The Greek in Hebrews 13:4 that is translated in English “let the marriage bed be kept undefiled” or similar is translated in Alekano as “do not spoil the marriage” (source: Deibler / Taylor 1977, p. 1077) and in Makonde as “trust marriage.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
wise as serpents
The Greek in Matthew 10:16 that is translated in English as “wise as serpents” is translated in Bambam as “take-guard like a langkasi (= a small animal similar to a squirrel).”
Phil Campbell explains: “The Bambam people just could not connect with the snakes as being shrewd, but they have a lot of traditional folk tales of a shrewd squirrel-like-animal. We did add a footnote to explain the literal meaning in the original.”
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated with seid umsichtig wie die Schlangen unter dem Laub or “be as cautious as snakes under the leaves.” And the translators add in a footnote: “… that don’t expose themselves to danger directly.”
In Komba, the extended phrase that is translated in English as “be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” was translated as “live without falsity and with wisdom and straightness” since “the picture was too strange.” (Source: Deibler / Taylor 1977, p. 1076f.)
no greater joy
The Greek in 3 John 1:4that is translated in English as “I have no greater joy” is translated in Sinasina is translated as “this happiness of mine surpasses all other happiness” since there is no comparative form (such as “greater”).
untie sandals
The Greek that is translated as “(not worthy to) untie sandals” or similar in English is translated in various ways:
- Awa: “because he is an important one, when he speaks I will be silent”
- Yatzachi Zapotec: “I am not worthy to be his servant”
- Alekano: “if unworthy I should even carry his burden, it would not be right”
- Tenango Otomi: “I don’t compare with him” (source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
- Ayutla Mixtec: “I am too unworthy to perform even the lowliest of tasks for him” (“to avoid the wrong meaning of playing a trick by tying the sandals”)
- Choapan Zapotec “I am not even important to carry his pack” (source for this and one above: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
- Mairasi: “loosening the strap of His foot thing as His slave would do” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
- Bariai: “untie the string of his shoe, because he surpasses me very much” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “He is greater than I. I don’t compare with him.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
- German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): auf Knien die Riemen seiner Sandalen zu lösen or “to loosen the straps of his sandals on my knees.”
See also sandal (illustration)
leprosy healed
order of events (Acts 1:4)
In many languages, “events which are implied in a chronological sequence need to be inserted in the translation (…) In Acts 1:4 Jesus says, ‘Do not leave Jerusalem , but wait . . . ‘; in Gadsup the words ‘and then go’ were added at the end, otherwise the readers will think the injunction was never to leave.”
verb forms in Luke 10:18-19
“In Angal Heneng there are three different forms of the verb depending on involvement of speaker and hearer in the action, and all three are illustrated in Luke 10:18-19. When Jesus says, ‘I saw Satan fall,’ it is assumed that the speaker [Jesus] saw the action and the hearers didn’t, and the form of the verb indicates such. When Jesus continues and says ‘I have given you power [or: authority],’ the form used indicates that both speaker and hearers were together when the action occurred. But on the verb of the clause expressing ‘Jesus said to them,’ a third form is used which indicates that neither the writer (Luke) nor the addressee (Theophilus) were there at the time the incident occurred.” (Source: Deibler / Taylor 1977, p. 1076.)
chronological order (Luke 2:7)
In many languages, “events which are implied in a chronological sequence need to be inserted in the translation (…) In Luke 2:7, after describing the birth of Jesus and his being laid in a manger, the text says, ‘because there was no room for them in the inn;’ in Enga the events were placed in chronological order and the words ‘she entered the cattle place and’ inserted before mentioning the birth, to account for Mary getting from the inn to the place of Jesus’s birth.”