For more information see https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiane_Nord
The Greek in Romans 3:31 that is translated in English as “uphold the law” is translated in Nuer as “make the law true.”
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated as Das Gesetz wird dadurch sogar bestätigt, dass sein Sinn positiv gesehen wird or “The law is even confirmed by the fact that its meaning is seen in a positive light.”
The Greek that is translated as “fruit of the Spirit” in English is translated in British Sign Language with a sign that depicts the Spirit coming in to a person and then the person giving out. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Fruit of the Spirit” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated wer sich vom Heiligen Geist leiten lässt, der kann… or “whoever is guided by the Holy Spirit is able to… .”
The following is a stained glass window from John Hardman Powell (1827–1895) in the Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, depicting the fruit of the Spirit:
Photo and accompanying text by Andreas F. Borchert, hosted by Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license
“In its centre is the Lord as Good Shepherd along with the Fruit of the Spirit, namely Love (inscription in centre), Joy & Peace (top inscription), and in clockwise direction: Longsuffering, Faith, Gentleness, Goodness, Meekness, Temperance in reference to Galatians 5:22-23, surrounded by medaillons, depicting an angel carrying a scroll with the inscription Gloria in excelsis deo (top, representing joy & peace), and then in clockwise direction: Job (upper right, representing longsuffering), Jonathan (lower right, representing faithfulness), Ruth (bottom, representing goodness and gentleness), Moses (lower left, representing meekness), and John the Baptist (upper left, representing temperance, see Matthew 3:4).”
Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )
The Latin Vulgate translation added three “fruits”: “forbearance” (longanimitas), “courtesy” (modestia), and “chastity” (castitas). This meant that all Catholic translations before app. 1950 that were based on the Latin version also had those additional attributes (English Douay-Rheims: longanimity, modesty, chastity; Spanish Biblia Torres Amat: longanimidad, modestia, castidad etc.)
Ronald Knox writes in his translation of the Vulgate (1946): “The Greek only mentions nine of the Twelve Fruits; viz. the first six, together with gentleness, faith, and temperateness. It is possible that the Latin version has accidentally included, in some cases, two renderings of the same Greek word.” Note that neither earlier Latin versions (Vetus Latina) nor the revision of the Vulgate of 1979 / 1986 (Nova Vulgata) have these attributes. (Source: Jost Zetzsche)
See also self-control.
The Greek in John 12:6 that is translated as “used to steal what was put into it” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) idiomatically as jeden Groschen dreimal umdrehte or “(he was) a penny pincher” (lit. “turned over every dime three times”).
Note that Berger/Nord also don’t translate thief directly.
The Greek in Revelation 9:18 that is translated as “smoke and sulfur” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as erstickender Qualm und ätzender, giftiger Schwefel or “suffocating smoke and acrid, toxic sulphur.”
The Greek in Luke 11:48 that is translated as “for they killed them, and you build their tombs” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with “for they killed them, and you build their tombs — two parts of the same deed to eliminate them.”
The Greek in Luke 24:47 that is translated as “proclaimed in his name” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with in meinem Namen angeboten werden or “offered in my name.”
