this, his face lights up immediately. “Yes, that is the way we would say it, he is ’wearing’ God’s Holy Spirit.”

Note that Cheyenne also uses the term for “wear” in these instances. (Source: Wayne Leman)

impartial

The Greek that is translated as “impartial” in English is translated as “not changeable” in Mezquital Otomi), “never go back on one’s word” in Eastern Highland Otomi, “in just one way one judges” in Rincón Zapotec), “to treat all companions the same” in Yatzachi Zapotec and “love people equally” in Central Mazahua.

(Source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.).

open a door of faith

The Greek that is often translated “(he had) opened a door of faith to the Gentiles” is translated as “made it possible for them to believe in Jesus” in Highland Popoluca or as “God permitted them to believe in him” in Rincón Zapotec. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

sailor

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “sailor(s)” in English is translated in Kouya as “worker(s) in the big canoe.”

Philip Saunders (p. 231) explains:

Acts chapter 27 was a challenge! It describes Paul’s sea voyage to Italy, and finally Rome. There is a storm at sea and a shipwreck on Malta, and the chapter includes much detailed nautical vocabulary. How do you translate this for a landlocked people group, most of whom have never seen the ocean? All they know are small rivers and dugout canoes.

We knew that we could later insert some illustrations during the final paging process which would help the Kouya readers to picture what was happening, but meanwhile we struggled to find or invent meaningful terms. The ‘ship’ was a ‘big canoe’ and the ‘passengers’ were ‘the people in the big canoe’; the ‘crew’ were the ‘workers in the big canoe’; the ‘pilot’ was the ‘driver of the big canoe’; the ‘big canoe stopping place’ was the ‘harbour’, and the ‘big canoe stopping metal’ was the ‘anchor’!”

In Rincón Zapotec, it is translated as “men who had the care of the boat.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

mist, vapor

The Greek that is translated as “vapor” or “mist” in English is translated as “cloud” in Eastern Highland Otomi, “smoke” in Alekano and “steam” in Rincón Zapotec (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.).