see a vision

The Greek in Luke 1:22 that is translated as “see(n) a vision” in English is sometimes translated generically, such as “to see something” (Sranan Tongo, Tae’), “something is made visible” (Western Apache), or “they knew, what he might have seen” (i.e. they knew that something had been seen but not what) (Shipibo-Conibo).

Elsewhere a specification is added, such as “to see a divine sight” (Kannada, Toraja-Sa’dan), “he had seen something supernatural, which had appeared to him” (Tboli) (source for this and all above: Reiling / Swellengrebel), or “something God showed” in Hiligaynon (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation).

See also vision.

complete verse (1 Kings 1:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 1:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “The young girl was very beautiful. She used to stay with the king and would take care of him. But the king did not sleep with (have sexual intercourse with) that young girl.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “She was very beautiful. She took care of the king and served him. The king, however, did not have intercourse with her.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Abishag was very beautiful, and she became the one-who-takes-care of the king. But the king never touched/(had-sexual-relations-with) her.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “She was truly very beautiful. She took care of the king, but the king did not have sexual relations with her.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

babbler

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The Greek in Acts 17:18 that is translated into English as “babbler” is translated in a number of different ways:

  • Fuyug: “birdbrain” (source: David Clark)
  • San Mateo del Mar Huave: “man who does not know how to close his mouth”
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “much-talker man”
  • Teutila Cuicatec: “loud-mouthed fellow”
  • Chichimeca-Jonaz: “person who does nothing but talk”
  • Morelos Nahuatl: “man who talks so much” (source for this and four above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Low German: “know-it-all” (Klooksnaker) (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006)
  • Hausa: “owner of noise” (source: Hausa Common Language Bible Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “boaster” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Mairasi: “guy know who talks out of his own thinking” (source: Enggavoter 2004)

For various English translations, see Translation commentary on Acts 17:18.

if God is for us

The Greek in Romans 8:31 that is translated as “if God is for us” in English is translated as

  • “if God is in fellowship with us” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui
  • “if God does not abandon us” in Miahuatlán Zapotec
  • “if God is united with us” in Yatzachi Zapotec
  • “God is the one who helps us” in Huehuetla Tepehua
  • “God himself loves us” in Teutila Cuicatec
  • “if God is in our favor” in Isthmus Zapotec
  • “if God is our helper” in Highland Totonac (source for this above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • “if God is ours” in Kupsabiny (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • “if God is on our side” in Low German translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006
  • “we can say that God is really defending us” in Hiligaynon (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • “now we are friends with God” in Tenango Otomi (source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • “if Above-One is the One who guards us” in Mairasi (source: Enggavoter 2004)

adultery

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The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “adultery” in English (here etymologically meaning “to alter”) is typically understood as “marital infidelity.” It is (back-) translated in the following ways:

  • Highland Totonac: “to do something together”
  • Yucateco: “pair-sin”
  • Ngäbere: “robbing another’s half self-possession” (compare “fornication” which is “robbing self-possession,” that is, to rob what belongs to a person)
  • Kaqchikel, Chol: “to act like a dog” (see also licentiousness)
  • Toraja-Sa’dan: “to measure the depth of the river of (another’s) marriage”
  • North Alaskan Inupiatun: “married people using what is not theirs” (compare “fornication” which is “unmarried people using what is not theirs”) (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Purari: “play hands with” or “play eyes with”
  • Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “talk secretly with spouses of our fellows”
  • Isthmus Zapotec: “go in with other people’s spouses”
  • Tzeltal: “practice illicit relationship with women”
  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “live with some one who isn’t your wife”
  • Central Tarahumara: “sleep with a strange partner”
  • Hopi: “tamper with marriage” (source for this and seven above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • German: Ehebrecher or “marriage breaker” / Ehe brechen or “breaking of marriage” (source: Zetzsche)
  • In Falam Chin the term for “adultery” is the phrase for “to share breast” which relates to adultery by either sex. (Source: David Clark)
  • In Ixcatlán Mazatec a specification needs to be made to include both genders. (Source: Robert Bascom)
  • Likewise in Hiligaynon: “commit-adultery-with-a-man or commit-adultery-with-a-woman” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

See also adultery, adulterer, adulteress, and you shall not commit adultery.

patriarchs

The Greek that is often translated as “patriarchs” in English is translated as

  • “first old fathers” in Isthmus Zapotec
  • “the ancient fathers” in Tzeltal
  • “the old important people who lived long ago were forefathers of the Israelites” in Yatzachi Zapotec
  • “the ancient fathers” in Highland Totonac
  • “the 12 sons of Jacob” Central Tarahumara
  • “the fathers from way back when” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • “chiefs over each of the clans of Israel” in Bariai (source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • “our twelve grandfathers” in Kupsabiny (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • “twelve children from where Jews came-from” in Hiligaynon (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

perplexed

The Greek in Mark 6:20 that is translated into English as “perplexed” is translated as

  • “his heart was gone” in Tzeltal
  • “hard chased” (as in animals in a hunt) in Piro
  • “his mind was killing him” in Navajo (Dinė)
  • “his stomach rose up” in Farefare
  • “he was very irresolute” (i.e. “it was all wrong with him”) in Indonesian
  • “his heart was very divided” in Javanese (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida 1961)
  • “confused his head” in Hiligaynon (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • “his heart was agitated” in Uma (source: Uma Back Translation)
  • “his thinking was difficult” in Kankanaey (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

See also Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling” as well as perplexed, perplexed / puzzled, or troubled / perplexed,

measure / seah

The weight measure that is translated as “measure” or “seah” or with a modern equivalent in English is translated in the 1989 Tsonga BIBELE Mahungu Lamanene into a measurement of what a traditional container can hold rather than weight: xirhundzu or xitshatshana (2) — “conical basket” or “small conical basket (2)” (for illustrations, see the containers on the left and right in the images from the same article below). (Source: The Bible Translator 1998, p. 215ff. )

In Hiligaynon, the traditional measurement unit gantang, app. 2 kilos or a third of a selah is used. (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)