I am the door (gate)

The Greek in John 10:9 that is translated in English typically as “I am the door (or: gate)” is translated in Lak as “I am the entrance.”

Vitaly Voinov tells this story:

“Field testing showed that some readers might find it hard to understand how a person could say about themselves that they are a door or gate. What exactly this metaphor means in this context was not well understood and caused what linguists call ‘processing difficulty.’ Even when it was explicated by ‘I am the door/gate for the sheep,’ it still caused problems in understanding. In other languages that have experienced a similar problem with this metaphor, translators have sometimes resorted to turning it into a simile, ‘I am like a door/gate.’ But in the Lak case, this would still leave unanswered the basic question of what the exact point of similarity is between Jesus and a door/gate. After much discussion, the team decided to try a different synonym, ‘I am the entrance.’ Further field testing should show whether this has solved the problem or not.”

Likewise, in Chichewa, “‘door’ is ‘that which shuts in,’ so naturally no one is going to be able to ‘enter by’ it. The solution in this case is not too hard to find: Christ is the ‘doorway,’ or entrance, to the house, building, stockpen, or whatever. When ‘open,’ he allows free passage; when ‘closed,’ one’s entry is barred.” (Source: Wendland 1987, p. 121)

In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated as Ich bin das Gatter, using the term that is used for a gate in an animal pen.

their lives loathe bread

The Hebrew in Job 33:20 that is translated as “their lives loathe bread” or similar in English is translated in Chitonga with the existing metaphor “food makes his heart black.” (Source: Wendland 1987, p. 131)

snow (color)

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The Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic that is translated in English as “(as white as) snow” is translated in San Miguel El Grande Mixtec as “(as white as) volcano frost,” the only white kind of frost that is known in that language (source: Nida 1947, p. 160.). Likewise, it is translated in Chichewa as matalala or “hail stones,” since “hail in Central Africa, when it occurs, is also white” (source: Wendland 1987, p. 72).

In Obolo it is translated as abalara: “white cloth” (source: Enene Enene), in Bambam and Bura-Pabir as “like the white of cotton” (source: Phil Campbell in Kroneman 2004, p. 500 and Andy Warren-Rothlin), in Muna as “white like cotton flowers” (source: René van den Berg), in Sharanahua as “like fresh Yuca root” (source: Holzhauen / Riderer 2010, p. 72), in Tagbanwa as “white like just broken waves” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation), in Chitonga as “as the cattle egret ” (source: Wendland 1987, p. 130), in Nabak as “white as a white cockatoo ” (source: Grace Fabian ), in Cerma “white like the full moon,” except in Psalm 51:7 where the Cerma translators chose “wash me with water until I shine” (source: Andrea Suter in Holzhauen / Riderer 2010, p. 36), and in Elhomwe as cotton or ntuura / “ash” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext).

In Gbaya, in most cases an ideophone (term that expresses what is perceived by the five senses) is employed to depict strong intense whiteness (either ndáká-ndáká or kpúŋ-kpúŋ are used for the ideophones), sometimes in combination with “cotton.” Interestingly, for Rev. 1:14 where the color of the hair of the “Son of Man” is described, the use of cotton was questioned since it “would create the unpleasant image of an untidy person with disheveled hair or of a mourner with unkempt appearance.” It was eventually used, but only with a footnote that gives additional information by mentioning the French loan word neige for “snow.” In the two cases where the color white refers to the color of the skin of leprosy (Numbers 12:10 and 2 Kings 5:27), the image of hail is used in the first to describe the pale white of leprous skin, while the ideophone ndáká-ndáká is used for dramatic effect in the second. (Source: Philip Noss)

See also snow, frost, cotton, teeth are like a flock of ewes, many-colored robes / white, very white, and this devotion on YouVersion .

Let days speak - and many years teach wisdom

The Hebrew in Job 32:7 that is translated as “Let days speak, and many years teach wisdom” or similar in English is translated in Chichewa (interconfessional translation) with the existing idiom Munene ulamusiya kulubilo, kumaanu tomwiindi or “You may leave an elder behind in speed, but not in common sense.” (Source: Wendland 1987, p. 106)

in the months of old

The Hebrew in Job 29:2 that is translated as “in the months of old” or similar in English is translated in Chichewa (interconfessional translation) with the existing proverb “in the time of yesterday’s mother.” (Source: Wendland 1987, p. 131)

One who puts on armor should not brag like one who takes it off

The Hebrew in 1 Kings 20:11 that is translated as “One who puts on armour should not brag like one who takes it off” or similar in English is translated in Chitonga with the existing idiom “A man is a buffalo” (i.e., one cannot brag that he is as strong as a water buffalo until after he has defeated his opponent) and in Chichewa (interconfessional translation) as “You’re as good as your fellow upon the anthill only after you’ve climbed up there yourself.” (Source: Wendland 1987, p. 107)

we have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat

The Greek in Matthew 20:12 that is translated as “we have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat” or similar in English is translated in Chichewa (interconfessional translation) with the existing idiom “we have been broken off [like a twig] with respect to work, and the sun has spent its strength upon us.” (Source: Wendland 1987, p. 131)