The Greek that is typically translated in English as “sign” is translated in Huehuetla Tepehua as “thing to be marveled at” (source: Larson 1889, p. 279) and in Mairasi as “big work” (source: Enggavoter 2004).
the wise and the foolish
The Greek in Romans 1:14 that is translated as “the wise and the foolish” or the “educated and the uneducated” in English is translated in Alekano as “those who have spoken school and those who have not spoken school.” (Source: Larson 1998, p. 86)
desert / wilderness
The Greek, Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “desert” or “wilderness” in English is translated in a number of ways:
- Mairasi: “a place where noisiness is cut off (or: stops)” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
- Muna: pandaso bhalano pr “big barren-field” (source: René van den Berg)
- Wantoat: “cold windy place where no one lives” (source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2-20)
- Balinese: “barren field” (source: J.L. Swellengrebel in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 75ff. )
- Wantoat: “uninhabited place” (source: Holzhausen 1991, p. 38)
- Umiray Dumaget Agta: “where no people dwell” (source: Larson 1998, p. 98)
- Shipibo-Conibo: “where no house is” (source: James Lauriault in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 32ff. )
- Amri Karbi: “waterless region/place” (source: Philippova 2021, p. 368)
- Ocotlán Zapotec: “large empty place” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
- Pa’o Karen: “jungle” (denoting a place without any towns, villages and tilled fields) (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. )
- Low German translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006: “steppe”
- Yakan: “the lonely place” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “a land where no people lived” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “the place with no inhabitants” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Cherokee: inage or “far away downstream” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16)
- Matumbi uses various term: lubele (desert, sandy place without water) — used in John 11:54, lupu’ngu’ti (a place where no people live, can be a scrub land, a forest, or a savanna) — used in Mark 1:3 et al.), and mwitu (a forest, a place where wild animals live) — used in Mark 1:13 et al.) (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
- Chichewa Contemporary translation (2002/2016): chipululu: a place uninhabited by people with thick forest and bush (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
- Adioukrou: loj or “savannah” — “land that is not village, nor forest, nor field (source: Hill 2006)
Note that in Luke 15:4, usually a term is used that denotes pastoral land, such as “eating/grazing-place,” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).
See also wilderness and desolate wilderness.
two-edged sword
The Greek, Hebrew and Ge’ez that is translated as “two-edged sword” in English is translated in Alekano as “like a knife that is sharp at its mouth and its back” (source: Larson 1998, p. 170) and in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as “the sharpest knife.”
The now commonly-used English idiom “two-edged sword” (meaning something that offers both a good and bad consequence) was first coined in 1560 in the Geneva Bible. (Source: Crystal 2010, p. 279)
Other languages that use this phrase idiomatically, include:
- Spanish: espada de doble filo
- French: épée à double tranchant
- German: zweischneidiges Schwert
- Italian: spada a doppio taglio
- Portuguese: espada de dois gumes
- Russian: обоюдоострый меч (oboyudoostryy mech) or двуострый меч (dvuostryy mech)
- Czech: dvojsečná zbraň
- Polish: miecz obosieczny
See also sword.
the whole town came out
The Greek in Matthew 8:34 that is translated in English as “the whole town came out” or similar is translated in Kui as “everyone went to see him” since it was not possible to use “the whole town” with the extended meaning of “the people (of the town).” (Source: Larson 1998, p. 87)
placed all things in his hands
without him not one thing came into being
The Greek in John 1:3 that is translated as “without him not one thing came into being” or similar in English is translated in Huehuetla Tepehua as “if it hadn’t been for him there would not have been the world or anything” and in Tenango Otomi as “of all the things there are, there is not one that he did not make.” (Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February, 1970, p. 1-125.)
In Lalana Chinantec, the double-negative is turned into a positive: “All things came into being because that person made all that exists.” (Source: Larson 1998, p. 159)
In Bakairí, Jesus (Logos) had to stay the “focal character” so it’s translated as “He was the maker of all things.” (Source: Callow 1972, 61)
healed (of spirits)
The Greek in Acts 5:16 that is translated as “the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed” or similar is translated in Tepeuxila Cuicatec as “the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed sand the evil spirits left them.” Larson (1998, p. 20) explains: “In Tepeuxila Cuicatec, ‘healed’ can be used only to talk about ‘sickness,’ not to talk about ‘casting out evil spirits.’ to be sure these people were helped as well, an obligatory addition was made.”
See also heal (from infertility).