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The Greek that is translated as “crown of thorns” in English is translated in Navajo (Dinė) as “a hat of a plant that had sharp thorns,” in North Alaskan Inupiatun as “a head-gear of prickly branches,” in Aguaruna as “a thing to crown him with out of thorns,” and in Chol as “woven thorns.”
See also crown of life and complete verse (James 1:12).
The Greek that is translated in English as “the light” is translated in John 1:8 in Alekano as “the father of light,” in Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac as “the true light,” and in Tenango Otomi as “that one who opens the hearts of the people.”
Matt Taylor (in The PNG Experience ) describes the process of finding the correct term for the presently prepared Nukna translation of John:
“We’ve been working on the Nukna translation of the book of John, and recently came to Jesus’ famous statement in John 8:12, ‘I am the light of the world.’ As we discussed how to best translate this metaphor, we realized that there was a problem. There is a Nukna word for light — yam — but it’s not possible to say just yam by itself. Light always has a source, and grammatically that source must be included, either by mentioning the actual source or by using a possessive pronoun — ‘its light,’ ‘their light,’ etc. It would be ungrammatical to just say ‘light.’ ( This grammatical feature is known as ‘inalienable possession.’) To literally translate ‘I am the light of the world’ into Nukna would lead to an unacceptable Nukna sentence.
“One idea we’ve had is to use a common source of light that the Nukna people are familiar with: the bamboo torch. The Nukna people live in a remote area without electricity. To see at night, they often light up a species of bamboo named kup. Kup burns with a blazing brightness, and a long piece can be held as a torch, enabling a person to walk at night around the otherwise pitch black village. So in Nukna, Jesus’ words would read, ‘I am like a bamboo torch [kup] that shines its light to the world.’
“Our translation team needs to do further testing to see if this figure of speech is communicating accurately and powerfully. Please pray for us, that God would guide us as we seek to communicate this concept, as well as many others, into the Nukna language in a dynamic and life-changing way. ‘It’s like the light of a bamboo torch shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’ (John 1:5).”
Likewise, Mungaka also uses “torch” (source: Nama 1990).
See also torch and the light (John 3:19).
The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated in English as “locust” is translated in Ayutla Mixtec as “insect like flying ants” because locusts are not known locally (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.), in Lalana Chinantec as katydids (source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2-20), and in Pa’o Karen as “grasshopper” (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. ).
In connection with John the Baptist (Matthew 3:4 and Mark 1:6) in is translated in Shuar as “edible grasshoppers” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.), and in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as geröstete Heuschrecken or “roasted locusts.” (Note that “Heuschrecken” literally means “the bane/horror of hay”).
See also locust / grasshopper / cricket.
The Greek that is translated as “take up their cross” in English is translated in Galela as “let go of each of their desires in their hearts” (source: Howard Shelden in Kroneman 2004, p. 501).
In Korku it is translated as “take up trouble for me to the extent that he would be ready to give his life on the cross for me,” and in Chipaya as “be ready to suffer, even die.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated as with Kreuz und Schande auf sich nehmen or “take up the cross and shame.”
See also cross (carry).
The Greek that is translated as “figures of speech” or similar in English is translated in Ojitlán Chinantec as “telling words a little bit covered,” in Tenango Otomi as “comparisons,” in Navajo (Dinė): “stories that teach,” and in Mezquital Otomi as “like a story” (source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.).
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated as vieldeutige Worte or “ambiguous word (or: “words with many meanings”)” and in the translation by Fridolin Stier (1989) as “hidden (or: shrouded) speech” (Hüllrede).
The Greek in John 1:16 that is translated as “grace upon grace” or similar in English is translated in Huichol as “He treats us with graciousness, and keeps increasing it.” (Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
The English translation by Pakaluk (2021) has one gift in place of another (complete Verse: “Because we have all received of his fullness, and one gift in place of another.”) Compare Ruden (2021): “Out of what fills him to the full, we have all been given a share, joyful favor in exchange for joyful favor” and the German translation by Berger / Nord: “Because that was the only way — no matter before or after him — that we could draw from what was given to him in fullness, grace and yet more grace.”
See also grace.
The Greek that is typically translated as “send (him) away empty-handed” in English is translated in Punu with the existing idiom “send (him) away holding his hands.” (Source: Nida 1952, p. 54)
In Western Highland Chatino it is translated as “(they) didn’t give him even one grape.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
See also empty-handed.