The Hebrew that is translated as “And God said, ‘Let there be…” in English is translated in Yoruba as “God commanded that there should be…” (Bibeli Mimọ Yorùbá, 2010).
Solomon Abegunde explains (in The Bible Translator 1991, p, 242ff. ): “When God speaks, for instance, in the [Yoruban] way of thinking he speaks with the authority of a king. He does not need to ask permission from anybody to do what he wants to do. Translators should be aware of this as they translate the words ‘Let there be’ in Genesis 1. The extension of his personality comes out more forcefully if the Hebrew is rendered ‘Be’ and the verb is translated ‘commanded’ rather than ‘said.'”
The now commonly-used German idiom Mördergrube (literally “murderers’ pit”), which today is primarily used in the expression “aus seinem Herzen keine Mördergrube machen” or “to speak freely” (literally: “don’t turn your heart into a murderers pit”), was made popular in 1522 in the German New Testament translation by Martin Luther. Note that from the 1956 Luther Bible edition on forward, this was replaced with the more correct Räuberhöhle. (Source: Günther 2017, p. 90)
The common English idiom “den of thieves” (meaning a group of people engaged in or suspected of illegal, immoral, or underhanded activities or a place in which such activities take place) was first coined in 1382 in the English translation by John Wycliffe (in the spelling denne of theues). (Source: Crystal 2010, p. 290)
The weight measure that is translated as “bath” or with a modern equivalent in English is translated in the 1989 TsongaBIBELE Mahungu Lamanene into a measurement of what a traditional container can hold rather than weight: yinkho or “large jar” for water, wine and milk or “10 calabashes” for oil (see 2 Chronicles 2:10). (Source: The Bible Translator 1998, p. 215ff. )
The Greek in Luke 1:25 that is translated as “took away the disgrace I have endured” in English is translated idiomatically in Chechen as “has put me in a white face.” (Source: David Clark in The Bible Translator 2015, p. 117ff. )
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 that is often translated in English as “he breathed his last” is translated with idioms that include “his life-force broke-off” (Indonesian, Balinese), “his breath stopped (or: was-exhausted” (Ekari, Sranan Tongo), or “his breath (and body) parted-with-each-other” (Toraja-Sa’dan). (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is idiomatically translated with er hauchte sein Leben aus or “he breathed out his life.”
Another often transliterated biblical term is bĕhēmôt (…). The Hebrew noun behemâ typically means “beast, animal, cattle,” while the -ôt feminine plural ending here seems to indicate something like a “plural of majesty,” since in the context of Job 40, this creature is obviously singular in number.
Countless tons of ink have been spilled in arguments over whether this creature is a hippopotamus, an elephant, a dinosaur, or a mythical amalgam of large, powerful land animals. The point that is of interest to us here is that in modern English, at least the U.S. variety which I speak, the commonly recognized meaning of the term behemoth has become the following: “any monstrous or grotesque creature or thing,” “something of oppressive or monstrous size or power.” This word is usually applied as a description of inanimate entities, such as “a behemoth car” or “the behemoth government agency,” but can occasionally also be used to refer to animate creatures. A quick search through a corpus of contemporary American English (…) shows that the term is often used with a negative connotation approximating “more trouble than it’s worth.” So when an English reader who has not had much contact with Christian teaching or the Bible reads this passage in Job for the first time, it is quite likely that associations of oppressiveness or inutility will color this reader’s initial mental image of the creature, even though the context of the verse does not contain any such connotations, but rather the opposite connotation of appreciative wonder.
The Russian Synodal translation (RST) has transliterated this word from the Hebrew as “бегемот” (begemot), apparently borrowing this rendering from the Russian scholar/poet M. Lomonosov in his poetic translation of the Job 40 passage (c. 1750 AD). What is of interest is that this very transliteration has become the main term meaning “hippopotamus” in modern Russian. There is another Russian term with an almost completely synonymous meaning, “gippopotam,” derived from ancient Greek, but in contemporary Russian usage this latter term is becoming more and more obsolete, or at least restricted to scientific contexts. An informal corpus study of the use of the word begemot in Russian texts indicates that prior to the publication of the RST, it was used to refer to monstrously large animals, but not specifically to the hippopotamus. Thus, it seems that what gave the meaning of “hippopotamus” to the transliterated word “begemot” was the tradition of scriptural interpretation in favor at the time of the translation of the RST. Even though the transliteration “begemot” was originally introduced into the Russian text of Job ostensibly because the translators were not quite sure what this creature was, the new word eventually came to refer unambiguously to the hippopotamus and nothing else.
What should the Tuvan translation team have done with this term? (Note: The goal of the Tuvan translators was to match the Tuvan transliterations with those of the Russian Synodal translation)? the RST, which all Tuvan believers currently read as their main Bible version, specifically states in Job 40:15 that this animal is a begemot, which in contemporary Russian is completely unambiguous as meaning “hippopotamus.” This is the meaning with which the Russian word has already been borrowed into the Tuvan language. Maintaining this transliteration would mean affirming this specific interpretation of the Hebrew term “bĕhēmôt.” Although the explicit “hippopotamus” interpretation is found in some other modern translations (e.g., the English CEV, The FrenchLa Bible en français courant or Louis Segond’s translation, or the ItalianConferenza Episcopala Italiana), the Tuvan translation team did not want to commit themselves wholeheartedly to this interpretation. So we decided to retransliterate the Hebrew word using a different medial consonant — “бехемот” (bekhemot), with a footnote explaining this decision as an attempt to remain open-minded concerning the exact nature of this beast. This new transliteration created a word that did not have any pre-existing semantic associations transferred from the Russian language. Only time will tell how exactly future generations of Tuvinian Bible readers will react to the new transliteration of this term, and whether or not they will imbue it with the same “hippopotamus” sense as in the RST or with something completely unforeseen by our translation team.
In Mandarin Chinese is is translated as hémǎ (河马 / 河馬) or “hippo” (lit. “river – horse”). (Source: Zetzsche)
In other contexts the Hebrew word behemah refers generally to any large animal and specifically to cattle, but in Job 40:15 (where the Hebrew word is plural) the animal is described, and this identifies it as one particular kind of animal. There are basically three possible interpretations:
a) A mythical monster, symbolic of the forces of evil. Later rabbinical writings make reference to this monster, who is said to engage in a critical fight with another monster, Leviathan. In some of these writings it is said that the meat to be eaten at the Great Feast of Abraham in the last days will be the meat of Behemoth. It was associated with the “great sea monsters” mentioned in Genesis 1:21.
b) The Hippopotamus Hippopotamus amphibious. This suggestion has been widely accepted and included in various English versions in footnotes. The hippopotamus was certainly well-known in Egypt and possibly in parts of Mesopotamia. However, the description in Job 40:15,16,17,18,19,20 does not fit the hippopotamus at many points:
For one thing the strength and the powerful muscles of Behemoth mentioned in could hardly be associated with the hippopotamus, which spends most of its time quietly grazing or just resting in the water. (The jaws of a hippo are enormously strong, and bull hippos are dangerous animals, but overall, even a careful observer would not be struck with awe at its muscles and strength.)
Secondly, the very small stubby tail of the hippopotamus cannot be raised and is only used for scattering dung as the hippo defecates. It could hardly be likened to a cedar as Job 40:17 says.
And finally, in Job 40:20 Behemoth is said to be fed by the grass of the mountains, but hippos normally feed on riverbanks, or in the vicinity of flood plains and river valleys, and are rarely, if ever, found in hills, since their extremely short legs and great weight make it difficult for them to step over rocks or climb steep slopes.
c) The elephant. Both the African Elephant Loxodonta Africana, which lived in the Nile valley in southern Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia, and the Indian Elephant Elephas maximus, which lived in northern Mesopotamia, were known in Old Testament times. The description of Behemoth fits the elephant better than the hippopotamus. Its great strength is very evident. When running, elephants also hold their tails out straight. However, the Hebrew word translated as “tail” could also refer to the trunk. The mention of “lying down under the thorn trees, in the cover of the reeds in the marsh” (Job 40:21) could refer to the well-known habit elephants have of taking dust baths and wallowing in mudholes and rivers.
It has sometimes been argued that the references to frequenting rivers and eating grass cannot apply to elephants. But in fact, riverine grasses are a favorite food of elephants, and they often spend hours at a time in rivers and waterholes.
It is probably best to use an expression like “the monster Behemoth” in the body of the text with a footnote indicating that this possibly refers to the elephant, assuming of course that elephants are known to the readers. If they are unknown it would be better to omit the footnote.
The Hebrew, Greek, and Latin that is translated in English as “wolf” is translated in Muna as da’u ngkahoku: “forest dog,” because there is no immediate lexical equivalent. (Source: René van den Berg)
In Asháninka, it is translated as “ferocious animal,” in Waffa and Kui as “wild dog,” and in Navajo (Dinė) as “Coyote” (source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125), and in Odia as “tiger” (source for this and for Kui: Helen Evans in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. )
In Lingala it is translated as “leopard.” Sigurd F. Westberg (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 117ff. ) explains: “The wolf, for example, does not exist here, but its relative the jackal does and we have a name for it. But the jackal does not prey on domestic animals as the wolf did in Palestine, nor is he as fierce. The equivalent from these points of view is the leopard. Hence in Genesis 49 Benjamin is likened to a ravenous leopard, and the basic meaning is approached more closely than if we had been governed by scientific classification.”
Mungaka also uses “leopard” (see also bear (animal)) (source: Nama 1990). Likewise in Klao and Dan (source: Don Slager).
In Elhomwe “fierce animal” is used. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Michel Kenmogne comments on this and comparable translations (in Noss 2007, p. 378 ff.): “Some exegetical solutions adopted by missionary translations may have been acceptable during that time frame, but weighed against today’s translation theory and procedures, they appear quite outdated and even questionable. For example, Atangana Nama approvingly mentions the translation into Mungaka of terms like ‘deer’ as ‘leopard’, ‘camel’ as ‘elephant’, and ‘wheat’ as ‘maize,’ where the target language has no direct equivalent to the source text. These pre-Nida translation options, now known as adaptations, would be declared unacceptable in modern practice, since they misrepresent the historico-zoological and agricultural realities in the Bible. Nowadays it is considered better to give a generalized term, like ‘grain,’ and where necessary specify ‘a grain called wheat,’ than to give an incorrect equivalence. Unknown animals such as bears, can be called ‘fierce animals,’ especially if the reference is a non-historical context.”
Click or tap here for the rest of the entry about “wolf” in United Bible Societies’ All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible.
There is no problem in identifying the Hebrew word with the Wolf Canis lupus, which was a common wild animal all over the land of Israel in the biblical period. Today it is almost extinct in Israel, but small numbers still exist in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. The Greek and Latin words are general words for the wolf, including European species as well as the Syrian one.
The wolf is the ancestor of the German shepherd dog, and all similar breeds. The Syrian wolf, however, unlike the European and North American breeds, does not have long thick fur. It is a light brown color with a typical long face, and it is about the size of the German shepherd dog. It looks similar to the jackal, but is much bigger. This type of wolf lived singly, in pairs, or occasionally in a small family group of three or four animals; but sometimes, when prey was scarce, neighboring wolves would come together temporarily to hunt in cooperation with each other. The varieties in North America and Europe, on the other hand, come together in packs in the winter and stay together until well into the spring.
In biblical times the Syrian wolf took hares, small gazelle, and partridges as its main prey, but it was also a constant threat to sheep and goats. Only extremely rarely would it attack a human being. It was nowhere near as dangerous to humans as the lion or the bear. On the other hand, the Syrian wolf was not afraid of humans, and once it had killed a sheep, it would fiercely protect its kill. A group of men was required if it was to be chased away. It was extremely clever at avoiding traps that had been set for it. It hunted at night and located other wolves early in the evening by howling loudly.
These wolves did not stay in one area but roamed constantly. Shepherds could thus never be confident that there were no wolves nearby. They could appear unexpectedly at any time, even in the villages where they were often mistaken for dogs.
To the biblical writers the wolf was a symbol of roaming, opportunistic, dangerous, fierce, and clever banditry. To refer to a person as a wolf would in some contexts indicate that he was a roaming, clever bandit, and in other contexts that he was a clever, dangerous opportunist. This latter usage usually referred to someone using a position of leadership for his own benefit at the expense of other people.
In Africa there are no wolves, but the Spotted Hyena Crocula crocuta, the Brown Hyena Hyaena brunnea, or the African Painted Hunting Dog Lycaon pictus are the local equivalents used in many translations. A problem with using these terms for the Syrian wolf is that these African animals may have a symbolic significance for the local readers which is very different from that intended by the biblical writers. For instance, the spotted hyena is associated with witchcraft in some societies. In cases where the local significance is sufficiently different, a footnote should be used to provide a guide to the readers.
In Argentina and Brazil the beautiful Maned Wolf Chrysocyon jubatus is a good local equivalent, or the Portuguese or Spanish words for wolf can be used. The coyote is another possible equivalent.
In India and in Central and Southeast Asia, the Indian (or red) wild dog, also known as the Dhole Cuon alpinus, is likewise a good local equivalent for the wolf.
In areas where there are no animals equivalent to wolves, a phrase like “large wild dog” can be used, or a word may be borrowed from the dominant language of the area.
