The Hebrew and Ge’ez that is translated as “firmament,” “expanse,” or “dome” in English is translated in Roviana as galegalearane: “the open space between the earth and the sky,” in Moru as “empty space” and in Hausa as sararin sama or “space of the sky” (Sabon Rai Don Kowa, publ. 2020).
In Idoma it is translated as okpanco — “the top of the sky.” “According to tradition, when the world began, the okpanco was low. A woman was pounding yams and her pestle kept hitting okpanco and it started going higher and higher.”
In Naskapi it is translated as “sky skin” — “like a caribou skin.”
(Sources: Roviana: Carl Gross; Moru: Jan Sterk; Hausa: Andy Warren-Rothlin; Idoma: Rob Koops; Naskapi: Doug Lockhart in Word Alive 2013 )
In Lingala it is translated as “surface.” Sigurd F. Westberg (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 117ff. ) explains: “The ‘firmament’ in Genesis 1 gave us another problem. Its meaning in English is certainly not immediately obvious. The dictionary tells us that the Hebrew means something close to our English word ’expanse.’ It seems, however, that the Hebrew idea may not always have been as abstract as that, for Isaiah says that the Lord ‘stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in.’ But the Greek word used in the Septuagint gives the idea of a firm and solid structure, and this is the idea that is carried out in our English word ‘firmament.’ Modern translations into English, Swedish, Norwegian and French take one or the other of these two leads. It is the predicament of the translator that he dare not hesitate too long between ideas. (…) In this case we tried to arrive at ’expanse’ by the use of a word meaning ’width,’ but we found that it is not really understandable except as it is associated with the noun of which it indicates the width. It cannot be used alone. The word we finally used means ‘surface,’ but it also has the idea of something stretched out or smoothed out. It is more concrete than we should like, but it does not require identity with a concrete object as does the word for width’.’
In Newari it is translated as “upper part of water” (Gen. 1:6 is translated “height between two portions of water”) (source: Newari Back Translation), in Bariai as “barrier” (source: Bariai Back Translation), and in Hiligaynon as “division” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation).
In Tenharim a translation for “firmament” was not deemed possible because there were no overlaps in the world view of the Tenharim speakers and that of the cosmology of Genesis. LaVera Betts (in: Notes on Translation, September 1971, p. 16ff.) explains: “[In their view,] heaven’s edge is curbed and solid. It can become meshed releasing the water above it onto the clouds, which to the Parintintín [the Tenharim speakers] are gathered wind, in order for this water to be dispersed in the form of rain. An entrance, position and description unknown, is available to the occupants of the layers of heaven through which they may pass to the world. To each layer of heaven and heaven as a whole they apply the same word: yvaga.
“The sun, moon, and stars attach to the world’s side of heaven’s edge. The sun and moon have separate paths-the moon making a half revolution and returning, and the sun making a complete revolution. No all-inclusive term for the heavenly bodies, earth, and the expanse between them so far has been encountered in Parintintín. Nor has there been found a suitable term for this expanse alone. During the day the expanse could be called the open/clear space: mytuêa; but at night it disappears into heaven and night takes its place. Its occurrence, then, is contingent on the presence of light and therefore inappropriate for expressing firmament (Genesis 1:6).
“To translate ‘firmament’ as a vault the translator possibly could have used heaven’s edge which, although suiting their world view grandly, poses problems in the translator’s mind especially as to the restricted meaning it would force on the translation for them. That a good shaman is believed to be able to bring heaven down immediately over the earth reveals that to them the expanse over the earth is empty, or compressible and flexible, and the ‘vault’ movable.
“The possible translation of atmosphere for firmament was settled upon and the term used was ‘wind’: yvytua. The phrase ‘and God called the firmament heaven’ was deleted. A possible alternate ‘and God called the place of the wind heaven’ also was not used as Coriolano [the indigenous translator] did not know where the wind went when it is not seen in the form of clouds nor felt; however, he insisted the wind is everlasting — unlike one’s breath which is not lasting. Animates do not breathe air/wind but their hearts pump their own breath.”
See also 1 Meqabyan 27:4 (Ethiopian Maccabees) where it is described as a “sackcloth” in Ge’ez.
The Hebrew in Genesis 1:2 that is translated as “(the) deep” in English is translated in Luba-Lulua as “a very deep hole in which there is water.” (Source: Jan Sterk)
In the Swabian 2007 translation by Rudolf Paul it is translated as Urmeer or “primordial ocean.”
Cultures and languages equate different parts of the human body with the seat of the mind. Following is a theoretical framework that categorizes different approaches:
“[We] use the word ‘mind’ as a shorthand term for ‘ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling’ of which different cultures, or different periods of the same culture, may have different understandings. (…) Cultural models of the mind and more scientific approaches in philosophy and/or medicine have in various cultures invoked central parts of the human body as the locus of the mind. The major loci have been the abdomen region, the heart region and the head region or, more particularly, the brain region. These three types of conceptualizations can be labeled ‘abdominocentrism’, ‘cardiocentrism’, and ‘cerebrocentrism’ (or ‘cephalocentrism’), respectively. These three labels only intend to capture the idea that the region in question is the main centre, which does not exclude a similar role for body parts in other regions.”
(Source: Sharifian, Farzad et al. (eds.) Culture, Body, and Language: Conceptualizations of Internal Body Organs across Cultures and Languages. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 2008. p. 3f.)
Equally, and related to that, the seat of emotions is located in many different, culture-specific parts of the body. Bratcher / Nida (p. 78) say: “Though the heart is spoken of in the Bible as the center of intellectual and emotive elements of human experience, in other languages the heart may have no such value. In some languages the corresponding centers are the viscera (Western Kanjobal), the liver (Laka), the stomach (Uduk), the gall (Toraja-Sa’dan) and the head (Anuak), though in the neighboring Shilluk demons may be in one’s head, but the liver and heart are the center of most other psychological activities. Whether one is to use ‘heart’ or some other part or organ of the body depends entirely upon the manner in which in any language such psychological experiences are described.”
Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Aramaic all have one term only that refers to what can be expressed in English as “sky” or “heaven(s)” (as a physical and spiritual entity). While there is a slight overlap between the meaning of the two English terms, “sky” (from Old Norse sky meaning “cloud”) typically refers to the physical entity, and “heaven” (from Old English heofon meaning “home of God”) typically refers to the spiritual entity. While this enriches the English lexicon, it also forces English Bible translators to make decisions that can be found only in the context in the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic texts. Most versions tend to use “heaven(s)” even if the meaning is likely “sky,” but the Contemporary English Version (NT: 1991, OT: 1995, DC: 1999) is an English translation that attempted to be more specific in the separation of the two meanings and was used as the basis for the links to verses used for this and this record (“sky”).
Norm Mundhenk (in The Bible Translator 2006, p. 92ff. ) describes the difficulty that English translations face (click or tap here to see more):
“A number of years ago an old lady asked me a question. What did Jesus mean when he said, ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away’? I do not remember what answer I gave, but I was surprised at how concerned she seemed to be about the verse. It was only later, after I had left her, that I suddenly realized what it was that she was so concerned about. She knew that death could not be far away, and all her life she had looked forward to being with God in heaven. But this verse said that ‘heaven will pass away’! What did that mean for her hopes? In fact, of course, in this verse Jesus was talking about the skies or the heavens, not about Heaven as the place of God’s presence. If I had realized the problem in time, I could easily have set the lady’s mind at rest on this question that was troubling her so much. However, I suspect that she is not the only person to be misled by the wording of this verse. Therefore, it is very surprising to find that even today many English versions (including the New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Good News Translation) still say ‘heaven and earth’ in verses like Matt 24:35 and its parallels (Mark 13:31 and Luke 21:33). The Contemporary English Version (CEV) and Phillips’ translation seem to be aware of the problem, and in Mark 13:31 both of these have ‘earth and sky’ instead of ‘heaven and earth.’ But in some other passages (such as Matt 5:18) the traditional wording is still found in both of those translations. The New Century Version (NCV) does have ‘earth and sky’ more consistently, and the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has ‘sky and earth’ in these passages. (Although ‘sky and earth’ is closer to the Greek, it seems more natural in English to say ‘earth and sky’; but either way, at least the meaning is correct.)
“Louw and Nida’s Lexical Semantics of the Greek New Testament (publ. 1992) suggests that the Greek expression being translated here, ho ouranos kai he ge is ‘a more or less fixed phrase equivalent to a single lexical unit’ and that it means everything that God created, that is, the universe. They then quote Mark 13:31 as an example, using ‘heaven and earth’ in their translation of it. However, they go on to say that there ‘may be certain complications involved in rendering ho ouranos kai he ge as ‘heaven and earth,’ since ‘heaven’ might be interpreted in some languages as referring only to the dwelling place of God himself. The referents in this passage are ‘the sky and the earth,’ in other words, all of physical existence, but not the dwelling place of God, for the latter would not be included in what is destined to pass away.’ In my opinion, English itself is one of the languages where the word ‘heaven’ will be interpreted as referring only to the dwelling place of God himself, and translations into English should not use ‘heaven’ in these passages. It is probably because these passages are so very familiar that translators do not realize the meaning they are giving their readers when they use the expression ‘heaven and earth’ here. In modern English we might talk about a rocket ‘soaring into the heavens,’ but we would certainly not describe it as ‘soaring into heaven,’ because ‘heaven’ is not another way of referring to the sky or to outer space.
“In fact, it is surely important in all languages to have some way of distinguishing the concept of ‘sky’ from the concept of ‘dwelling place of God.’ In these passages translators should never use a term meaning ‘the dwelling place of God.’ It may not be necessary to use a term meaning ‘sky’ either, if there is some other expression in the language which gives the correct meaning of ‘everything that has been created’ or ‘the universe.’ There are of course places in the New Testament where Heaven, as the place where God lives, is contrasted with the earth. In these passages, translators should be careful to give the correct meaning. A good example of this is in the Lord’s Prayer, in Matt 6:10: ‘Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ Similarly, 1 Cor 15:47 says that ‘the first man [a reference to Adam] was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.’ Passages like these are referring to Heaven, not to the sky. Other NT passages where heaven refers to God’s dwelling place, in contrast with earth, are Matt 5:34-35, 16:19, 18:18, Acts 7:49, James 5:12, and Rev 5:3.
“Sometimes in the New Testament, the word ‘heaven’ is used because of the Jewish reluctance to use the name of God. ‘Heaven’ in these cases is used in place of ‘God’ and refers to God himself. This is the case in the many references in Matthew to ‘the kingdom of heaven’ where other gospels have ‘the kingdom of God’ (e.g., compare Matt 4:17 with its parallels in Mark 1:15 and Luke 10:9). It is also most likely the case in references like Matt 16:1, Luke 20:4, 5, John 3:27, and even perhaps Col 1:5.
“There are some places, such as Matt 11:25, where God is called ‘Lord of heaven and earth.’ Since God is of course the Lord of Heaven as well as of the universe, it may not matter so much which interpretation is given in these passages (others are Luke 10:21 and Acts 17:24). Nevertheless, the intended meaning here is likely to be ‘the universe.’ This is because this expression in Greek, as Louw and Nida say, is a set expression referring to everything that has been created. Acts 17:24 in fact combines the idea of the creation of the universe with the idea of God as Master or Lord of the universe. (…)
“Old Testament background The use of ‘heaven and earth’ in the New Testament is very similar to what we find in the Old Testament, because it is largely based on the Old Testament.
“The Old Testament begins with the story of creation, which is presented as the creation of the heavens and the earth, with lights to shine in the heavens and give light to the earth. Birds are created to live in the heavens, animals to live on earth, and fish to live in the sea (Gen 1:1-2:4).
“As we can see from the way the creation story is told, it is meant to be understood as the creation of the universe. Although in English the regions above the earth have traditionally been called ‘the heavens’ in the story of creation, they cannot be called ‘Heaven,’ in the sense of the place where God dwells. In terms of modern English, it would probably be better to say ‘the sky and the earth’ or ‘the earth and the sky.’ The story of creation then becomes an important theme throughout the Old Testament. (…)
“In most passages, whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament, when ‘heaven and earth’ or ‘the heavens and the earth’ are mentioned, the meaning is the created universe. It is not a reference to Heaven, as the dwelling place of God. In English, translators have not been careful to keep this distinction clear, and this is probably true in many other languages as well. However, as we have seen, this can lead to real confusion for ordinary Bible readers. It is better if translators find ways to make the meaning clear in these passages. ‘Heaven’ should be mentioned only in passages which clearly mean the dwelling place of God. In other passages, an expression should be used which means only ‘sky.’ Or else, the whole expression ‘heaven and earth’ can be translated in a way to show that the whole universe is meant.”
Other languages that have a semantic distinction similar to English include (click or tap here to see more):
Mossi: saase — “sky”; nyingeri — “the up above”(source for Loma and Mossi: Bratcher/Nida)
Roviana: mamaṉa — “sly”; maṉauru — “heaven” (an old word, meaning “empty, open space of the sky”) (source: Carl Gross)
Kayaw: mô̄la or “canopy-under”/mô̄khû̄la or “canopy-above-under” — “sky” (atmosphere where there is just air); mô̄khû̄ or “canopy-on/above” — “heaven” (invisible abode of God and angels)
Mairasi: Sinyavi — an indigenous term that is used for both “sky” and heaven”; Surga — loanword from Sanskrit via Indonesian referring to “heaven” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Kupsabiny: “up” for “sky” vs. “God’s Homestead” for “heaven” (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
In some languages, such as Yagaria, a term that was originally used as “sky” (gokudana) was adopted by the Christian community as “heaven.” This resulted in a language shift so that now all communities uses “empty space / air” (galogina or hakalogina) as “sky” and gokudana is exclusively used for the Christian concept of heaven. (Source: Renck 1990, p. 133)
Many languages follow the original biblical languages in not making that distinction, such as (click or tap here to see more):
Cherokee: galaladi (ᎦᎸᎳᏗ) or “up” — Bender / Belt (2025, p. 23) note that there is a related term — galvlohi (ᎦᎸᎶᎯ) — that is used “for the upperworld of Cherokee cosmology, [but] was not used, possibly to communicate a sharp distinction.”
In some languages, such as Wandala, the vocabulary for terms for either “heaven” or “sky” is much richer than just to include those two distinction. While zhegela, the term that is specifically used for the physical sky was only used in early translations of the New Testament for “sky,” other terms such as samaya (used for both “sky” and “heaven” — employed for instance in Matthew 10:32f.), zlanna (specifically used for the perfect abode of God and the goal of the faithful, as in Matthew 8:11), kwárá (a locational term used to speak of a chief’s rule [lit., “voice”] such as Matthew 3:2), or sleksire (“chieftaincy,” “kingship,” or “royalty” [originally from slekse “chief”] and used where there are no locational overtones, such as in Matthew 16:28) are used. (Source: Mona Perrin in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 51ff.)
Under the auspices of the Dhama Mate Swe Association , a new Burmese translation of the New Testament was published in 2024 which uses terminology that attempts to overcome “insurmountable barriers to the Buddhist world.” One term that this version uses is ရွှေမြို့တော် (shway myahoettaw) or “Golden City” for “heaven,” referring it to the golden city described in Revelation 21 but at the same time using a Buddhist term for a desired destination that does not have the Buddhist connotation of ကောင်း ကင် (kaungg kain) as being the Trāyastriṃśa (တာဝတိံသာ) heaven, home of Śakra/Indra. This Burmese translation formed the basis of translations of parts of the New Testament into other languages spoken in Burma, including Sumtu Chin, Ekai Chin, Songlai Chin, Danau, Kadu, Kanan, Khün, Lahta Karen, Rakhine, Marma (Northern Rakhine), Riang Lai, Samtao, Shwe Palaung, Tai Laing, Taungyo, Intha, Danu, Tavoyan (Dawei), and Chak (Thet). (Source: Jay Pratt)
The English translation by Sarah Ruden (2021) uses “sky” throughout. Ruden explains (p. li): “The Greek word ouranos refers evenhandedly to the physical sky and the place—often pictured as a royal court — where supreme divinity resides. ‘Sky’ seems generally better, first of all in avoiding the wackier modern imagery that comes with the English ‘heaven.’ And even when a supernatural realm is meant, ‘sky’ will often do, because the divine realm was thought to be located there, in addition to the weather and the heavenly bodies, whereas ‘heaven’ to us is fundamentally a religious term, and the ancients did not tend to separate linguistic domains in this way. I have retained the plural ‘skies’ where I see it in the Greek, because it is a Hebraism familiar in English translations of scripture and (I hope) not too archaic or jarring.”
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 13:24:
Uma: “‘So, at that time, when that time of suffering has passed, all the powerful things in the sky will be shaken. The sun will turn dark, the moon will no longer shine, the stars will drop from the sky.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “‘Then in those days,’ said Isa, ‘when those difficulties are finished, the sun will become dark, and the moon will no longer shine.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And after that time of suffering is over, the sun will not shine and the moon also will not glow.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “‘When that time of hardship is finished, right after that the sun will-become-dark and the moon will not shine.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “When that hardship is ended, the sun will darken and the moon won’t shine either.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Amele: “Jisas told them another talk, ‘Look, at that time (when) that big heavy has finished the sun will become dark and the moon will not shine.” (Source: John Roberts in this article )
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 13:25:
Uma: “‘So, at that time, when that time of suffering has passed, all the powerful things in the sky will be shaken. The sun will turn dark, the moon will no longer shine, the stars will drop from the sky.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “The stars will fall from the sky and the different-kinds in the sky will leave their places.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the stars in the sky will fall, and everything in heaven shall be shaken.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “The many-stars will also fall and all that is in the sky will be shaken.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “The stars will fall from the sky/heaven, for the whole sky/heavens will be caused to quake/tremble by the strength of the supernatural-power of God.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Amele: “And then the stars will pluck out of the sky and fall down, and the strong doings that sit in the sky will tremble,’ he said.” (Source: John Roberts in this article )
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 4:5:
Noongar: “Then the Devil took him up. In one moment, he saw everything, all the countries of all the kings of the World.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “After that, the King of Evil-ones carried him going to a high place. In just the blinking of an eye he showed him all the kingdoms in the world,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Then Isa was taken by the leader of demons up to a very high place and he showed him all the places/countries in the world in one-shutting of the eye.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then Satan took Jesus to a very high mountain and in a wink of an eye he showed him all of the kingdoms here on the earth.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “When that was finished, then the Diablo led him to a high place and in-a-moment showed him all the nations in the world.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Another thing Satanas did was he caused Jesus to accompany him to a high mountain. And then he caused him to view in one glance all the kingdoms here under the heavens.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Bariai: “And when it was done then he took him so that they ascended and went to an area very high up, and then quickly he showed him the big areas of all the great chiefs on earth.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Kupsabiny: “The Enemy (then) took Jesus along to the top of a certain hill/cliff and showed him in a vision/revelation all the countries.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Mairasi: “Then the malevolent spirit took Yesus to a very high place on top of a tall mountain. Then he quickly showed Him every village where kings ruled in the world.” (Source Enggavoter 2004)
Amele: “And then Seten took Jisas and they (dual) went up the mountain and very quickly he showed Jisas all the ground kingdoms.” (Source: John Roberts in this article )
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 5:19:
Noongar: “But because of the crowd, they could not see a way to carry him inside the house. So they carried him up to the roof. They made a hole in the roof, and lowered his bed into the middle of the people in front of Jesus.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “But they could not all manage to enter, because the people were very crowded/tight. That is why they climbed the stairs carrying their companion going to the top of the house, they took off the roof and they lowered him with his stretcher going in front of Yesus in the midst of the people.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But because of the many people, there was no way for them, therefore they went up on the flat roof of the house and made an opening in the roof. Then they lowered the sick man on his lying-down-place into the center of the people before Isa.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But since the people were so tightly packed there at the house, there was no way to pass that person there. So they went up on the roof and they made a hole in the roof above Jesus, and the hammock where the paralyzed person was lying, they lowered down in the middle of the people where Jesus was.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “but they absolutely couldn’t because-of the crowded-in people. So they climbed-up-with him on the roof and removed some of the roofing. After that they lowered what the cripple was lying on until it/he was set-down in the middle of the people right in front of Jesus.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But they couldn’t pass through because it was full of people. Therefore what they did was, they went up on the flat roof of that house and then made a hole in it, for they passed that man they were carrying through it and lowered him down, still on what he was lying on. They lowered him right into the presence of Jesus, there in the middle of that crowd.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Amele: “However because the men were pressed together they did not see a road to carry and go into the room of the house. Because of not they took him and climbed up the ladder to the top of the house and pulled open the top of the house and as they held and as he lay in the stretcher they fastened with a vine and let and went down vertically little by little went down went down and as Jisas stood in the middle of the group of men went down vertically and lay in his face (in front of him). ” (Source: John Roberts in this article )
