Many languages have terms for siblings that define whether one is younger or older in relation to another sibling.
In Fuyug, Tae’, Batak Toba, and Mandarin Chinese, Martha was assumed to be the older of the two sisters because she is mentioned first. (Sources: David Clark [Fuyug] and Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Navajo (Dinė) translates accordingly but for a different reason: “since Martha seemed to take the responsibility of the housework, she was probably the older of the two” (source: Wallis 2000, p. 103f.) whereas in Mandarin Chinese he is the younger brother.
In Fuyug, Lazarus is assumed to be the oldest sibling on the grounds that he died first, whereas in several Thai translations he is described as the youngest of the three. (Source: David Clark)
The Greek that is translated as “make ready a people prepared for the Lord” or similar in English is “makes the hearts soft for the Lord” in (Panao Huánuco Quechua) (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel) or “will prepare people to be Above-One’s people” (Mairasi) (source: Enggavoter 2004).
The Greek that is translated as “see(n) a vision” in English is sometimes translated generically, such as “to see something” (Sranan Tongo, Tae’), “something is made visible” (Western Apache), or “they knew, what he might have seen” (i.e. they knew that something had been seen but not what) (Shipibo-Conibo).
Elsewhere a specification is added, such as “to see a divine sight” (Kannada, Toraja-Sa’dan), “he had seen something supernatural, which had appeared to him” (Tboli) (source for this and all above: Reiling / Swellengrebel), or “something God showed” in Hiligaynon (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation).
The Greek that is often translated in English as “leap (or: leaped)” is translated with appropriate idioms as “trampled” (Javanese), “shook-itself” (Kituba), “wriggled” (Thai), “danced” (Taroko), “stirred” (Toraja-Sa’dan), “sprawled” (Batak Toba), “played” (Shipibo-Conibo). In Dan the clause has to be “her stomach moved” since “leaping” sounded vulgar. (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
In Elhomwe it is ahiirukunusarukunusa or “turned around.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Bill Michell (in Omanson 2001, p. 431) explains why in Cusco Quechua the women on the translation team had to intervene to correct a translation that was too literal:
“In the [Cusco Quechua] project in Peru the first draft of Luke’s Gospel was done by a man. In the case of Luke 1:41 his translation was quite literal. He had the unborn child physically jumping, unhampered and unhindered. This was met with some laughter from the women on the team. They suggested an onomatopoeic expression to communicate the sensation of a sudden movement in the womb: wawaqa ‘wat’ak’ nirqan — ‘the child said, ‘Wat’ak!” The child didn’t jump, it ‘spoke’! This times there were smiles instead of laughter as the women recognized something that was authentically their own.”
See also the Vietnamese (Hanoi) Sign Language translation of John the Baptist.
The Greek that is translated as “kissing his feet” and “kiss my feet” in these verses in English is translated in Medumba as “massaged his feet,” as people do to show reverence to a chief, especially when imploring his protection or forgiveness. (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
In Luke 7:38, the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) translates as küßte sie zärtlich or “kissed them tenderly.”
The Greek that is translated as “a hundred sheep” in English is translated in Ekari with “sixty sheep.” In Ekari “sixty” is the highest basic unit, the equivalent of “one hundred” in Greek. The arithmetical equivalent of “hundred” would be the cumbersome “forty of the second sixty.”
While Mairasi has a set term for “hundred” (ratu, also meaning “king”), 99 is expressed more complicatedly: “four whole people and two hands and one hand and four.” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
