Yatzachi Zapotec: “poor people who have nothing” (source for this and three above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.).
Low German: “those who don’t account to anything in other people’s eyes” (source: translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006)
Kako: “those who lower the heart” (source: Reyburn 2002, p. 190)
The Greek that is translated in English as “hanging him on a tree” in English is translated as “crucified on a cross” in Teutila Cuicatec), as “put him on a tree” in Lalana Chinantec, as “fastened him on a tree made into a cross” in Chichimeca-Jonaz, as “on a cross” in Morelos Nahuatl, or “hang on a cross” in Chuj. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
The Greek chrió that is translated as “anoint” in English is translated in Chol as “choose.” Wilbur Aulie (in The Bible Translator 1957, p. 109ff. ) explains: “Another illustration of translating a figure in a non-figurative manner is the treatment of chrió ‘anoint’. In Luke 4:18, Acts 4:27 and 10:38, and in 2 Corinthians 1:21 it is metaphorical of consecration to office by God. We translated the metaphor ‘choose’.”
Other translations include “place as Savior” in Highland Popoluca, “appoint to rule” in Coatlán Mixe, “give work to do” in Tepeuxila Cuicatec, or “give office to be our Savior” in Chuj (source of this and four above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.).
In Elhomwe it is translated as “anoint to choose and to appoint.” Note that anointing is a common practice in Malawi. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
“house of God where they kept the stones on which were written the commandments of God” in Morelos Nahuatl
“small holy house which was of the skins of animals, in it were the stones which contained the ten commandments” in San Mateo del Mar Huave
“church inside which the slates on which God’s law was written were kept” in Teutila Cuicatec (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
“Tent of meeting God” in Nigerian Fulfulde (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
“the tent of the testimony showing that God is present” in Elhomwe (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
“God’s shelter together with the box of the law which confirmed his talk” in Bariai (source: Bariai Back Translation)
“Great Above One’s Cloth House” in Mairiasi (source: Enggavoter 2004)
The Greek in Romans 1:30 that is translated as “slanderer” or “backbiter” or similar in English is translated as “raised up lies about their fellow people” in Central Mazahua, as “talk ugly about their fellows” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui, as “those who give a vicious twist to what they hear” in Highland Totonac, and as “hunted people’s sin” in Huehuetla Tepehua. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated as sie leisten Spitzeldienste or “they are informers.”
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “adultery” in English (here etymologically meaning “to alter”) is typically understood as “marital infidelity.” It is (back-) translated in the following ways:
Toraja-Sa’dan: “to measure the depth of the river of (another’s) marriage”
North Alaskan Inupiatun: “married people using what is not theirs” (compare “fornication” which is “unmarried people using what is not theirs”) (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated as “envy” or “envious” in most English translations is, according to Nida (1952, p. 134), translated into Tzeltal and Tabasco Chontal in the following manner:
“Envy is bred of covetousness and self-centeredness. The Tzeltals, who recognize a covetous man as having a ‘small heart,’ say that an envious person has ‘a greedy heart.’ ‘Small hearts’ and ‘greedy hearts’ go together, and the soul shrinks in direct proportion to its greediness. The envious person is never satisfied, for he can never keep step with his own insatiable ego.
“The Chontal Indians, living in the low, swampy delta land of Tabasco in southern Mexico, regard envy in a more subtle way. They say of the man who is envious of his neighbor, ‘He did not want to see his neighbor.’ This describes the end result of envy. People cannot bear to see others enjoying the privileges which they insist should be their own. The envious man has acquired such a self-directed stare that he cannot take his eyes off self to see another’s enjoyment.”
In Central Mazahua is is translated as “jealous of each other, their fellow people,” in Sayula Popoluca as “hate those who have something” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), in Matumbi as sukya, which means “envy” but also “hate” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext), and in Kupsabiny as “blackstomached” (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation).
The Greek that is often translated as “desires of the flesh” in English is translated in Ixcatlán Mazatec as “human desires” (source: Robert Bascom), in Mezquital Otomi as “the desires of our old life,” in Tzeltal as “doing what your bodies want,” and in Huehuetla Tepehua as “doing the things that your thoughts like (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.).
In Enlhet it is translated as “wantings of the innermost.” “Innermost” or valhoc is a term that is frequently used in Enlhet to describe a large variety of emotions or states of mind (for other examples see here). (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )
