The Hebrew that is translated as “let us make,” “become like one of us,” and “let us go down” or similar in English in Genesis 1:26, Genesis 3:22, and Genesis 11:7 had to be examined closely in Bura-Pabir.
Andy Warren-Rothlin explains: “God appears to refer to himself in the plural, and it seems important to retain this, even though we don’t know whether it is a reference to the Trinity (the Bura translation team’s view) or a hint at a polytheistic background or the ‘council of God’ (e.g. Ps 82:1). Bura has three words for ‘we’ — an exclusive one (referring to speaker and others, excluding the addressee), an inclusive ‘dual’ one (referring to the speaker and one other person), and an inclusive ‘plural’ one (referring to the speaker and more than one addressee). We agreed to use the latter, which allows for a Trinity, pantheon or divine council; the only interpretation it excludes is one which reads this as referring to just the Father and the Son (which some may think is the case).”
See also clusivity and Three Men visit Abraham / Trinity (icon).
The Hebrew that is translated as “flying serpent” in English is translated in Kamba as nzoka ya kĩko, referring to local cobras which can jump.
In Konso it is translated as “very poisonous snake,” which already suggests the “fiery.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin and Sam Wanyoike)
See also cobra.
The Hebrew that is translated as “Woe to us!” or similar in English is translated in Igede with the existing idiom Ahị ri enyi gu obyi lẹ oo! or “We are wet (lit “water touch”) gunpowder!” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
See also woe is me.
The Hebrew that is translated as “nurse” in English is translated in the Hausa Common Language Bible as macen da ta yi goyonta or “woman who gave her support.” Since goyo means both “to support (a friend)” and “to back a baby” it covers the range of duties that are implicit here. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
The Greek in Acts 7:44 that is translated as “tent of testimony” or similar in English is translated as
- “a leather house which they could pack up again, where they remembered God” in Lalana Chinantec
- “cloth house where they worshiped God” in Eastern Highland Otomi
- “cloth house where God spoke to the people” in Chichimeca-Jonaz
- “house of God where they kept the stones on which were written the commandments of God” in Morelos Nahuatl
- “small holy house which was of the skins of animals, in it were the stones which contained the ten commandments” in San Mateo del Mar Huave
- “church inside which the slates on which God’s law was written were kept” in Teutila Cuicatec (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
- “Tent of meeting God” in Nigerian Fulfulde (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
- “the tent of the testimony showing that God is present” in Elhomwe (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
- “God’s shelter together with the box of the law which confirmed his talk” in Bariai (source: Bariai Back Translation)
- “Great Above One’s Cloth House” in Mairiasi (source: Enggavoter 2004)
See also tabernacle (noun) and tent of meeting.
The Hebrew that is translated in English as “a piece of wood” or similar is translated in Bura-Pabir as udzim laga or “a certain stick” and in the Hausa Common Language Bible as wani itace or “a certain tree.” Andy Warren-Rothlin explains the Hausa translation: “This is doubtless a right interpretation of this as referring to a particular medicinal plant, not just a random tree, as is suggested by some English translations.”
The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated in English as “hardened” or “stubborn” is translated in the Hausa Common Language Bible idiomatically as taurin kai or “tough head.”
Other languages spoken in Nigeria translate similarly: Abua uses oḅom ẹmhu or “strong head,” Bura-Pabir kəra ɓəɓal or “hard head,” Gokana agẹ̀ togó or “hard/strong head,” Igede egbeju-ọngịrị or “hard head,” Dera gɨddɨng koi or “strong head,” Reshe ɾiʃitə ɾigbaŋgba or “strong head,” and in Chadian Arabic raas gawi (رَاسْكُو قَوِي) or “hard head” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Other translation approaches include Western Bukidnon Manobo with “breath is very hard” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation) or Ixil with “callous heart” (source: Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 40).
See also hardness of heart.
The Hebrew that is translated in English as “(wrongful) use the name (of the Lord)” or similar is translated in Bura-Pabir as ká thləma or “call name,” while at the same time also meaning “swear.” “This is a good translation, since it rightly implies the context of swearing oaths.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
