The Greek in 2 Peter 3:9 that is translated in English as something like “the Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness” is translated in Eastern Arrernte as “the Lord does not forget his promise. It’s only people who think (supposedly) that He forgets them.”
law of freedom, law of liberty
The Greek in James 2:12 that is translated as “law of liberty” in English is translated in Owa as “the command that makes us free (=teaching that makes us clean from sin).”
no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back
The Greek in Luke 9:62 that is translated as “no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back (is fit for the kingdom of God)” in English is translated in Sa’a as “Whoever at all who works in his garden, but just thinks indiscriminately about other things, then he is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” Carl Gross explains: “In a society in which plowing is unknown, it is not possible to have a farmer setting his hand to the plow, let alone looking back once he had started. [The chosen translation] would even make sense to western urban dwellers who have never seen a plow.”
In Bislama “plow” is translated as stia blong bot, “steering paddle” or “rudder.” The whole verse is translated as “A person who holds the rudder but keeps looking back cannot enter the kingdom of God” (source: Ross McKerras). The translation in Mussau-Emira is likewise (see this blog entry ).
In Toposa it is translated as “No one aiming at an animal looks to the side when throwing the spear.” Plowing is not known in that culture and this communicated the meaning well. (Source: Martin and Helga Schröder in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 58f.)
judgment is without mercy
The Greek in James 2:13 that is translated as “judgment is without mercy” in English is translated in Owa as “God will not have mercy.”
conscience
The Hebrew and Greek that is rendered in English as “conscience” is translated into Aari as “our thoughts speak to us,” in Nuer it is “the knowledge of their heart” (source: Jan Sterk), in Cheke Holo “to know what is straight and what is wrong” (source: Carl Gross), in Chokwe “law of the heart” (source D.B. Long in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 135ff. ), in Toraja-Sa’dan penaa ma’pakilala or “the admonishing within” (source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 21 ff. ), in Yatzachi Zapotec as “head-hearts,” in Tzeltal as “hearts” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), in Enlhet as “innermost,” in Northern Emberá as “thinking” (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1975, p. 201ff. ), and in Elhomwe as “what reminds the heart” or “whole heart” (“since the idea of conscience is something that reminds the heart”) (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext).
In Warao it is translated with obojona, 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.
In Mbudum it is translated as “the heart that does not leap.” (Source: Ervais Fotso Noumsi in Le Sycomore, 16/1, 2022 )
See also conscience seared and perfect conscience / clear conscience, clear conscience towards God and all people, and brothers, up to this day I have lived my life with a clear conscience before God.
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” (Romans 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.)
- Isthmus Mixe: “to be put in an open place” (source: John Beekman & Harwood Hess in Notes on Translation, March 1963, p. 1ff.)
- 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 (“deemed right through favor”) (source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37f. )
- Tzeltal: “exonerated of sin in God’s sight” (source: Marianna C. Slocum in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 49f. )
- Kwara’ae: “regarded as righteous” (source: Norman Deck in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 34ff. )
- Makonde: “”to be good in God’s eyes” (in the context of being made righteous by God) ” (note that righteous / righteousness is translated as “to be good in God’s eyes” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
- Manikion: “heart sits next to Jesus” (source: Daud Soesilo)
- Obolo: ben itip-oyerebet isan̄a: “take away condemnation” (source: Enene Enene)
- Kui: “obtaining 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.)
spirit of gentleness
The Greek in Galatians 6:1 that is translated into English as “spirit of gentleness” is translated into Varisi as “(straighten him) in a way that will be helpful to him.”
See also gentle and quiet spirit and gentleness.
in the inn
The Greek that is often translated as “laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” in English versions is translated quite differently in Pintupi-Luritja. Carl Gross explains: “It was explained to the translators that it was not an inn or motel to which they were going, but rather the guest room of their relatives, and there were so many people in town that all their relatives had already allowed other relatives to sleep in their guestrooms. But one of their relatives said they could use the downstairs stable in which the animals sheltered from the cold of the night. In response, the translators came up with: ‘Those two asked in vain their relatives in the town of Bethlehem to lie inside a house. Because many other people had entered and were lying in the houses, those two asked in vain. Having asked in vain, those two lay down on the windbreak-side of a house in a place that belonged to bullocks.'”