ponder

The Greek that is translated as “ponder” in English is translated as “continually think-about” in Tboli, “turn around in the mind” in Batak Toba, “puzzle forth, puzzle back” in Sranan Tongo (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel), “constantly setting down her visions” in Mairasi (source: Enggavoter 2004), “carried all those words in her heart and then sat thinking” in Enga (source: Adam Boyd on his blog), or “moved them in her heart” (bewegte sie in ihrem Herzen) (German Luther translation).

make ready a people prepared for the Lord

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), “a people fit to be used by the Lord” (wéi zhǔ yùbèi héyòng de bǎixìng 為 主 預 備 合 用 的 百 姓) (Chinese Union Version, 1919), “will prepare people to be Above-One’s people” (Mairasi) (source: Enggavoter 2004).

right mind, sound-minded

The Greek that is rendered as “in his right mind” or “sound-minded” in English is translated as “his mind had returned” (Amganad Ifugao), “his heart was sitting down” (Tojolabal), “his head was healed” (Chicahuaxtla Triqui), “his mind was straightened” (Tzotzil), “with a clear mind again” (Javanese), “come to his senses” (Indonesian) (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida), “come to his cleanness/purity” (Marathi), “(his) thoughts having become right” (Ekari), “his intelligence having-become clean again” (Sranan Tongo), “having-mind” (Batak Toba), “settled his mind” (Tae’), “settled/fixed” (Balinese) (source for this and five above: Reiling / Swellengrebel), or “had well-split vision” (Mairasi) (source: Enggavoter 2004).

hundred sheep

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)

See also body part tally systems.

hearts burning

The Greek that is often translated as “Were not our hearts burning within us?” is translated as “a boiling comes to our hearts inside” in Marathi (an idiom for joy and enthusiasm), “drawn, as it were, our mind” in Balinese, “hurt (i.e. longing) our hearts” in Ekari, or “something was-consuming in our-heart” in Tae’ (an idiom for “we were profoundly moved”). (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)

In an early version of the Bible in Sranan Tongo, the translation was Ke, hoe switi kouroe wi hatti be fili: “O, how sweet coolness did our hearts feel.” The translator “did this to avoid misunderstanding. In Sranan Tongo, when one says ‘my heart is burning’ he means ‘I am angry.'” (Source: Janini 2015, p. 33)

In Afar the phrase is translated as robti leeh innah nel oobak sugtem hinnaa?: “Wasn’t it as rain coming down on us?” (heat is bad, rain is good in the desert). (Source: Loren Bliese)

acknowledge, confess

The Greek that is translated as “acknowledge” or “confess” in English is rendered as “say openly … that they have believed” (Tzeltal), “approves” (Chichewa), “declares/mentions (my) name” (Kekchí, Sranan Tongo), “talks (my) good name” (Northern Grebo), “testifies to (me)” (Zarma, Pohnpeian), “takes (my) side” (Shona, translation of 1966), or “speaks for (me)” (Ekari).

reprimand

The Greek that is translated as “reprimanded” or “reproached” is translated in Batak Toba as “to hit-with words.”

gain your lives

The Greek that is translated as “you will gain your lives (or: souls)” is translated as “you will find real life” in Uab Meto.

see a vision

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).

See also vision.

daughter (form of address for a woman)

The Greek that is translated as “daughter” in English and serves as a general form for addressing women is translated in Batak Toba with the vocative form “you mother,” which can even be used in speaking to a young girl. (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)

In Lamba as “(non-gendered) child,” wemwana wanji. This is the idiomatic way of referring to children and while it’s possible to specify “female child,” it was felt to be unidiomatic and therefore to be avoided. (Source C. M. Doke in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 57ff.)

See also son.