The Greek in Romans 10:2 that is translated as “not based on knowledge” or similar in English is translated as “don’t understand how God likes it” in Huehuetla Tepehua, as “not in the correct way” in Highland Totonac, as “don’t know what God wants” in Yatzachi Zapotec (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in Elhomwe as “real knowledge.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
eternal life
The Greek and Ge’ez that is translated in English as “eternal life” is translated in various ways:
- Berik: “good living forever” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 536)
- Asháninka: “keep on living”
- Aguaruna: “will always live”
- Yanesha’: “immortal state forever”
- North Alaskan Inupiatun: “endless life”
- Tsafiki: “live forever with God”
- Lalana Chinantec: “heart will be alive forever” (source for this and five above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125)
- Tagalog: buhay na walang hanggan: “life which has no boundary”
- Iloko: biagna nga agnanayon: “continuing life” (source for this and one above: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
- German translation by Fridolin Stier (1989): “never-ending life”
- Huehuetla Tepehua: “life forever up in heaven” (source: Larson 1998, p. 279)
- Kele: loiko: “survival: enduring through crisis, catastrophe and death” (source: William Ford in The Bible Translator 1957, p. 203ff. ).
- Highland Totonac: “have life, the kind that is for always”
- Central Mazahua: “live continually” (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
- Samoan: ola e fa‘avavau or “life until the end of time” (source: John Bradshaw in The Bible Translator 1967, p. 75ff. )
- Mairasi: “life fruit” (source: Enggavoter 2004).
Lloyd Peckham explains the Mairasi translation: “In secret stories, not knowable to women nor children, there was a magical fruit of life. If referred to vaguely, without specifying the specific ‘fruit,’ it can be an expression for eternity.”
See also eternity / forever and salvation.
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Eternal Life in John .
do not be conformed to this world𖺗 but be transformed by the renewal of your mind
The Greek in Romans 12:2 that is translated in English as some form of “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” is translated into Bilua as “you must not follow this generation’s behavior, but you must allow God in your heart that he make you new in your life and thinking.”
The first part of this phrase (“(don’t be) conformed to this world”) is translated as “live doing as other people do who live here in the world” in Central Tarahumara, as “do like mankind does, people who are here on the earth” in Yatzachi Zapotec, as “do like people in this sinful world” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui, and “the life of those who walk in sin” in Mezquital Otomi.
The second part (“be transformed by the renewal of your mind”) is translated as “let the way you think become new and changed” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui, as “change so that what you think may become new” in Sayula Popoluca, as “let God change your head-hearts in order that your thoughts will he changed” in Yatzachi Zapotec, as “be different since the Holy Spirit has made your mind new” in Huehuetla Tepehua, and as “in a different way think well” in Central Tarahumara. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words
The Greek in Romans 8:26 that is translated as “intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words” is translated as “is the one who asks in our place when we just sigh, we do not find the words to say” in Highland Totonac, as “when we cannot speak, we groan in our hearts, then the Holy Spirit himself pleads to God for us” in Hopi, as “instead, the very good Spirit of God himself for us asking speaks with God. And he only speaks with groanings, he does not speak so we can understand” in Central Tarahumara, and as “the Holy Spirit himself groans in our hearts in a way which we cannot tell how he does, because he very much prays to God for us” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
“Too deep for words” is translated in Catholic Mandarin Chinese Sigao version and the Protestant Union Version with a Chinese idiom: wúkě yányù (無可言喻 / 无可言喻), lit. “cannot (expressed in) metaphors.” (Source: Toshikazu S. Foley in Hong Kong Journal of Catholic Studies, 2011, p. 45ff.)
dishonor God
The Greek in Romans 2:23 that is usually translated in English as “dishonor God” is translated in various ways:
- Yatzachi Zapotec: “defame God’s character”
- Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “have no reverence before God”
- Tabasco Chontal: “cause God to be hated”
- Sayula Popoluca: “put God in a bad light”
- Highland Totonac: “put God to shame”
- Tzeltal: “cause embarrassment to God”
- Isthmus Zapotec: “err against God”
- Central Tarahumara: “become an enemy of God” (source for all above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
- Bariai: “your eyes mock God” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
- Kupsabiny: “insult God” (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
- Mairasi: “oppose God” (Enggavoter 2004)
- Hiligaynon: “causing- God -to-be-ashamed” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
See also complete verse (Romans 2:23).
sexual promiscuity
The Greek in Romans 13:13 that is translated in English as “sexual promiscuity” or similar is translated as
- “have affairs with women” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui
- “act any old way” in Central Tarahumara
- “live in the street” in Huehuetla Tepehua
- “commit adultery” in Yatzachi Zapotec
- “lie with people” in Mezquital Otomi
- “go after women” in Isthmus Zapotec (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
- “play alongside the mat [foolish joking]” in Mairasi (source: Enggavoter 2004)
See also licentiousness / impurity, sexual immorality / fornication and adultery.
endurance
The Greek that is translated in English as “endurance” (or “patience”or “perseverance”) is translated in Tzotzil as “(good) strength of heart(s)” (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.) and in Isthmus Zapotec as “learning not to lose patience.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
In Mairasi it is translated idiomatically as “having well-split bones” (source: Enggavoter 2004).
peace with God
The Greek in Romans 5:1 that is translated as “peace with God” in English is translated as “there’s nothing between us and God” in Hopi, as “we are at fellowship with God” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui, as “God has no anger toward us” in Huehuetla Tepehua, as “we have a good relationship with God” in Isthmus Zapotec, and as “we are living well with God” in Mezquital Otomi. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)