The Greek that is translated in English as “old self” or similar is translated in Enlhet as “old 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. )
The Greek in 1 Thessalonians 5:3 that is translated as “peace and security” in English is translated in Enlhet as “no news.” “For when all is well there is ‘no news.’ Even when one sends a message to his family about one’s being well, it will be: ‘Tell them that coming from me there is no news,’ i.e. ‘everything is fine and I am well and safe.'” (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )
The Greek that is translated in English as “glad” or similar is translated in Enlhet as “innermosts are spread out.” “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. )
The team that translated the New Testament into Paraguayan Guaraní (in the 1960s) had to translate the Greek that is translated as “purification” in English. Jacob Loewen (in The Bible Translator 1967, p. 33ff. ) tells this story:
“An interesting lesson regarding intelligibility grew out of the translation of Luke 2:22 speaking about ‘the days of purification’. Each of the translations carried rather high-flown euphemisms and no one seemed to be satisfied with the euphemism of the other. There was a mother of seven children present at the meeting, and so she was asked to complete the following sentence in what would be publicly acceptable Guarani: I have given birth to seven children. After each childbirth 1 observed a period of . . .. The mother of seven immediately came back with an expression which back-translated into English would mean the ‘forties’. It was a reference to the forty days of purification which local culture required. When the translators were asked how such an expression would sound in Luke 2, one of them objected: ‘Why, if we use that idiom, everybody would know what we are talking about!’ In the discussion that followed, the committee realized that it is the translator’s responsibility to provide a message which will speak the truth clearly.”
The Greek that is often translated as “desires of the flesh” in English is translated in Ixcatlán Mazatec as “human desires” (source: Robert Bascom), in Mezquital Otomi as “the desires of our old life,” in Tzeltal as “doing what your bodies want,” and in Huehuetla Tepehua as “doing the things that your thoughts like (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.).
In Enlhet it is translated as “wantings 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. )
The Greek in Hebrews 5:11 that is translated as “slow to understand” or “sluggish in hearing” in English is translated in Enlhet as “hard 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. )
The Greek that is translated in English “housetops” or similar in English is translated in Central Mazahua as “where you meet your fellowmen,” in Sranan Tongo as “street corners,” and in Batak Toba as “the place under the tree” (i.e. a place outside the village, where people gather to discuss public matters.) (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
In Enlhet, “shouting from the housetops” “does not mean ‘a public announcement’ but rather ‘an omen announcing an evil spirit attack upon the village.’ The public announcement is expressed with a different form to announce in front of the house.” (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 169ff. )
