complete verse (Titus 2:5)

Following are a number of back-translations of Titus 2:5:

  • Uma: “have clear hearts, holy actions, take good care of their children and their homes, have good hearts [i.e., be kind], and submit to their husbands. If like that their actions, no-one will disparage the Word of God.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “and so that their thinking is good and they are good/respectable and have pity/mercy on their companions. They should persevere working in the house, and they should do/follow their husbands wishes. If the custom of the young women is like that the people will not put-down/criticize the word of God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “and so that they might teach them to think properly, to avoid immoral activity, and to do their work well. They must obey the commands of their husbands. And if that is what the behavior of the women is like, no one will be able to say that what we teach from the Word of God is bad.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “They are also to advise them to control themselves and that their behavior/character be clean. They must also tend-to their homes, be patient, and submit-themselves-to (lit. cause-themselves -to-be-ruled-by) their husbands. For if they follow these behaviors, the word of God which we are teaching will not be deprecated/belittled.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “controlling themselves and putting far from them whatever disgusting motive of the mind/inner-being. They are to be managing their households well, to be behaving-properly/nice and obedient to their husbands, so that the word of God which we teach won’t be negatively-criticized.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “They are to teach them to watch themselves well, not to do what is evil. They are to do what their husbands say. If they do according to this word, then no one will be able to speak against the word of God.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) (verses 3-5): “Exactly the same applies to the older women. They should reflect God’s holiness in their entire demeanor, they should not cause unrest, they should not be enslaved to wine, but they should act as teachers of the good and thus lead a prudent life. The younger women should love their husbands and children. They should live prudently and purely before God, manage their household well and yet voluntarily submit to their husbands so that God’s message cannot be maligned in society.” (This reflects what Ulrich Wendel [in: Werner 2018, p. 73ff.] mentions as a possible translation of these verses. Here it’s not the old women teaching the young women but Titus is instructed to teach both of these groups. Wendel is coming to that conclusion on the basis of the parallelism of verses 2-6 [older men – old women – young women – young men] and the fact that sóphronizó (σωφρονίζω) in verse 4 does not necessarily have “young women” as its object.)

complete verse (Titus 2:3)

Following are a number of back-translations of Titus 2:3:

  • Uma: “So also old women, teach them so that their actions are like people who submit to the Lord God, not speaking evil of others, not addicted to drinking intoxicants, and faithful in teaching others to make-good their actions.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Like that also teach to the old women. Their customs ought to be good so that God is pleased with them. They should not slander their companions and not habitually-drink (alcoholic understood). Their teachings should be good.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “What you teach to the older women is just the same. God must always be pleased with their deeds. They are not gossips, they are not habitual drinkers of wine. They must always teach good deeds” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “As for the collective-older-women moreover, advise them also to follow a holy lifestyle that is appropriate to their faith. Advise them also not to speak-evil-of their companions or get-drunk, but rather that they teach what is good” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Like that too are the old/mature women. Teach them that it’s necessary that they always live lives in harmony with the will of God. They are not to be gossipers, not a slave to intoxicating-drink. On the contrary, they are to be explaining/making-clear the nature/ways which please God.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “And also the old women, tell them that they should live so as to be respected. They are not to bite in their speaking. They are not to be drunkards. All that is good, they are to show.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) (verses 3-5): “Exactly the same applies to the older women. They should reflect God’s holiness in their entire demeanor, they should not cause unrest, they should not be enslaved to wine, but they should act as teachers of the good and thus lead a prudent life. The younger women should love their husbands and children. They should live prudently and purely before God, manage their household well and yet voluntarily submit to their husbands so that God’s message cannot be maligned in society.” (This reflects what Ulrich Wendel [in: Werner 2018, p. 73ff.] mentions as a possible translation of these verses. Here it’s not the old women teaching the young women but Titus is instructed to teach both of these groups. Wendel is coming to that conclusion on the basis of the parallelism of verses 2-6 [older men – old women – young women – young men] and the fact that sóphronizó (σωφρονίζω) in verse 4 does not necessarily have “young women” as its object.)

complete verse (Titus 2:4)

Following are a number of back-translations of Titus 2:4:

  • Uma: “If the behavior of old women is like that, they can teach women who are still young so that they too know how to love their husbands and children,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then they can teach the young women so that they love their husbands and their children” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “so that they might be able to teach to the younger women love for their husbands and their children,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “to the women who are younger than they (lit. their younger-siblings) in order that they be instructed in the right way for them to love their husbands and children.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For provided it’s like that, they can train/supervise the still young women. They can train them to value their husband and children,” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “They are to teach the young women to love their husbands and to love their children.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) (verses 3-5): “Exactly the same applies to the older women. They should reflect God’s holiness in their entire demeanor, they should not cause unrest, they should not be enslaved to wine, but they should act as teachers of the good and thus lead a prudent life. The younger women should love their husbands and children. They should live prudently and purely before God, manage their household well and yet voluntarily submit to their husbands so that God’s message cannot be maligned in society.” (This reflects what Ulrich Wendel [in: Werner 2018, p. 73ff.] mentions as a possible translation of these verses. Here it’s not the old women teaching the young women but Titus is instructed to teach both of these groups. Wendel is coming to that conclusion on the basis of the parallelism of verses 2-6 [older men – old women – young women – young men] and the fact that sóphronizó (σωφρονίζω) in verse 4 does not necessarily have “young women” as its object.)

Translation commentary on John 8:44

You are the children of you father, the Devil is literally “You are of your father, the Devil.” It is obvious that the expression “of your father, the Devil” means the children of your father, the Devil. Phillips and New English Bible both translate “Your father is the devil” (Jerusalem Bible “The devil is your father”). It is best to translate as Good News Translation does, since the pronoun you is emphatic in the Greek sentence structure.

Underlying the expression the children of your father is the concept that a son partakes of the characteristics of his parents, especially of the father; but this concept may be utterly lost in some languages. In fact, it may be preferable to shift the focus and say “the Devil himself is your father.” In other languages it may be better to indicate likeness by saying “you are just like your father, the Devil.”

And you want to follow your father’s desires is literally “And you are willing to do the desires of your father.” In some languages this clause may be rendered “and you like to do the same things your father likes to do.”

In some languages it is difficult to speak of from the very beginning without indicating precisely what began. At the same time, one should not use a translation of from the very beginning which would suggest the eternal existence of the Devil. The closest equivalent in many languages is “he has always been a murderer” or, in some languages, “… one who destroys people” or “… one who kills people.”

[Ulrich Wendel argues (in Jahrbuch für Evangelikale Theologie 21/2007, p. 127ff. ) that the relationship between the two clauses mentioned above could also be in the sense of “namely” (“You have the devil for a father, namely you want to do what your father wants you to do”). The labeling of the adressees (not Jews as such, but Jewish Christ-believers, see 8:30-31) as the children of Satan would therefore be only a refection of their acts, rather than a suggestion of an actual deeper relationship. Wendel says that that “translation would be grammatically possible, though not the first choice in terms of the micro-context, but yet perhaps necessary in terms of the overall tone of Johannine theology and the message of the New Testament.”]

And has never been on the side of truth is more literally “And he was not standing (some Greek manuscripts, “has not stood”) in the truth.” On truth, see Appendix II. The UBS Committee on the Greek text indicates that there is a high degree of doubt concerning the reading selected for the text, and it is almost impossible to determine which of the two Greek texts the various translations follow. However, the meaning comes out essentially the same, whether the imperfect (“was not standing”; “did not stand”) or the perfect (“has not stood”) is followed. Revised Standard Version translates this cause “and has nothing to do with the truth”; New English Bible “and is not rooted in the truth”; Jerusalem Bible “he was never grounded in the truth”; and Moffatt “he has no place in the truth.” In some languages one may say “he has never encouraged that which is true” or “he has never favored that which is true.”

Because there is no truth in him is essentially the same translation as a number of others (see Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible). Phillips changes the focus considerably by rendering “since the truth will have nothing to do with him.” The purpose of this verse is to indicate that God and truth are one, and that the Devil has no relation with God because he has nothing in common with truth. In some languages because there is no truth in him may be rendered “because he has never spoken the truth” or “because he has never said that which is true.”

Jesus’ judgement against the Devil proceeds a step further. He has already affirmed that the Devil has nothing in common with truth, and now he declares that it is the Devil’s very nature to lie. Good News Translation (he is only doing what is natural to him), Revised Standard Version (“he speaks according to his own nature”), Moffatt (“he is expressing his own nature”), and Phillips (“he speaks in character”) all express, at various levels of language, the same meaning. New English Bible (“he is speaking his own language”), Jerusalem Bible (“he is drawing on his own store”), and New American Bible (“Lying speech is his native tongue”) make it difficult for the reader to see immediately what Jesus is talking about. It is not that these translations miss the point, but rather that they fail to communicate clearly and readily the meaning of Jesus’ words. In some languages the closest equivalent of the clauses When he tells a lie he is only doing what is natural to him may be best expressed in a single clause, for example, “because of his own character he habitually lies.” One may, of course, also translate “Whenever he tells a lie, he is only behaving in accordance with his own character” or “… he is true to his own heart” or “… he is speaking from his own heart.”

Because he is a liar and the father of all lies is literally “because he is a liar and the father of it (him).” As the literal rendering of this clause indicates, the phrase translated of all lies by Good News Translation may be taken either as neuter (“of it”) or as masculine (“of him”). If it is taken as masculine, the meaning is “the father of all liars.” Most translators take this phrase to be neuter, and so translate “the father of lies.” In most languages it is easy enough to say “he is the father of all liars,” but difficult to say “he is the father of lies.” One can, of course, say “he is the one who causes people to lie” or “he is the one who prompts lies,” but this translation loses the figure of speech involved in the use of “father.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Translation commentary on Acts 2:46

As a group is the same word which is translated together in 1.14. The expression continued to meet as a group may simply be “came together.”

The temple is in many languages the “house of God,” “holy place,” or “sacred house,” a phrase used in the Old Testament to describe the temple in Jerusalem (see also 3.1).

They had their meals together in their homes (literally “they were breaking bread from house to house”) should be taken to mean that the believers met at different homes from time to time and there shared in their fellowship meals together.

The concept of simultaneous experience of eating and having gladness in one’s heart must be expressed in some languages in a more explicit manner than is employed in the Good News Translation or in the Greek, for example, “they ate and at the same time they were happy.”

Humble hearts (literally “singleness of heart”) may signify either humility or generosity, such as “they gave to one another gladly.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Ulrich Wendel (in: Werner 2018, p. 73ff.) points out that Acts 2:46 might well have to be understood as “eating together” being the main clause and “temple visits” and “breaking of the bread” being subordinate clauses (the latter two being marked with the participle τε as parallel clauses). The translation of that verse (and 2:47a) could therefore be something like: “Day by day, they jubilantly spent time together in the temple and celebrated the breaking of the bread in the various houses. Wherever they were, either in the temple or the houses, they ate their food with glad and generous hearts.”