Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 4:7:
Noongar: “You will have all these things if you kneel to me.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “So, if you (sing.) worship me, I will give it all to you (sing.) right now.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “If you prostrate before me, all this is yours.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “All of this I will give to you if you will worship me.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Kneel down then to worship/praise me, and all those will be yours (sing.).'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Therefore provided you will worship me, all can be yours.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Bariai: “Therefore if you kneel down and then lift up my name, then all these things will be yours.'” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Kupsabiny (verses 6 and 7): “He told Jesus, ‘If you kneel for me, I will give you the authority to rule all these countries, because I have the authority to give to any one whom I have accepted/chosen.'” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Mairasi: “All of that will be Yours, if You will bow down [and] worship me then it will happen’ says he.” (Source Enggavoter 2004)
Following are a number of back-translations of Philippians 4:6:
Uma: “Don’t be afraid/nervous about anything. In all things, keep on praying, calling-out, asking God, and always saying thank you.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Don’t be troubled about anything. Instead/but when you pray to God, ask from him (for) your needs and do not forget to thank him.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Don’t be sorrowful over anything which happens to you, but rather when you pray, ask God for what you need and when you ask Him, it’s necessary that you thank Him beforehand.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Whatever hardship arrives to you, you should not be worried about anything but rather you should pray-about-it to God, requesting him for what you need while you also thank him.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Don’t agitate your mind/thinking about anything at all, but rather what is good is that you pray about it. Request with thanksgiving to God all that you have need of.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Do not let your hearts be fearful. Rather always ask God that he will help you in what problems you have. And do not forget God, thank him.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Mairasi: “Do not lessen your liver [worry] about anything. But ask Great Above One about everything. Speak with Great Above One and tell Him all your thoughts. Then you will say ‘Thank you!’ with a clean liver to Great Above One.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 4:11:
Uma: “From there, the King of Evil-ones really went away, leaving Yesus, and after that angels arrived to bring/serve-food to him.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “After that the leader of demons left and the angels came and served him.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Satan left there and the messengers of God arrived, and they gave Jesus what he needed.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Then the Diablo went-away, and angels arrived to help Jesus.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Well, Satanas truly did leave. And then angels came and they served Jesus.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “The devil left Jesus and went. Angels came to care for him.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Bariai: “Therefore the bad man left him, and suddenly anggelos came and helped him.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Kupsabiny: “The Enemy (then) left Jesus. After that angels came and supported/helped him.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Mairasi: “After that the headman of malevolent spirits left, retreating, abandoning Yesus. And then Above-One’s sent-ones came to Him [and] guarded/ministered to Him.” (Source Enggavoter 2004)
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 15:5:
Mairasi: “Then when he himself will again see [find] this domba [sheep] definitely his liver will turn good [he will rejoice] all along as he carries that domba on his shoulders,” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Noongar: “When he finds this sheep he is very happy, he puts the sheep on his shoulders and goes back home.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “When he finds it, no kidding his joy. From his joy, he carries-on-back-of-neck that sheep, and he takes him back to his house.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “And when you (pl.) have found it, you (pl.) are very happy, therefore you (pl.) take it in your (pl.) arms and bring it home.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “When he finds him, he is very happy and he carries him in his arms and goes home.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “And when he then finds it, great is his happiness and he will carry-it-on-his-shoulder” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Well, after he has found it, he carries-it -round-his-neck happily going home.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations of John 1:18:
Aguaruna: “Truly God is one who is not seen, but his Son, his beloved, the only one, that one is the one who causes us to know his Father.”
Yatzachi Zapotec: “No one has ever yet seen God. His only Son whom God loves has taught mankind what God is like.”
Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac: “The one who is the only Son of God since they love one another, that one has shown us how God is.”
Huehuetla Tepehua: “God truly loved his only Son. He is the one who showed how God is. “
Ojitlán Chinantec: “Very much his Father loved that only Son. That Son has pointed out God the Father.”
Chol: “. . . who is close to the Father’s heart, this is the one who has caused the Father to become known.” (Source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
Uma: “There is no-one who has seen God. But his Only Child, Who lives always at his side, He is the one who explains / makes-clear God to us.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Nobody has seen God, but God is made known to mankind by his only Son, for he is really God and he is one with his Father. So-then there were people who went to Yahiya while he was bathing people on the other side of the river Jordan at the village Betani.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “No human being has ever seen God, however his only son, he has caused us to know his father God, because they are always companions.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “No one has-been-able-to-see God, but his only Child who is his Father’s companion continually, it is he who has made-him-known.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Really from long ago, there’s no one at all who has seen God the Father. But now it’s like we have seen him now, because concerning this God the Father has been made clear to us by this one-and-only Son of his whom he holds-very-dear.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Never has anyone seen God. The only Son of God who lives where the Father lives has told us about God.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “No person whosoever[intensifier] has seen God the Father. But he was-made-known to us (incl.) by the one of a kind God who is always a companion with the Father.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Mairasi: “No person at all has seen Great Above One, but His Only Child. He lives in equality with His Father and He Himself lives right with Him in the palm of His Hand. He Himself is the One Who reveals His Father’s Name and glory to us. ” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
Bariai: “Previously and since, no one saw God, yet that only-one God, who was living at his Father’s side, his mouth followed concerning to us (incl.) about God.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Kupsabiny: “There is no person who has seen God, but this child who derives from God is the one who has seen him. He was together with his Father and he revealed to us how God is.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
In many English translations the Greek terms “hieron” (the whole “temple” in Jerusalem or specifically the outer courts open to worshippers) and “naos” (the inner “shrine” or “sanctuary”) are translated with only one word: “temple” (see also for instance “Tempel” in German [for exception see below] and “tempel” in Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans).
Other languages make a distinction: (Click or tap here to see more)
Navajo (Dinė): “house in which worship is carried out” (for naos)
Balinese: “inner part of the Great Temple” (“the term ‘inner part’ denoting the hindmost and holiest of the two or three courts that temples on Bali usually possess”) vs. “Great Temple”
Telugu: “womb (i.e. interior)-of-the-abode” vs. “abode”
Thai: a term denoting the main audience hall of a Buddhist temple compound vs. “environs-of-the-main-audience-hall”
Kituba: “place of holiness of house-God Lord” vs. “house-God Lord”
Shipibo-Conibo: “deep in God’s house” vs. “God’s house” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Germandas Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “inner court of the temple” (Tempelinnenhof) vs. “temple”
Languages that, like English, German, Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans, don’t make that distinction include:
Toraja-Sa’dan: “house that is looked upon as holy, that is sacred, that is taboo and where one may not set foot” (lit. “house where-the-belly-gets-swollen” — because taboo is violated — using a term that is also applied to a Muslim mosque) (source for this and the three above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Aguaruna: “the house for talking to God” (source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
Guhu-Samane: “festival longhouse of God” (“The biiri, ‘festival longhouse’, being the religious and social center of the community, is a possible term for ‘temple’. It is not the ‘poro house’ as such. That would be too closely identified with the cult of poro. The physical features of the building, huge and sub-divided, lend it further favor for this consideration. By qualifying it as ‘God’s biiri’ the term has become meaningful and appropriate in the context of the Scriptures.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. )
Enga: “God’s restricted access house” (source: Adam Boyd on his blog )
Another distinction that tends to be overlooked in translations is that between hieron (“temple” in English) and sunagógé (“synagogue” in English). Euan Fry (in The Bible Translator 1987, p. 213ff. ) reports on this:
“Many older translations have simply used transliterations of ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ rather than trying to find equivalent terms or meaningful expressions in their own languages. This approach does keep the two terms separate; but it makes the readers depend on explanations given by pastors or teachers for their understanding of the text.
“Translators who have tried to find meaningful equivalents, for the two terms ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ have usually made a distinction between them in one of two ways (which focus on the contrasting components of meaning). One way takes the size and importance of the Temple to make a contrast, so that expressions such as ‘sacred meeting/ worship house of the Jews’ and ‘big sacred meeting/worship house of the Jews’ are used. The other way focuses on the different nature of the religious activity at each of the places, so that expressions such as ‘meeting/worship house of the Jews’ and ‘sacrifice/ceremony place of the Jews’ are used.
“It is not my purpose in this article to discuss how to arrive at the most precise equivalent to cover all the components of meaning of ‘temple’. That is something that each translator really has to work through for himself in the light of the present usage and possibilities in his own language. My chief concern here is that the basic term or terms chosen for ‘temple’ should give the reader of a translation a clear and correct picture of the location referred to in each passage. And I am afraid that in many cases where an equivalent like ‘house of God’ or ‘worship house’ has been chosen, the readers have quite the wrong picture of what going to the Temple or being in the Temple means. (This may be the case for the word ‘temple’ in English too, for many readers.)”
Here are some examples:
Bambara: “house of God” (or: “big house of worship”) vs. “worship house” (or: “small houses of worship”)
Toraja-Sa’dan: “house where-the-belly-gets-swollen” (see above) vs. “meeting house for discussing matters concerning religious customs” (and “church” is “house where one meets on Sunday”)
Navajo (Dinė): “house in which worship is carried out” vs. “house of gathering” (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida)
Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Herod’s temple (source: Bible Lands 2012)Click or tap here to see a short video clip showing synagogues in New Testament times (source: Bible Lands 2012)
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 1:35:
Noongar: “The angel said, ‘The Holy Spirit will come to you and God’s power will over-shadow you. This holy child will be called ‘God’s Son’.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “The angel said: ‘The Holy Spirit will descend to you (sing.), and the power of God in heaven will cover you (sing.). That is why the child who will be born is called holy, the Child of God.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “The angel answered, he said, ‘The Holy Spirit will be caused to come to you and you will be overshadowed by God’s power. Therefore the child that you will give birth to will be holy and will be called Son of God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “As the angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will be the one to powerfully work in you, and you will be strengthened about by the power of God, and because of this, this one that you will give birth to, his actions shall be completely righteous, and he shall be named the Son of God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “The angel answered and said, ‘The Holy Spirit will go to you (sing.) and you (sing.) will be closely-overshadowed by his power. And this is why the holy one you (sing.) will give-birth-to will be called the Child of God.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “The angel answered, ‘What you said is really true. But this will happen through the help of the Espiritu Santo. That’s why you will conceive for it will be because of the supernatural-power of God who is Exceedingly the Greatest/Most-important. That’s why the one you will give birth to will be very far from sin for he is the Son of God.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Mairasi: “The Holy Spirit of Great Above One will come to you, then Great Above One’s power will wrap around you. That is the reason the child who will eventually be born they will say of him: “Great Above One’s Holy Child” they will say.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
