I am the way

The Greek in John 14:6 that is translated as “I am the way” is translated as:

  • “I am the road to heaven” in Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac
  • “I am the path by which you go” in Shipibo-Conibo
  • “I am the one who will guide you” in Asháninka
  • “Because of me you will arrive to where God is” in Tenango Otomi. (Source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation 12, November 1964, p. 1ff.)
  • “I am the way, in me you will meet God” in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999)

Upper Guinea Crioulo does not use definite articles. So in that language it says: “I (emph.) am way/road” and likewise: “I am truth, I am life.” (Source: David Frank)

linen

The Greek in Revelation 19:14 that is translated in English as “fine linen, white and pure” is translated in Huba as “good, clean, white clothes,” the closest corresponding term in Huba. (Source: David Frank in this blog post ).

See also flax / linen.

figs are not gathered from thorns𖺗 nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush

The Greek in Luke 6:44 that is translated in English as “figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush” or similar is translated in Upper Guinea Crioulo as “You wouldn’t pick guavas [very similar to figs] from a thorn bush, or cashews from a thorn tree.” (Source: David Frank in this blog post )

In Chechen it becomes “thorns do not yield mulberries or dog roses grapes” and in Khakas the grapes become “cherries.” (Source: David Clark in The Bible Translator 2015, p. 117ff. )

See also complete verse (Luke 6:44).

in holiness and righteousness

The Greek in Luke 1:75 that is translated as “in holiness and righteousness” or similar in English is translated in Bijago with the idiomatic expression “clean heart.” (Source: David Frank, quoted in Nicoleti 2012, p. 78)

scribe

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The Greek that is usually translated as “scribe” in English “were more than mere writers of the law. They were the trained interpreters of the law and expounders of tradition.”

Here are a number of its (back-) translations:

  • Yaka: “clerk in God’s house”
  • Amganad Ifugao: “man who wrote and taught in the synagogue”
  • Navajo (Dinė): “teaching-writer” (“an attempt to emphasize their dual function”)
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “book-wise person”
  • San Blas Kuna: “one who knew the Jews’ ways”
  • Loma: “educated one”
  • San Mateo del Mar Huave: “one knowing holy paper”
  • Central Mazahua: “writer of holy words”
  • Indonesian: “expert in the Torah”
  • Pamona: “man skilled in the ordinances” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Sinhala: “bearer-of-the-law”
  • Marathi: “one-learned-in-the-Scriptures”
  • Shona (1966): “expert of the law”
  • Balinese: “expert of the books of Torah”
  • Ekari: “one knowing paper/book”
  • Tboli: “one who taught the law God before caused Moses to write” (or “one who taught the law of Moses”) (source for this and 5 above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Noongar: Mammarapa-Warrinyang or “law man” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Mairasi: “one who writes and explains Great Above One’s (=God’s) prohibitions” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Chichewa: “teacher of Laws” (source: Ernst Wendland)
  • North Alaskan Inupiatun: “teachers of law”
  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “writer”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “person who teaches the law which Moses wrote”
  • Alekano: “man who knows wisdom” (source for this and four above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
  • Saint Lucian Creole French: titcha lwa sé Jwif-la (“teacher of the law of the Jews”) (source: David Frank in Lexical Challenges in the St. Lucian Creole Bible Translation Project, 1998)
  • Chichimeca-Jonaz: “one who teaches the holy writings”
  • Atatláhuca Mixtec: “teacher of the words of the law”
  • Coatlán Mixe: “teacher of the religious law”
  • Lalana Chinantec: “one who is a teacher of the law which God gave to Moses back then”
  • Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “one who know well the law” (Source for this and four above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Huixtán Tzotzil: “one who mistakenly thought he was teaching God’s commandments”(Huixtán Tzotzil frequently uses the verb -cuy to express “to mistakenly think something” from the point of view of the speaker; source: Marion M. Cowan in Notes on Translation 20/1966, pp. 6ff.)
  • Sumau: “law-knowing men” (source: this blog post by Todd Owen)
  • German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “theologian” and the 1998 translation by Walter Jens: “interpreter of scriptures” (Schriftausleger)
  • English translation by Scot McKnight (The Second Testament, publ. 2023): Covenant Code scholar

In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines the signs for “expert” and “law.” (Source: Anna Smith)


“Scribe” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL , used with permission)

sorrow

The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated in English as “painful” or “sorrow” is translated in Huba as “cut the insides.” David Frank explains: “Huba has just one expression that covers both ‘angry’ and ‘sad.’ They don’t make a distinction in their language. I suppose you could say that the term they use means more generically, ‘strong emotional reaction’ (source: David Frank in this blog post ). Similarly, in Bariai it is “the interior is severed/cut” (source: Bariai Back Translation).

In Noongar it is translated as koort-warra or “heart bad.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)

In Enlhet it is translated as “going aside of the innermost.” “Innermost” or valhoc is a term that is frequently used in Enlhet to describe a large variety of emotions or states of mind (for other examples see here). (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )

See also grieving / sorrowful.

footstool

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is typically translated as “footstool” in English is translated as “(put your enemies) underneath your feet like grass” in Enxet. (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)

In Upper Guinea Crioulo it is “(put your enemies) under your feet so you can rest your feet on them.” (Source: David Frank in this blog post )

In Whitesands is is “door-cloth.” “This would be that rag at the door that you use to wipe your feet after walking in the dirt or mud. Similar to a doormat. The point of comparison would be that a door rag is so low in value/position compared to the one using it.” (Source: Greg Carlson)

Non-metaphorical ways to translate this include:

  • Chuj: “become ruler above”
  • Teutila Cuicatec: “humble (your enemies)”
  • Isthmus Mixe: “give authority to gain the victory over (your enemies)”
  • Morelos Nahuatl: “deliver (your enemies) into your hands”
  • Rincón Zapotec: “make (your enemies) subject to you” (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)