The Greek term exodos (ἔξοδος) that is used in Luke 9:31, is typically translated as “departure” in English, but a handful of English translations use exodus, including the New Revised Standard Version, updated edition (2021) (“They appeared in glory and were speaking about his exodus”), the New Living Translation (2004, 2007), and The Second Testament by Scot McKnight (2023) (“who, appearing in splendor, were talking about his exodus”).
The French translation of Chouraqui (1985) uses exode (Apparaissant dans leur gloire, ils parlent de son exode) and the Danish Authorized Version (last revision 1992) uses udgang, the same term that is used in Hebrews 11:22 for the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt (note that the Old Testament Exodus book is called Anden Mosebog or “The second book of Moses” in Danish).
A number of translations don’t use the term for “exodus” in the translation but point to it in a note, including the French Nouvelle Français courant (latest rev. 2007) and the Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, édition intégrale (1977 / 2010) (“Jesus must bring about the new exodus through his death, resurrection, and ascension”), the CatalanTraducció Interconfessional (1995), or the various Catholic Christian Community Bibles (see here).
The note in Sarah Ruden’s translation (2021, p. 200) says this: “In this context, Moses and Elijah are the perfect interlocutors. Moses led the exodus (from the Greek for, literally, the ‘road out’; ‘departure’ is the word I use here) of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, and Elijah made his exit from earth on a heavenly chariot. Also, Moses and Elijah sum up the main authority of scripture, ‘the law and the prophets’: Moses was said to have written the Pentateuch, and Elijah was an exemplary prophet.”
The different Greek words (agapaō and phileō) that are used in the conversation between Jesus and Peter (the first two times, Jesus asked Peter whether he “agapaōs” him, to which Peter answers that he “phileōs” Jesus, whereas the third time, Jesus’ question and Peter’s answer are both “phileō“) and that are typically all translated “love” in English are differentiated in some translations:
The English translation by Blackwelder (1980) differentiate with love and have affection, Cassirer (1989) with love and hold dear, Pakaluk (2021) has cherish and love, and Ruden (2021) has love and close friend
A number of German translations (Luther 2017, Neue Genfer Übersetzung 2011, Menge 2010, BasisBibel 2021) use lieben (for agapaō) vs. lieb haben for phileō (“love” vs. “be very fond of”); the translation by Fridolin Stier (1989) has “love” and “be a friend”
Likewise, the FrenchBible Segond 21 (publ. 2007) uses aimer vs. avoir l’amour with a similar difference than the former German translations
The BurmeseMyanmar Standard Bible (2017) has hkyit (ချစ်) vs. hkyithkain (ချစ်ခင်), also “love” vs. “love / be fond of.”
Kayaw makes a distinction as well (source: Anonymous)
The Greek and Hebrew terms that are translated as “hypocrite” in English typically have a counterpart in most languages. According to Bratcher / Nida (1961, p. 225), they can be categorized into the following categories:
those which employ some concept of “two” or “double”
those which make use of some expression of “mouth” or “speaking”
those which are based upon some special cultural feature
those which employ a non-metaphorical phrase
Following is a list of (back-) translations from some languages:
Mazahua: “have a swollen mouth” (from too much speaking)
Tai Dam: “have a straight mouth and a crooked heart”
Kongo: “the bitterness of white” (an idiom based on the fact that white-wash looks nice but tastes bitter)
Merina Malagasy: “spread a clean carpet” (an expression used in Madagascar to describe one who covers up the dirt of an unswept floor just before the arrival of guests)
Zanaki: “those who make themselves out to be good”
Tetelcingo Nahuatl: “those who deceive” (this and all examples above acc. to Bratcher / Nida 1961, p. 225)
Kafa: “one who makes as if his belly is clean” (source: Loren Bliese)
Bauzi: “good on top person” (source: David Briley in Kroneman (2004), p. 502)
Tibetan: kha chos pa (ཁ་ཆོས་པ།), lit. “mouth + religion + person” (used for instance in Matt. 7:5) or sgyu zog can (སྒྱུ་ཟོག་ཅན།), lit. “deception + fraud + person” (used for instance in Matt. 24:51) (source: gSungrab website )
Low German: “actor in a comedy” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006)
Lélé: ne kub so or “make mouth two” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
The Latvian term liekulis was likely coined by the Bible translation of Ernst Glück (1654–1705) in the late 17th century and is still being used today (source ).
The English version of Sarah Ruden (2021) uses “play-actor.” She explains (p. li): “A hupokrites is fundamentally an actor. The word has deep negativity in the Gospels on two counts: professional actors were not respectable people in the ancient world, and traditional Judaism did not countenance any kind of playacting. I write ‘play-actor’ throughout.”
The Greek in John 7:38 that is typically translated in English as “out of heart (or: “innermost”) shall flow rivers of living water” is translated by the English translations by Ruden (2021) and Pakaluk (2021) as “from his belly rivers of flowing water are going to run” (Ruden) and “rivers of flowing water will flow out from his belly” (Pakaluk).
Ruden explains her choice (p. 285): “The wordplay and symbolism involve the running or ‘living’ water of baptism, and possibly also the fluid that runs (here, literally) ‘from his abdominal cavity’ from the spear puncture at the crucifixion (John 19:34). There are several Hebrew Bible passages echoed here.”
Pakaluk says (p. 96): “It seems that John understands this language to be foreshadowing the pouring out of water, along with blood, from the lanced side of Christ on the cross, which John highlights (19:34) and which is understood in the tradition to represent the birth of the Church. It is indeed the language of birth.”
The Greek in John 1:16 that is translated as “grace upon grace” or similar in English is translated in Huichol as “He treats us with graciousness, and keeps increasing it.” (Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
The English translation by Pakaluk (2021) has one gift in place of another (complete Verse: “Because we have all received of his fullness, and one gift in place of another.”) Compare Ruden (2021): “Out of what fills him to the full, we have all been given a share, joyful favor in exchange for joyful favor” and the German translation by Berger / Nord: “Because that was the only way — no matter before or after him — that we could draw from what was given to him in fullness, grace and yet more grace.”
The Greek that is traditionally translated as “carpenter” in English is translated in the English by Ruden (2021) as “builder.” “[The Greek word] tektōn means simply |skilled workman|. I choose builder because the likelihood that Jesus| family were among local artisans employed in rebuilding the new city of Sepphoris [which was destroyed in 4 BC], close to Nazareth.” (p. xliii)
In the Finnish translation of 2020 it is translated as rakennusmies, a generic term for a construction worker. (Source: Seppo Sipilä)
The Greek κύκλῳ (kuklo) that is typically translated in English as “about among” or similar is translated by the English translations of Ruden (2020) and Pakaluk (2019) as circuit (“he made a circuit through the villages”). Pakaluk (p. 102) comments: “We glimpse again Christ’s method. He liked to teach on the Sabbath in the synagogue. Perhaps he went to a new village each week, teaching there on the Sabbath, spending the following days healing the sick, visiting farming communities, going to isolated spots to pray, and instructing his disciples. After a couple of months, he could repeat the circuit to provide accountability and deeper instruction.”
The Greek that is typically translated as “envy” in English and sometimes as “evil eye” (a literal translation of the Greek ophthalmos ponēros), but is unlikely referring to the “evil eye” of someone casting spells, is translated in some languages in ways that use the association of “eye” or “sight” with envy.
GermanZürcher Bibel (up to the revision of 2007): neidischer Blick (“envious glance”); translation by Fridolin Stier (1989): böser Blick (evil glance).
FrenchNouvelle Edition de Genève, Louis Segond: le regard envieux (“envious glance”)
English translation by Sarah Ruden (2020): stare of envy
