For more information see https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiane_Nord
The Greek that is typically translated in English as “was God” is translated in Sayula Popoluca as “was (and still is) the same as God.” (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 von Gottes Art or “of God’s kind.”
The Greek in Acts 23:23 that is translated as “spearmen” in English is translated as “soldiers who will carry sharp sticks” in Lalana Chinantec. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated as Leichtbewaffnete or “lightly armed ones.”
The Greek in 2 Corinthians 7:11 that is translated as “what eagerness to clear yourselves” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with “how eager you were to apologize to me.”
The Greek that is translated as “elements” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with Bestandteile der Welt or “components (or: “elements”) of the world.”
Nida (1947, p. 230) says this about the translation of the concept of “truth”: “The words for ‘truth’ and ‘true’ are not always the most readily discovered in aboriginal languages. In some instances the only expression which corresponds to ‘true’ is something like ‘it happened.’ A falsehood is something that ‘did not happen.’ In a good many languages the meaning of ‘truth’ is expressed by the words signifying ‘straight’ and ‘direct.’ Untruth is accordingly ‘crookedness.’ An abstract noun such as English “truth” is quite difficult to find in some instances. Only an expression such as ‘true statement’ or ‘true word’ will be found to correspond to English ‘truth.’”
The Greek, Latin, Ge’ez, and Hebrew that is usually translated in English as “truth” is translated in Luchazi with vusunga: “the quality of being straight” (source: E. Pearson in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 160ff. ), in Obolo as atikọ or “good/correct talk” (source: Enene Enene), and in Ekari as maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (esp. in John 14:6 and 17; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).
Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) tells of the translation into Kui which usually is “true-thing.” In some instances however, such as in the second part of John 17:17 (“your word is truth” in English), the use of “true-thing” indicated that there might be other occasions when it’s not true, so here the translation was a a form of “pure, holy.”
The translation committee of the Malay “Good News Bible” (Alkitab Berita Baik, see here ) wrestled with the translation of “truth” in the Gospel of John:
“Our Malay Committee also concluded that ‘truth’ as used in the Gospel of John was used either of God himself, or of God’s revelation of himself, or in an extended sense as a reference to those who had responded to God’s self-disclosure. In John 8:32 the New Malay translation reads ‘You will know the truth about God, and the truth about God will make you free.’ In John 8:44 this meaning is brought out by translating, ‘He has never been on the side of God, because there is no truth in him.’ Accordingly Jesus ‘tells the truth about God’ in 8:45, 46 (see also 16:7 and 8:37a). Then, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’ (John 14:6) becomes ‘I am the one who leads men to God, the one who reveals who and what God is, and the one who gives men life.” At 3:21 the translation reads ” … whoever obeys the truth, that is God himself, comes to the light …’; 16:13a appears as ‘he will lead you into the full truth about God’; and in 18:37 Jesus affirms ‘I came into the world to reveal the truth about God, and whoever obeys God listens to me.’ On this basis also 1:14 was translated ‘we saw his glory, the glory which he had as the Father’s only Son. Through him God has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace)’; and 1:17 appears as ‘God gave the law through Moses; but through Jesus Christ he has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace).'” (Source: Barclay Newman in The Bible Translator 1974, p. 432ff. )
The German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) has followed a somewhat similar path to the Malay committee 50 years earlier in the gospel of John. In John 1 it translates “truth as “God’s nature,” in John 3 as “God’s will,” in John 8 as “God’s reality,” in John 14 as “encountering God,” and in John 16 as “God’s truth.”
The Greek that is translated as “elder” in most English versions (“presbyter” in The Orthodox New Testament, 2000) is translated as “Old-Man Leader” in Eastern Highland Otomi (source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation November 1964, p. 1-22) and in Bacama as mi kpan-kpani vɨnə hiutə: “big/old person of house of prayer” (source: David Frank in this blog post ).
Other translations include:
The German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) chooses for the occurrences in Revelation the translation of Würdenträger or “dignitary.” Elsewhere (for instance in 1 Peter 5:1) it has “elders, your congregational leadership.”
See also elder (of the community).
The Greek in Acts 28:11 that is translated as “with the Twin Brothers as its figurehead” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with am Bug mit den Bildern der Dioskuren Castor und Pollux geschmückt or “decorated on the bow with the images of the Dioskouri Castor and Pollux.”
More information about Castor and Pollux .
The Greek in Galatians 1:17 that is translated as “into Arabia” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with “into an area called Arabia, south of Damascus.”