Translation Insights and Perspectives
The Hebrew and Aramaic that is translated as “gods” in English is translated into Pass Valley Yali as ap enehime fanowon — “the good spirits (of the deceased one).” (Source: Daud Soesilo)
The Greek in 1 Corinthians is translated in Quetzaltepec Mixe similarly with a term that makes clear that these are good or bad spirits, not gods which can be compared to God. (Source: Robert Bascom)
The Aramaic that is often translated as “all his works are truth (or: right)” in English is translated into Pass Valley Yali as “as God walks along he builds garden.”
The Hebrew that is translated as “pledge” in English is translated in Irarutu as “the ring that has your mark on the cord around your neck.”
The Aramaic that is often translated as “(King Belshazzar) made a great feast” in English is translated into Pass Valley Yali as “bakar batu” — “heated up stones (so as to have a feast).”
The Hebrew that is translated as “became very angry” or “burned with anger” in English is translated in Irarutu as “his stomach was boiling.”
See also anger and see Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling.”
The Aramaic that is translated as “perplexed” or “puzzled” in English is translated into Pass Valley Yali as “swollen heart.”
The German Good News Bible (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) (1st edition: 1968, 2nd edition: 1982, 3rd edition: 1997) says this about the translation of the Greek expressions that in English are often translated as “kingdom of God” or “kingdom of heaven” respectively:
“An example for how a term evolved is the rendering of ‘heavenly kingdom’ or ‘kingdom of God.’ A verbatim translation will be misunderstood by most readers today: as if it talks about a kingdom that is located in heaven, when in reality it refers in the Bible to God being the ruler, to that area in which that rule has been realized and everything that human beings can expect because of that. Dependent on the context, the term is therefore translated differently in this present version: When it focuses on the presence of God’s kingdom it is rendered as ‘God establishes his rule’ (‘Gott richtet seine Herrschaft auf’), when the focus is on the future it is translated as ‘Once God finalizes his creation (or ‘work’) . . . ‘ (‘Wenn Gott sein Werk vollendet . . .’), and when the focus is on that finished creation it is ‘God’s new world’ (‘Gottes neue Welt’).” (p. 299)
The respective translation choice in that German translation:
Daud Soesilo writes this about the translation of those terms in the Malay translation:
In the New Testament [of the Revised Malay Translation (Alkitab Berita Baik, 1996)] “the Kingdom of God/Heaven” does not refer primarily to a region, or place, or to a political or national territory.
The meaning of “kingdom” is fundamentally that of “sovereignty” or “rule.” Since the primary idea is that of kingship, kingly rule, or sovereignty of God, rather than of the sphere or realm in which his rule operates, the sense of this term should be expressed in translation as “kingly rule,” “reign,” or “sovereignty,” rather than by the literal “kingdom.” The most common literal translation of the term “Kingdom of God” in Malay is “Kerajaan Allah.” “Kerajaan Syurga” is used for its variant “Kingdom of Heaven.” However, careful linguistic analysis of the meaning and usage of the term “kerajaan” “kingdom” shows that when it is unmarked it carries the following components:
Thus the expressions “Kerajaan Allah” and “Kerajaan Syurga” have primarily a territorial sense, rather than expressing the idea of “kingly rule.” This means, then, that we should consider replacing the literal renderings “Kerajaan Allah/Syurga” with expressions that are better able to give the New Testament meaning of “he basileia tau theou,” as expressed in the following components:
The Malay translation team has tried to render the expression “he basileia tou theou” faithfully and meaningfully according to the main focus in each context in which it occurs. However, to help readers who are looking for the formal features of the term, we have added footnotes that give a literal rendering. (Source: Daud Soesilo in The Bible Translator 2001, p. 239ff.)
(See also Barclay Newman in: The Bible Translator 1974, p. 401ff.)
Likewise in the Gurung translation the term was also, depending on context, rendered in four different ways:
(Source: Warren Glover in The Bible Translator 1978, p. 231ff. — here you can also find a comprehensive list of examples where which translation was applied.)
Following is a list of (back-) translations from other languages:
Umiray Dumaget Agta: “protectorate of God” (source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
In Mairasi, a language “where people would rather say something in a new way than in an old way,” there are a number of translations, including “Great Above One’s (=God) rule,” “His power,” “His control,” or “His place of authority/power.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
The Hebrew that is translated as “disgrace” or something similar in English is translated into Pass Valley Yali as “to trample someone in the mud.”
The Greek that is translated as “dishonorable passions” or “shameful acts” in English is translated in Manikion as “actions that make people spit.”
The Greek that is translated as “adulteress” in English is translated in Manikion as “light body” (easy to go out and commit adultery).
The Hebrew that is translated as “(if not, tell me, that I may) turn to the right hand or to the left” or similar in English is translated into Pass Valley Yali as “…do I have to look for another young woman.”
The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that are translated as “wine” in English is translated into Pass Valley Yali as “grape juice pressed long ago (= fermented)” or “strong water” (source: Daud Soesilo). In Guhu-Samane it is also translated as “strong water” (source: Ernest L. Richert in Notes on Translation December 1963: p. 4-7; reprinted in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff.).
See also proceeds from the vine / anything that comes from the grapevine.