The Hebrew name Mara means “bitter” which is here used as a designator for the state Naomi finds herself in (translated in English: “call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.” or similar). “However not all languages use the word for ‘bitter’ to describe things like lives, or feelings. In Poqomchi’ we had to translate this as ‘sadness,’ because ‘bitter’ would have meant nothing in this context, and the proposed name change would have been as meaningless as if left unexplained.” (Source: Ronald Ross)
In Noongar the word for “bitter” is djadam which also means “sour.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “sandal” or “shoe” or similar in English is translated in Noongar as djena-bwoka or “feet kangaroo skin” (source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020) and in Mairasi as “foot thing” (source: Enggavoter 2004).
Click or tap here to see a short video clip about sandals (source: Bible Lands 2012)
Following are a number of back-translations of Ruth 2:2-2:5:
Noongar: “Ruth of Moab said to Naomi, ‘Let me go to the wheat-field and gather seed. I can go behind people who are kind to me.’ Naomi said to her, ‘Go, my daughter.’ So Ruth went to the wheat-fields and gathered wheat behind the wheat workers. Now, Boaz owned this wheat-field. He was Elimelech’s relative. Just then, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem. He said to the wheat workers, ‘God stays with you!’. They replied, ‘God bless you!’ Then Boaz asked the boss of the wheat workers, ‘This woman, who are her people?’” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)
Eastern Bru: “Ruth, the Moabite, said to Naomi: ‘Let me go glean in the fields. If the owner of the field is pleased with me, then I will glean in that field..’ And Naomi answered: ‘All right, child. Go, go.’ So Ruth went to glean in the fields following those who were harvesting. She did not know she had come to the field of Boaz. Boaz was from the clan of Elimelech. So Boaz came from Bethlehem, and he said to his harvesters: ‘God be with you.’ They answered: ‘Yes. And God give to you blessings also.’ Then Boaz asked the person who oversaw the people who harvested for him: ‘That young woman is whose child?’ (Source: Bru Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: (verses 4-5) “Now, Boaz arrived from Betlehem and he greeted the harvesters, ‘May the LORD help you(pl)!’ The harvesters replied, ‘May the LORD bless you(sg)!’ Then Boaz asked the servant whom he entrusted to supervise the harvesters, ‘Who is that young lady/woman?’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “One day Ruth said to Naomi, ‘Let me go to the fields and pick up the grain left behind by the workers.’ Naomi replied, ‘Go ahead, my daughter.’ So Ruth went to the fields and began to pick up some of the left-over grain. And it happened that she was working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the man from the clan of her dead father-in-law, Elimelech! Just then, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem. He greeted the men who were harvesting the grain, saying, ‘I want Yahweh to bless you!’ They replied, ‘We want Yahweh to bless you, too!’ Then Boaz saw Ruth, and asked the foreman/man in charge of the other workmen, ‘Whose daughter is that young woman?’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
The Lord’s Prayer was translated into Nyulnyul (and back-translated into English) by the German missionary Hermann Nekes in 1939.
It reads:
Our Father on top sky.
Thy name be feared.
Thou art our boss.
Men-women will listen to Thee this place earth
as the good souls of men-women listen to Thee on top sky.
Give us tucker till this sun goes down.
We did wrong; make us good.
We have good hearts to them who did us wrong.
Watch us against bad place.
Thy hands be stretched out to guard us from bad.
Our Father, high in your Holy Place,
your name is holy.
Let the day come
when you reign as King in our land.
We want you to become Boss of our land,
the same way you are Boss of your Holy Land.
Give us the food we eat every day.
Forgive our wrong-doing
the same way we forgive the wrong-doing people do to us.
And do not take us to the hard place of testing.
But hold us so the Devil cannot get us.
You hold the land.
You hold the power.
You hold the light.
For ever and for ever.
Amen.
Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020
The following is a back-translation from Ma’anyan:
So pray [and say]: Our father who [is] in heaven:
You are the only God.
May you be worshiped and respected.
You are our King, you rule on earth, and your will be obeyed as in heaven.
Give to us today the food that we need.
Forgive us from wrong as we forgive people’s wrongs against us.
Do not let us lose faith when we are tempted
but set us free from the power of that evil one.
You [are the] king of power and glory until forever.
Amen.
Following are a number of back-translations of Ruth 1:4-1:5:
Noongar: “Now Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, he died, and Naomi stayed with her two sons. Her two sons married two wives from Moab, named Orpah and Ruth. When they had lived there ten years, Mahlon and Chilion died; so Naomi was widowed, without sons and without a husband.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)
Eastern Bru: “The two sons took wives from the people of Moab. The names of the women were Orpha and Ruth. So they lived in that place about ten years. But in that place, Mahlon and Chilion also died. So Naomi still lived, but she no longer had husband or children.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Some-time-later her children married [plural] Moabnon (women). The name of one was Orpah and the (other)-one was Ruth. After- ten years -had-passed, Mahlon and Kilion also died, so only Noemi was left.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “They married women from Moab. One of them was named Orpah, and the other one was named Ruth. But after they had lived in that area for about ten years, Mahlon and Chilion died. So then Naomi had no husband and no sons.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Following are a number of back-translations of Ruth 1:6-1:7:
Noongar: “Now in Moab, Naomi heard that God had helped his people and given them bread. Naomi and her sons’ wives got ready to return to her home in Bethlehem. So Naomi and her two sons’ wives left their houses in Moab and set out to return on the road to Judah.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)
Eastern Bru: “After that Naomi heard that God had given again food to eat for the people who followed him in the country of Judah. So Naomi and her two daughters-in-law, they prepared to move from the country of Moab. Then the three of them went out from the place where they lived and they began to go back to the country of Judah.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “When Noemi heard that the LORD had-remembered his people by giving them good harvest/produce, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return to Juda. And while they are- now -on-(their)-journey going-back to Juda,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “One day while Naomi was in Moab, she heard someone say that Yahweh had helped his people in Israel and that now there was plenty of food to eat. So she prepared to return to Bethlehem. She left the place where she had been living and started to walk with her daughters-in-law along the road back to Judah.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Following are a number of back-translations of Ruth 1:1-1:3:
Noongar: “Long ago, when the Law Men were bosses, all the people were hungry. One man from Bethlehem in Judah, he went to Moab with his wife and his two sons. He was called Elimelech, his wife was called Naomi. Their two sons were called Mahlon and Chilion. They were from the tribe of Ephratha, from Bethlehem in Judah. They went to the land of Moab and stopped there.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)
Eastern Bru: “At that period of time there were people who judged cases, they were in charge in the country of Judah. There came a time when there was great hunger, there were no crops at all. At the time there was a person from the town of Bethlehem who went to live in the country of Moab. And his wife and children went with him. He had two sons. The name of that person was Elimelech from the clan of Ephrath, and the name of his wife was Naomi. The name of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. All of these people left Bethlehem in the country of Judah. So they went to the country of Moab and lived in that country. In that place, Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died. But Naomi and her two sons were still living.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “During the time when kings were not yet the-(ones-who) were-ruling in Israel, a famine came to this place. So Elimelec who comes-from-Betlehem which is in-the-jurisdiction of Juda went to Moab together-with his wife and two male children/(sons), in-order to stay there for-a-while. The name of his wife was Noemi and their two children were Mahlon and Kilion. They were the descendants of Efrata who are-from-Betlehem. Now, when they were- now -living in Moab, Elimelec died, therefore only Noemi was left and her two children.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “During the time before kings ruled Israel, there was a famine/the people there had nothing to eat. There was a man who lived there whose name was Elimelech. His wife’s name was Naomi, and his sons’ names were Mahlon and Chilion. They were all from Bethlehem town, from the Ephrath clan in Judah region. Because of the famine, they left Bethlehem and went east to live for a while in Moab region. While they were there, Elimelech died, and Naomi had only her two sons with her.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Akan: “In the days of the Leaders, famine came upon the land of Judah. And a man from Bethlehem in Judah went to Moab to settle there as a foreigner, he went with his wife and two sons.”
Akan (Twi dialect): “In the days that judges judged, famine came upon the land. And a man from Bethlehem in Judah went to Moab to settle there as a foreigner, he went with his wife and two sons.”
Akan (Fanti dialect): “And it came to pass that in the days that judges judged, famine came upon the land. And a man from Bethlehem in Judah went to Moab to settle there, he went with his wife and two sons.” (Source for this and two above: Isaac Boaheng in The Bible Translator 2021, p. 313ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Ruth 3:14-15:
Noongar: “So Ruth lay beside Boaz’ feet until sunrise. Ruth got up before people could see her. Boaz said to her, ‘People must not know you came to this place.’ Then Boaz said, ‘Give me your shawl.’ Ruth gave him her shawl. Boaz poured six dishes of wheat into the shawl, and lifted the wheat onto Ruth’s back. Then Boaz went home to Bethlehem.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)
Eastern Bru: “Then Ruth slept near to Boaz’s feet until morning. She rose very early while it was still dark, before anyone could recognize anyone. And Boaz told Ruth: ‘Don’t let anyone know you have come to my rice floor here.’ And Boaz said: ‘You take the cloth you are wearing and bring it here.’ When Ruth brought the cloth, Boaz measured into it six measures of grain and helped her put it on her shoulder. After that Ruth took the grain and went back to the town.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “So Ruth slept at the feet-side of Boaz until morning, but (while it was) still a-bit-dark Ruth got-up so-that she would- not -be-recognized, because Boaz does- not -want that someone-will-know that Ruth came to him there at the place-of-threshing. Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Bring here to me the cloak-for-the-back/cape you(sg) are-wearing and spread-it-out.’ Ruth spread- it -out, and then Boaz poured-into-it about six kilos of barley and had- Ruth -carry-(it)-on-(her)-shoulder. And Ruth returned to town.'” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “So she lay at his feet until morning. But she got up and left before it was light enough that people would be able to recognize her, because Boaz said, ‘I do not want anyone to know that a woman was here.’ He also said to her, ‘Bring to me your cloak and spread it out.’ When she did that, he poured into it six measures/24 liters/50 pounds of barley, and put in on her back. Then he (OR, she) went back to the town.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
