In Greek and in European languages such as Dutch and English the third person pronoun does not present much difficulty. In Balinese the situation becomes more complicated, for one has at least four pronouns for the third person: two to indicate important and very important persons {dané and ida), one to speak of a person of lower standing but in a familiar manner, and one to speak of such a person in a polite manner (ia and ipun). Dané, the pronoun of the slightly less important person of the third caste, is also in use for people of lower caste who through their official position, age, or ability have a right to be respected or with whom one is trying to ingratiate oneself. (…)
The Greek in Luke 8:3 that is translated as “were contributing to their support out of their private means” had to be differentiated between Jesus and the disciples]. The service accorded Jesus consisted of respect, humility and attachment, which must be expressed in the Balinese word. With regard to the disciples this was not the case. Thus we were forced to translate as, “they used their possessions for the needs of Jesus and his followers, as a tribute of service to Him.”
The Greek in 2 Corinthians 11:18 that is translated as “boast according to human standards” or similar in English is translated in Toraja-Sa’dan as situru’ kapassattuan lino or “glory in themselves after the style of the glorying in earthly things.” (Source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 207ff. )
The team that translated the New Testament into Paraguayan Guaraní (in the 1960s) had to translate the Greek that is translated as “purification” in English. Jacob Loewen (in The Bible Translator 1967, p. 33ff. ) tells this story:
“An interesting lesson regarding intelligibility grew out of the translation of Luke 2:22 speaking about ‘the days of purification’. Each of the translations carried rather high-flown euphemisms and no one seemed to be satisfied with the euphemism of the other. There was a mother of seven children present at the meeting, and so she was asked to complete the following sentence in what would be publicly acceptable Guarani: I have given birth to seven children. After each childbirth 1 observed a period of . . .. The mother of seven immediately came back with an expression which back-translated into English would mean the ‘forties’. It was a reference to the forty days of purification which local culture required. When the translators were asked how such an expression would sound in Luke 2, one of them objected: ‘Why, if we use that idiom, everybody would know what we are talking about!’ In the discussion that followed, the committee realized that it is the translator’s responsibility to provide a message which will speak the truth clearly.”
The Greek in Luke 24:27 that is translated as “interpreted” or “explained” is translated as kulumbununa — “to take-apart-a-pile” in Chokwe. “Kulumba is ‘to stack up in a pile’, ‘to pile up’, and ‘to unstack or take from a pile’ is kulumbununa. But this is the word they use for explaining or expounding a subject, and how expressive it is. One who can expound is one who can take the great unordered pile of any truth and ‘unpile’ it, take it apart piece by piece, laying it out in order so that it can be understood.” (Source: D. B. Long in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 87ff. )
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated in English as “you shall not commit adultery” is translated in Toraja-Sa’dan with an established figure of speech: Da’ mupasandak salu lako rampanan kapa’ or “you shall not fathom the river of marriage” (i.e “approach the marriage relationship of another.”) (Source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 21 ff. ).
In Hakha Chin the usual term for “adultery” applies only to women, so the translation in Hakha Chin is “do not take another man’s wife and do not commit adultery.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
The half-hearted attitude of Simon gains liveliness in the Balinese translation by the change of vocabulary. When he addresses Jesus the Master, he naturally uses deferential terms. In his reflection, however, he speaks “within himself” about Jesus and does not use the deferential terminology. In this way he reveals what he really thinks of his quest.
The Greek in 1 Thessalonians 5:3 that is translated as “peace and security” in English is translated in Enlhet as “no news.” “For when all is well there is ‘no news.’ Even when one sends a message to his family about one’s being well, it will be: ‘Tell them that coming from me there is no news,’ i.e. ‘everything is fine and I am well and safe.'” (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )
