Fuyug houses are built with poles which cannot be put into rock, so in this passage the Fuyug translation for the term that is “rock” in English becomes “firm ground” and “sand” becomes “soft ground.” (Source: David Clark)
Likewise, and for the same reason, the wise man builds his house in Manam on “firm ground” as well. (Source: Blaine Turner in Holzhausen 1991, p. 47)
Since speakers of Karakalpak do indeed build their houses on sand, the translators had to find a slightly different solution to not imply that the Karakalpaks themselves are foolish. They ended up choosing shege qum, the term for loose yellow sand along river banks, since this indeed is a kind of sand Karakalpaks would not build their houses on. (Source: Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 57)
The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated in English as “hardened” or “stubborn” is translated in the HausaCommon Language Bible idiomatically as taurin kai or “tough head.”
Other languages spoken in Nigeria translate similarly: Abua uses oḅom ẹmhu or “strong head,” Bura-Pabirkəra ɓəɓal or “hard head,” Gokanaagẹ̀ togó or “hard/strong head,” Igedeegbeju-ọngịrị or “hard head,” Deragɨddɨng koi or “strong head,” Resheɾiʃitə ɾigbaŋgba or “strong head,” and in Chadian Arabicraas gawi (رَاسْكُو قَوِي) or “hard head” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Other translation approaches include Western Bukidnon Manobo with “breath is very hard” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation) or Ixil with “callous heart” (source: Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 40).
The Greek that is translated in English as “beat his breast” or similar is translated in Kasem as “clapped his hands.” To beat one’s breast is considered to be a sign of arrogance and pride. To express regret people clap their hands. (Source: Urs Niggli in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 16)
Similarly in Bafut (in Luke 23:48): “If we translated the image, ‘beating their breasts’ literally, it would give a wrong meaning. ‘Beating their breasts/chests’ translates in Bafut as ‘ŋ̀kwɛɛ nɨ̂ mɨnt ̀ɨɨ̀ myaa.’ This means they were proud of what they had done. Another consideration is that literally translating ‘beating their breasts’ will mean that it was the women beating their breasts, not men, since, in Bafut, men are perceived as not having breasts. In order to bring out the right meaning using a culturally relevant image, we rendered this as ‘ŋ̀wɛtə mbô myaa,’ and this means ‘crossed their arms’ (under the chin, so the palms rested on the shoulders), which is a sign of mourning in the culture. So in order to explain the symbolic action, the translation added the implicit information, ‘nloŋ mə mɨntɨɨ̀ myaa lɛ nluu nɨ̂ àjəŋnə̀‘ which means, ‘because their hearts were full with sorrow.'” (Source: Michael Suh Niba in Vila-Chã / Hu 2022, p. 233ff.)
In Yaweyuha it is expressed more explicitly as “feeling great sorrow, repeatedly beating their chests” (source: Larson 1998, p. 98) and likewise on Chokwe as “beat his breast for sorrow” (“beat one’s breast” is the equivalent of the English “pat oneself on the back”) (source: D. B. Long in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 87ff. ).
The Greek in 1 John 5:18 that is translated as “the evil one does not touch them” or similar in English is translated in Cerma as “the eye of the enemy is on them.” This is derived from the well-known saying “to have an eye on someone” which relates to chicks that have to be protected of hawk attacks by their mother hen. If they are protected the hawk can only look at the chicks rather than attack and snatch them away. (Source: Idda Niggli in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 68)
The Hebrew and Ge’ez that is translated as “hail” in English is translated in Tagakaulo as batu na ayis or “rocks of ice.” (Source: Scott and Becky Burton in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 73)
The Greek in Luke 9:62 that is translated as “no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back (is fit for the kingdom of God)” in English is translated in Sa’a as “Whoever at all who works in his garden, but just thinks indiscriminately about other things, then he is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” Carl Gross explains: “In a society in which plowing is unknown, it is not possible to have a farmer setting his hand to the plow, let alone looking back once he had started. [The chosen translation] would even make sense to western urban dwellers who have never seen a plow.”
In Bislama “plow” is translated as stia blong bot, “steering paddle” or “rudder.” The whole verse is translated as “A person who holds the rudder but keeps looking back cannot enter the kingdom of God” (source: Ross McKerras). The translation in Mussau-Emira is likewise (see this blog entry ).
In Toposa it is translated as “No one aiming at an animal looks to the side when throwing the spear.” Plowing is not known in that culture and this communicated the meaning well. (Source: Martin and Helga Schröder in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 58f.)
The translation of the two Greek phrases “Can you drink the cup I drink?” and “Can you be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” im Mark 10:38 demanded a particularly difficult decision in the translation into Avaric. “We are faced with two metaphors, for which literal translation is impossible, since the expressions “drink the cup” and “be immersed in water, be washed” are, for the Avaric, in no way connected with the idea of suffering and death.
Nevertheless there is an equivalent for the first metaphor; in the Avaric language there is an idiomatic expression “to drink from the horn of death,” which is identical to the idea of the Gospels’ “cup”. For the second metaphor the translator used a less obvious equivalent: “to cross the river” (‘or baxine), an expression which can express “to experience hardship, suffering” and at the same time contains the idea of immersion in water. (Source: Magomed-Kamil Gimbatov and Yakov Testelets in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 434ff. )
Likewise, there also is an expression in Southern Toussian that fits this context exactly. “You can’t drink from my cup” means “you can’t bear as much suffering as I can.” (Source: Hannes Wiesmann in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 35)
In Michoacán Nahuatl this section is translated as “because of me you will suffer as I suffer, and because of me you will die.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
The Greek that is translated as “Follow me” in English is translated as “Be my disciple” in Ojitlán Chinantec and “Don’t forsake me” in Tenango Otomi (the latter is used in John 21). (Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
In Kaingang it is translated as “run with me and do as I do.” (Source Ursula Wiesemann in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 65).
