San Mateo del Mar Huave: “honor (Father God)” (source for this and three above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
In Dan a figurative expression for praising God is used: “push God’s horse.” “In the distant past people closely followed the horses ridden by chiefs, so ‘pushing’ them.” (Source: Don Slager)
The Greek in Acts 12:8 that is translated as “wrap your cloak around you” or similar in English is translated in Lalana Chinantec a “put on your warm cloth,” in Morelos Nahuatl as “put on your other clothing,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “put on your outer shirt,” and in Chichimeca-Jonaz as “put on your blanket well.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
The Greek that is translated in English as “bound themselves by an oath” or similar is translated in Lalana Chinantec as “cursed themselves.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
In Vame, “oath” is translated as “swear with a curse.” Drew Maust (in The Bible Translator 2019, p. 35ff. ) explains: Acts 23:12 describes a group of men who bind ‘themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they have killed Paul’ (Christian Standard Bible). Most French versions, however, lack explicit reference to a curse, translating the verb ἀναθεματίζω ‘to curse’ by s’engager par serment (to swear an oath; Nouvelle Français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). From the information in a standard lexicon and a recent technical exegetical commentary on the passage in question, it is apparent that a fuller translation of ἀναθεματίζω in the context of Acts 23:12 includes the notion of a curse, contrary to the majority of French translations (especially in light of the way the event is recounted two verses later in 23:14 with the addition of ἀναθέματι ‘a curse’). The Vame translators and I discussed the different interpretative options before the translators opted for making explicit the idea of a curse in their translation (‘swear with a curse’).”
The Greek, Latin and Ge’ez that is translated as “all the gentiles” or “all nations” in English is translated as “all people” in Tzeltal, as “all mankind” in Highland Totonac, or “the peoples who are everywhere” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
The Greek terms that are translated as “reconcile” and “reconciliation” in English are translated in various ways. Nida (1952, pp. 140) says this:
“The North Alaskan Inupiatun describe reconciliation in the simple terms of ‘making friends again.’ That is to say, ‘God was in Christ making friends again with the world.’ The Uduk in the Sudan express this same truth, but in the rather interesting phrase ‘meet, snapping fingers together again.’ This expression is derived from the Uduk’s practice of snapping fingers together when they meet each other. Instead of shaking hands, they extend their thumbs and middle fingers and snap fingers together, but only friends will do this. Men who have something against each other refuse to acknowledge each other in this way. And so it is that the natural man is an enemy of God; he refuses to snap fingers with God, but God has come to reconcile man to Himself and through Jesus Christ has brought man into fellowship with Himself. Man and God may now meet ‘to snap fingers together again.’
“The Tai Dam of Indo-China employ quite a different figure of speech. They say that reconciliation consists in ‘rubbing off the corners.’ This does not refer to social acceptability, but to rubbing off the corners so that two objects, meant for each other, will fit together. Man is regarded as being incapable of fitting into the plan and fellowship of God because of the sin which has deformed him and which stands out as an ugly growth on his personality. The corners of iniquity must be rubbed off so that man may be reconciled to God and made to fit into God’s eternal plan for the world.”
The Greek in Acts 7:5 that is translated as “(not even a) foot’s length” or “(not even enough to) set a foot on” is translated in Paicî with an existing local idiom: “(not even) the dirt from under one of our fingernails.” (Source: Ian Flaws)
In Teutila Cuicatec it is translated as “not even so much as enough to place one of his feet on.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
“know something is true because of seeing it” in Teutila Cuicatec (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
“ones who will confirm that these-things that you have seen are true” in Kankanaey (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
“ones who are to testify about these things, because it all happened before your eyes” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The Greek in Acts 14:14 that is translated as “tore their clothes” in English is translated as “showed their distress” in Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac, as “tore their own clothing to show how sad they were” in Sierra de Juárez Zapotec, and as “tore their shirts” (said thus to avoid the idea of showing nakedness) in Garifuna. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
