repent, repentance

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The Greek, Ge’ez, Latin and Hebrew that is often translated as “repent” or “repentance” is (back-) translated in various ways (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight):

  • Western Kanjobal: “think in the soul”
  • Kekchí: “pain in the heart”
  • Northwestern Dinka: “turn the heart”
  • Pedi: “become untwisted”
  • Baoulé: “it hurts to make you quit it” (source for this and above: Nida 1952, p. 137)
  • Balinese: “putting on a new mind”
  • Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “be sorry on account of one’s sins”
  • Uab Meto: “turn the heart upside down” (source for this and the two above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Central Mazahua / Chichimeca-Jonaz: “turn back the heart” (source: Nida 1952, p. 40)
  • Suki: biaekwatrudap gjaeraesae: “turn with sorrow” (source: L. and E. Twyman in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 91ff. )
  • Yamba and Bulu: “turn over the heart” (source: W. Reyburn in The Bible Translator 1959, p. 1ff. )
  • Chichewa: kutembenuka mtima (“to be turned around in one’s heart”) (source: Ernst Wendland in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 319ff. )
  • Caribbean Javanese: mertobat (“tired of old life”)
  • Saramaccan: bia libi ko a Massa Gadu (“turn your life to the Lord God”)
  • Sranan Tongo: drai yu libi (“turn your life”) or kenki libi (“change life”)
  • Eastern Maroon Creole: dai yu libi (“turn your life”) (source for this and 3 above: Jabini 2015)
  • Eggon: “bow in the dust” (source: Kilgour, p. 80)
  • Embu: “change heart” (“2 Cor. 7:10 says ‘For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.’ In ordinary speech the terms ‘repent’ and ‘regret’ are used interchangeably in Embu, so that this verse comes out as: ‘godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no repentance,’ which is contradictory. The problem was solved by using ‘changing heart’ in the first, and ‘sadness’ in the second.”) (source: Jan Sterk)
  • Anuak: “liver falls down”
  • Kafa: “return from way of sin to God” (source for this and the one above: Loren Bliese)
  • Latvian: atgriezties (verb) / atgriešanās (noun) (“turn around / return” — see turn around / convert) (source: Katie Roth)
  • Obolo: igwugwu ikom: “turn back (from evil)” (source: Enene Enene)
  • Mairasi: make an end (of wrongdoing) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Luchazi: ku aluluka mutima: “turn in heart” (source: E. Pearson in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 160ff. )
  • Chokwe: kulinkonyeka: “fold back over” or “go back on oneself” (source D.B. Long in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 135ff. ).
  • Muna: dofetompa’ao dhosa bhe dodoli ne Lahata’ala: “radically-end sin and to turn to God” (source: René van den Berg)
  • Bacama: por-njiya: “fetch sand” (“Before the coming of Christianity 100 years ago, when the elders went to pray to the gods, they would take sand and throw it over each shoulder and down their backs while confessing their sins. Covering themselves with sand was a ritual to show that they were sorry for what they had done wrong, sort of like covering oneself with sackcloth and ashes. Now idol worship for the most part is abandoned in Bacama culture, but the Christian church has retained the phrase por-njiya to mean ‘repent, doing something to show sorrow for one’s sins’” — source: David Frank in this blog post .)
  • Enlhet “exchange innermosts.” “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. )
  • San Blas Kuna: “sorry for wrong done in the heart” (source: Claudio and Marvel Iglesias in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 85ff. )
  • Desano: “change your bad deeds for good ones”
  • Isthmus Mixe: “put one’s hearts and minds on the good road”
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “change one’s thinking about evil and walk in the way of God”
  • San Mateo del Mar Huave: “just remember that you have done wicked, in order that you might do good”
  • Coatlán Mixe: “heart-return to God” (source for this and four above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Sierra de Juárez Zapotec: “get on the right road”
  • Isthmus Zapotec: “heart becomes soft” (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Cherokee: “change one’s thinking” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 23)
  • Sabaot: “give one’s neck” — relating to traditional legal proceedings where someone who is convicted of a crime kneels before the aggrieved person who can either behead the accused or completely forgive (source Danny Foster in this recording )
  • Kâte: maŋ bârisiezo or “turn the insides around” (source: Renck 1990, p. 108)
  • Tibetan: ‘gyod tshangs byed (འགྱོད་​ཚངས་​བྱེད།), lit. “regret + pure” (source: gSungrab website )
  • Merina Malagasy: fifonana, deriving from mifona “meaning ‘to completely uproot so that something new can grow’ (a term also used for the loss of a baby tooth)” (source: Brigitte Rabarijaona)

“In Tzotzil two reflexive verbs to communicate the biblical concept of repentance are used. Xca’i jba means to know or to reflect inwardly on one’s self. This self inquiry or self examination is similar to the attitude of the prodigal son where Luke 15:17 records that ‘he came to his senses.’ Broke, starving, and slopping hogs, the prodigal admitted to himself that he was in the wrong place. The second reflexive verb ‘jsutes jba’ means turning away from what one is and turning to something else. In a sense, it is deciding against one’s self and toward someone else. It is similar to the attitude of the prodigal son when he said, ‘I will get up and go to my father’ (Luke 15:18).” (source: Aeilts 2009, p. 118)

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with a sign that expresses the turning of one’s attention toward God (see 1 Thessalonians 1:9 and Acts 3:19). (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)


“Repent” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

See also: convert / conversion / turn back and see Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling.”

complete verse (Psalm 1:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 1:2:

  • Chichewa Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero translation, 2002/2016:
    “But his delight is in the laws of Jehovah
    and in his laws he meditates day and night.” (Source: Chichewa Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “But he rejoices in the law of the Lord.
    Night and day he meditates on His law.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “Instead, he (is) happy in following the teachings that (come) from the Lord,
    and he meditates on these day-(and)-night.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Eastern Bru:
    “But that person, he is very happy/delighted with the law of God only.
    And he spends time thinking about the book of that law all night and all day.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “But, he will rejoice in the Law of Lord,
    and he thinks the Law of Lord day and night.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • West African language:
    If you want to be truly happy, let your belly be sweet on God’s command words.
    Let your mind eat them day and night.” (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1983, p. 420ff. )
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Bali sheria za Bwana ndizo ambazo zinampendeza,
    anaziwaza mchana na usiku.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “Those whom God is pleased with delight in doing the things that he has instructed/taught us to do.
    They read and think about Yahweh’s requirements, day and night.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

complete verse (Psalm 1:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 1:3:

  • Chichewa Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero translation, 2002/2016:
    “He is like a tree planted in the banks of rivers of water,
    which bears its fruits in its season
    and its leaves do not wither.
    Anything that he does he profits from it.” (Source: Chichewa Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “He is like a tree planted on a river bank.
    He always bears fruit at the proper times
    and his leaves never dry up.
    Whatever work he does gets finished.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “He is like a tree planted beside the stream
    that bears-fruit in season of bearing-fruit,
    and (whose) leaves do- not -wither.
    A man like this will-prosper in what he does.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Eastern Bru:
    “That person becomes like a tree someone planted near flowing water.
    At the appropriate time, it produces fruit, and its leaves never wither/dry up.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “He is like a tree planted at the bank of river,
    its bears always when its months reach.
    Its leaves do not dry.
    All the good matters he does, stay well.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • West African language:
    “Then you will be like a river-by tree whose leaves the sun cannot kill,
    whose children are always ripe at the right time.
    Then everything you do will finish on a good road.” (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1983, p. 420ff. )
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Huyo yuko kama vile mti,
    ambao umepandwa kando katika chemchemi ya maji,
    ambao unazaa matunda katika wakati wake,
    na majani yake hayanyauki.
    Yote ambayo anayafanya yanakuwa ni mema.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “They constantly produce/do things that please God
    just like fruit trees that have been planted along the banks of a stream produce fruit at the right time every year.
    Like trees that never wither,
    they succeed in everything that they do.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

complete verse (Psalm 1:4)

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

  • Chichewa Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero translation, 2002/2016:
    “It is not (like) that with wicked people!
    They are like chaff
    that is blown away by the wind.” (Source: Chichewa Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “The wicked are not like that.
    They are like chaff.
    The wind blows them away.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “But not like this the wicked people.
    They on-the-other-hand have-no value,
    like chaff that just blows-away by the wind.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Eastern Bru:
    “But the wicked person doesn’t produce like that,
    but that person is like chaff that the wind scatters.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “The bad people are not like that!
    They are like chaff
    that are carried by the wind and just disappear.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • West African language:
    “Bad people are not like the river-by tree,
    they are like dry (corn) chaff
    which the wind blows away, puff! puff! [=ideophone, i.e. word that expresses what is perceived by the five senses]” (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1983, p. 420ff. )
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Lakini waovu hawako kama hivyo.
    Wao wako kama vile makapi ambayo yanapeperushwa na upepo.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “But wicked people are not like that!
    Wicked people are as worthless as chaff
    that is blown away by the wind.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

complete verse (Psalm 1:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 1:5:

  • Chichewa Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero translation, 2002/2016:
    “So wicked people will not be able to stand in judgment,
    or sinful people in the assembly of righteous people.” (Source: Chichewa Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “So at the time of judgment
    the wicked will be punished.
    And sinners will not be able to remain
    in the assembly of the righteous.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “So on the day of judgment, they will-be-punished by God
    and they will- not -be-joined-in with the righteous-ones.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Eastern Bru:
    “Arriving at the day God judges the wicked people,
    on that day God will sort out those wicked people from the straight good/righteous people.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “Therefore, God will judge the people who do bad matter,
    and the sinners will not stay together in one place with good people.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • West African language:
    “That is why God will hit them when he judges all people,
    he will not let them share with those who are at his back.” (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1983, p. 420ff. )
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Kwa hiyo waliopotoka hawatakuja kupona kuhukumiwa,
    watenda dhambi hawatakuja kuwamo katika kundi la wanyofu. ” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “Therefore, wicked people will not be acquitted/will be condemned when God judges people,
    and furthermore, sinful people will not even be present when God gathers righteous people together,” (Source: Translation for Translators)

complete verse (Psalm 1:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 1:6:

  • Chichewa Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero translation, 2002/2016:
    “For Jehovah watches over the movements of righteous people,
    but the movements of wicked people will perish.” (Source: Chichewa Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “For the Lord cares for those who follow
    the path of the righteous.
    But those who follow the way
    of the wicked will be destroyed.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “For the Lord guides/leads the righteous-ones
    but the way-of-living of the wicked brings them to destruction.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Eastern Bru:
    “Whatever person does not follow the teaching of the evil person,
    or does not do according to what the sinner does, or does not follow/imitate those
    those who customarily mock God, surely that person receives blessing.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “Because the Lord watches the way of good people,
    but, the way of bad people will end in death.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • West African language:
    “God will show his good ways to the ones at his back,
    but he will let sinners follow the way to perdition.” (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1983, p. 420ff. )
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Kwa maana Bwana anazilinda njia za wanyofu,
    lakini njia za waovu ziko karibu kuangamizwa.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “because he guides and protects righteous people,
    but the path that the wicked walk on leads them to where they will be destroyed/punished by God forever.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

complete verse (Psalm 1:1)

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

  • Chichewa Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero translation, 2002/2016:
    “Blessed (is) a person.
    who does not follow the counsel of sinful people,
    or stand in the path of wicked people,
    or sit in the groups of scornful people.” (Source: Chichewa Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “Blessed is the person
    who does not follow evil people,
    who does not follow the path of sinners,
    who does not go along with those
    who keep on belittling others.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “Blessed is the man/person who does- not -live in the guidance/advice of the wicked people,
    does- not -follow what the sinners do,
    and does- not -join-with the people who mock/ridicule.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Eastern Bru:
    “Whatever person does not follow the teaching of the evil person,
    or does not do according to what the sinner does, or does not follow/imitate those
    those who customarily mock God, surely that person receives blessing.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “Blessed be the person
    who does not follow the instructions of bad people,
    or who does not follow the way of sinners,
    or does not stay with people who mock God.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • West African language:
    “If you want to be truly happy do not hear the advice of bad people,
    do not walk in the feet of those who refuse God?
    Do not live in the compound of those who spoil God’s name.” (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1983, p. 420ff. )
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Amebarikiwa ambaye hayafuati maneno ya waovu,
    ambaye haendi katika njia za watenda dhambi,
    ambaye hakai katika ambao wanadharau.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “God is pleased with those who do not do what wicked people advise them to do,
    and who do not imitate the behavior of sinful people,
    and who do not join in with people who ridicule/sneer at God.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

hope

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“Hope is sometimes one of the most difficult terms to translate in the entire Bible. It is not because people do not hope for things, but so often they speak of hoping as simply ‘waiting.’ In fact, even in Spanish, the word esperar means both ‘to wait’ and ‘to hope.’ However, in many instances the purely neutral term meaning ‘to wait’ may be modified in such a way that people will understand something more of its significance. For example, in Tepeuxila Cuicatec hope is called ‘wait-desire.’ Hope is thus a blend of two activities: waiting and desiring. This is substantially the type of expectancy of which hope consists.

In Yucateco the dependence of hope is described by the phrase ‘on what it hangs.’ ‘Our hope in God’ means that ‘we hang onto God.’ The object of hope is the support of one’s expectant waiting. In Ngäbere the phrase “resting the mind” is used. This “implies waiting and confidence, and what is a better definition of hope than ‘confident waiting’.” (Source for this and above: Nida 1952, p. 20, 133)

Other languages translate as follows:

  • Mairasi: “vision resting place” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Enlhet: “waitings of (our) 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. )
  • Kwang: “one’s future is restored to one’s soul like a fresh, cool breeze on a hot day.” (Source: Mark Vanderkooi right here )
  • Noongar: koort-kwidiny or “heart waiting” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Anjam: “looking through the horizon” (source: Albert Hoffmann in his memoirs from 1948, quoted in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 7)
  • Ron: kintiɓwi or “put lip” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • Highland Totonac “wait with expectation” (to offset it from the every-day meaning of hope or wait — source: Hermann Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. ).
  • Alekano: “wait not hearing two ears” (meaning to “wait without being double-minded” — source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation June 1986, p. 36ff.)
  • Berom: “direct one’s liver toward”
  • Mixtepec Mixtec: “wait and remain strong on the inside”
  • Cerma: “swallow the spittle”
  • Adyghe: “the heart expects something good”
  • Keliko: “place one’s heart on the head”
  • Berik: “wait persistently and hold on to God”
  • Somrai: “hold the heart really tight” (source for this and six above: Wycliffe Germany )
  • Marathi: aasha (आशा) with a stronger emphasis on desire
  • Tamil: nampikkai (நம்பிக்கை) with a stronger emphasis on expectation (source for this and above: J.S.M. Hooper in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 2ff. )

In Mwera “hope” and “faith” are translated with the same word: ngulupai. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

C.M. Doke looks at a number of Bantu languages and their respective translations of “hope” with slightly varying connotations (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 9ff. ):

  • Xhosa and Zulu: themba “hope, expect,” also “have faith in, rely upon”
  • Tswana: tsholofelo “hope, expect, look for confidently”
  • Southern Sotho: tshepo “trust, rely on, believe in, have confidence in”
  • Kuanyama: eteelelo “waiting for”
  • Swahili: tumaini “confidence, trust, expectation, hope” (as a verb: “hope, trust, expect, be confident, be truthful, rely on”
  • Luganda: okusuubira “hope, trust, expect” also “look forward to, rely upon, anticipate, reckon”
  • Chichewa: chiyembekezo “wait for, wait, expect”
  • Koongo: vuvu “hope, expectancy, expectation, anticipation”
Syntyche D. Dahou (in Christianity Today, January 2021 or see here the same article in French ) reports on the two different terms that are being used in French (click or tap here to see the details):

“Unlike English, which uses the word hope broadly, the French language uses two words that derive from the word espérer (to hope): espoir and espérance. Both can first refer to something hoped for. In this sense, the word espoir usually refers to an uncertain object; that is, someone who hopes for something in this way does not have the certainty that it will happen (“I hope the weather will be nice tomorrow”). On the other hand, espérance describes what, rightly or wrongly, is hoped for or expected with certainty. It often refers to a philosophical or eschatological object (‘I hope in the goodness of human beings’; ‘I hope for the return of Jesus Christ’).

“When we speak of espoir or espérance, we then have in mind different types of objects hoped for. This difference matters, because both terms also commonly refer to the state of mind that characterizes the hopeful. And this state of mind will be different precisely according to the object hoped for.

“Having espoir for an uncertain yet better future in these difficult times may be a good thing, but it is not enough. Such hope can be disappointed and easily fade away when our wishes and expectations (our hopes) do not materialize.

“The opposite is true with espérance, which is deeper than our desire and wish for an end to a crisis or a future without pain and suffering. To face the trials of life, we need peace and joy in our hearts that come from expecting certain happiness. This is what espérance is: a profound and stable disposition resulting from faith in the coming of what we expect. In this sense, it is similar in meaning to the English word hopefulness.

“If we have believed in the Son of the living God, we have such a hope. It rests on the infallible promises of our God, who knows the plans he has for us, his children — plans of peace and not misfortune, to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). By using the two meanings of the word, we can say that the espérance that the fulfillment of his promises represents (the object hoped for) fills us with espérance (the state of mind).”