For more information see this obituary
The Greek in Acts 2:7 that is translated as “amazed and astonished” or similar in English is translated as “remained speechless and marveled” in Morelos Nahuatl, “their thinking went round and round” in Coatlán Mixe, “They lost their abdomens. They stared very much” in Chuj, and “it startled them and they were thinking it over inside their hearts” in Chichimeca-Jonaz. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
See also amazed / astonished / marvel.
The Greek in Acts 9:18 that is translated as “something like scales” in English is translated in Teutila Cuicatec as “something that looked like hail,” and in San Mateo del Mar Huave as “like a cloud.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
See also scales falling from eyes.
The Greek in Acts 19:19 that is translated as “practice magic” in English is translated practiced as “know magic words” in Lalana Chinantec, “reading the paper belonging to the demons” in San Mateo del Mar Huave, and “practice witchcraft” in Teutila Cuicatec. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
The Greek in Romans 7:18 that is translated “nothing good dwells within me” or similar in English is translated as “my wanting-to-sin-life is not the least bit good” in North Alaskan Inupiatun and as “there is no good thing inside my head-heart” in Yatzachi Zapotec. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, Ge’ez, or Greek that is translated as “(God) the Most High” or “Most High God” in English is translated in various way:
The Greek, Hebrew, and Ge’ez that is typically translated as “stocks” in English is translated in Isthmus Mixe as “notched boards” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.).
In Lalana Chinantec it is translated as “where planks have holes in them and where peoples’ feet are tight,” in Chichimeca-Jonaz as “bit their feet with wood,” and in Morelos Nahuatl as “stuck between two boards.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
“Stocks” is illustrated for use in Bible translations in East Africa by Pioneer Bible Translators like this:
Image owned by PBT and Jonathan McDaniel and licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
The Greek that is translated as “magician” is translated in Teutila Cuicatec and Eastern Highland Otomi as “witch doctor” and in Lalana Chinantec as “person who grabs magic words.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
In Kalmyk the word used for magician means “deceiver, cheat, charlatan.” (Source: David Clark in The Bible Translator 2013, p. 54ff. )
See also practice magic and complete verse (Acts 13:6).
The Greek that is translated into English as “anchor” in English is, due to non-existing nautical language, rendered as kayo’ barko (“an instrument that keeps the boat from drifting”) in Chol (source: Steven 1979, p. 76), “iron hooks” (“that make the boat stop”) in Isthmus Mixe, “irons called ‘anchors’ with ropes” in Teutila Cuicatec (source for this and above: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.), “weights, and thus they were able to make the boat stand” in Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac (source: Larson 1998, p. 99), “an iron attached to a rope attached to the boat so that it may not drift away” in Lalana Chinantec (source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2ff.), “a thing that makes the water vehicle stand still” in Kamwe (source: Roger Mohrlang in here), “the metal piece that was in the water that detained the boat” in Eastern Highland Otomi (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), “iron crab” in Bawm Chin (source: David Clark), and “big canoe stopping metal” in Kouya.
Eddie Arthur tells the story of the translation into Kouya: “A slightly more prosaic example comes from Paul’s sea voyages in the Book of Acts. In Acts 27, when Paul’s ship was facing a huge storm, there are several references to throwing out the anchor to save the ship. Now the Kouya live in a tropical rain-forest and have no vessels larger than dug-out canoes used for fishing on rivers. The idea of an anchor was entirely foreign to them. However, it was relatively easy to devise a descriptive term along the lines of ‘boat stopping metal’ that captured the essential nature of the concept. This was fine when we were translating the word anchor in its literal sense. However, in Hebrews 6:19 we read that hope is an anchor for our souls. It would clearly make no sense to use ‘boat stopping metal’ at this point as the concept would simply not have any meaning. So in this verse we said that faith was like the foundation which keeps a house secure. One group working in the Sahel region of West Africa spoke of faith being like a tent peg which keeps a tent firm against the wind. I hope you can see the way in which these two translations capture the essence of the image in the Hebrews verse while being more appropriate to the culture.”
In Toposa a term is used that originally meant “pole, log.” “In its most common meaning nyeloyit̥i refers to a pole or a log that is used to tie animals to in order to slow them down and yet allow them to move about for grazing. It is this resemblance to anchors, especially drift anchors, that helps the audience to understand the function of anchors in seafaring.” (Source: Schröder 2026, p. 101)
See also ship / boat, rudder, and anchor (figurative).