The Hebrew and Greek pesach/pascha that is typically translated in English as “Passover” (see below) is translated in a variety of descriptive ways of various aspects of the Jewish festival. (Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight):
Umiray Dumaget Agta: “the celebration of the day of their being brought out of bondage”
(source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
Copainalá Zoque: “celebrating the deliverance of Jews from Egypt” (source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2-20)
Obolo: ijọk Iraraka — “Festival of Passing” (source: Enene Enene)
Yakan: “The festival of the Isra’il tribe which they call For-Remembering” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
Wolof: “Festival of the day of Salvation” (“the term ‘pass over’ brings up the image of a person’s crossing over a chasm after death”) (source: Marilyn Escher)
Bura-Pabir: vir kucelir fəlɓəla kəi — “time-of happiness-of jumping-over house”
Sabaot: Saakweetaab Keeytaayeet — “Festival of Passing-by” (source: Iver Larsen)
Language spoken in India and Bangladesh: “Festival of avoidance”
Vlax Romani: o ghes o baro le Nakhimasko — “the Day of the Passing”
Saint Lucian Creole: Fèt Délivwans — “Feast of Deliverance” (source: David Frank)
Finnish: pääsiäinen (“The term is very probably coined during the NT translation process around 1520-1530. It is connected to a multivalent verb päästä and as such refers either to the Exodus (päästä meaning “to get away [from Egypt]”) or to the end of the Lent [päästä referring to get relieved from the limitations in diet]. The later explanation being far more probable than the first.”)
Northern Sami: beas’sážat (“Coined following the model in Finnish. The Sami verb is beassat and behaves partly like the Finnish one. Many Christian key terms are either borrowed from Finnish or coined following the Finnish example.”)
Estonian: ülestõusmispüha — “holiday/Sunday of the resurrection” — or lihavõttepüha — “holiday/Sunday of returning of meat”
Karelian: äijüpäivü — “the great day” (“Here one can hear the influence of the Eastern Christianity, but not directly Russian as language, because the Russian term is Пасха/Pasha or Воскресение Христово/Voskresenie Hristovo, ‘[the day of] the resurrection of Christ,’ but the week before Easter is called as the great week.”) (Source for this and three above: Seppo Sipilä)
Russian (for Russian speaking Muslims): праздник Освобождения/prazdnik Osvobozhdeniya — “Festival of-liberation” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Kono: laaŋumɛ̃ɛ̃ or “skip over the person” (provisional term). Alesha Hagemeyer explains in this blog post that laaŋumɛ̃ɛ̃ is a play on the term laaɲámɛ̃ɛ̃ or “to skip over the water” which is traditionally used for the sacrifice of a sheep or a goat after the death of a family member. That term literally means “to skip over the water” so that “their loved one will pass over the water and enter the presence of God”
English: Passover (term coined by William Tyndale that both replicates the sound of the Hebrew original pesah — פסח as well as part of the meaning: “passing over” the houses of the Israelites in Egypt) — oddly, the English Authorized Version (King James Version) translates the occurrence in Acts 12:4 as Easter
Many Romance languages follow the tradition from Latin that has one term for both “Easter” and “Passover” (pascha). Portuguese uses Páscoa for both, Italian uses Pascha, and French has Pâque for “Passover” and the identically pronounced Pâques for “Easter.”
In languages in francophone and lusophone (Portuguese speaking) Africa, indigenous languages typically use the Romance word for “Easter” as a loanword and often transliterate pesach/pascha. In Kinyarwanda and RundiPasika is used, in Swahili and Congo SwahiliPasaka, and in LingalaPasika. In some cases, the transliteration of “Passover” is derived from the European language, such as Umbundu’sPascoa (from Portuguese) and Bulu’sPak (from French). In languages that use Pak or similar for both “Passover” and “Easter” (such as Adioukrou), the identical spelling “serves to reinforce the idea that this is one celebration, not two distinct ones” (source: Hill 2006).
As John Ellingworth (in The Bible Translator 1980, p 445f. ) points out “in most contexts only the presence or absence of the definite article distinguishes them [in French la pâque for Passover and Pâques for Easter]. Since most African languages do not have definite articles, there remains no way to distinguish between the two terms where the general population has borrowed the word for Easter and the Bible translators have borrowed the word for Passover to use in their translation. Some even consider the references to [Passover] before the death of Christ as prophetic!”
The Greek (and Hebrew) that is translated on many English versions as “Zeal for your house will consume me” is translated in various ways in other languages:
Yanesha’: “My protectiveness for your house completely possesses me.”
Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac: “So very much I want the house of God to be honored. And because of this I am treated with contempt.”
Tenango Otomi: “I look with respect on your house, even though I lose my life.”
Lalana Chinantec: “I cannot stand it, so much do I value the house where they worship You.” (Source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
Uma: “My heart boiled, because I love your (sing.) House, Lord.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “My love for your house o God, is like a fire in my liver which is destroying me.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Very great is my cherishing of your house, God, and that’s why it has become a reason for giving me a very painful breath.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “My extreme concern-for (lit. hurting-for) your (sing.) house, that will be my death.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “I really uphold/stand-up-for very much your house where you are worshiped even if it will cause my life/breath to be severed.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “I look with respect on your house, even though I lose my life.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
In Gbaya, the notion of “consume” (or “burn like a fire” in the Good News Translation) is emphasized with lɛk-lɛk, an ideophone “that is often used to describe the flames of a fire.”
Philip Noss (in The Bible Translator 1976, p. 100ff. ) explains: “A descriptive device common to Gbaya oral literature that is often found in translations of the Psalms is the ideophone. The ideophone may be identified with onomatopoeia and other sound words frequently seen in French and English comic strips, but in Gbaya and other African languages it comprises a class of words with a very wide range of meaning and usage. They may function verbally, substantively, or in a modifying role similar to adverbs and adjectives. They describe anything that may be experienced: action, sound, color, quality, smell, or emotion. In oral literature they are used not only with great frequency but also with great creativity.
Conforming to Gbaya literary style, the team used ideophones in its translation of the Psalms, although an average of less than two per psalm is a considerably lower rate of occurrence than in Gbaya narrative. There were two reasons for this limited usage. The first was that the Psalms are poetry rather than action narrative where their occurrence would be more common. The second was that in a tale being performed for artistic reasons, the ideophone may predominate over the action, whereas in the psalm the ideophone must complement without dominating or overshadowing the message. However, since the ideophone is an integral part of Gbaya literary expression, it could not be omitted. To do so would have rendered the translation colorless and unliterary.”
Morelos Nahuatl: “the Holy Spirit enters one’s heart to rule”
Teutila Cuicatec: “God’s Spirit possesses one” / “in all the authority of the Holy Spirit”
Isthmus Mixe: “have the Holy Spirit (in one’s head and heart) very much” or “Holy Spirit enter one completely”
Lalana Chinantec: “one’s heart really obeyed what the Holy Spirit wanted”
Chichimeca-Jonaz: “one’s heart full of God’s Holy Spirit” (source for this and seven above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Yawa: “God’s Spirit gives one power” (source: Larry Jones)
Yakan: “ruled by the Holy Spirit” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “thoroughly controlled by the Holy Spirit” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “the Holy Spirit had-entered-to-indwell one” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The following story is relayed by Martha Duff Tripp as she led the translation of the New Testament into Yanesha’ (p. 310): “I continue to work with Casper Mountain [an Yanesha’ translator] on translation. As we start the book of Luke, we run into another problem. In Chapter 1, verse 15, the text reads (speaking of John the Baptist), ‘and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ The Amueshas [Yanesha’s] have never associated their word for ‘fill’ with anything except pots and baskets. How can a person be ‘filled’? Even their word for a full stomach is not the word for ‘fill.’ We talk together about what ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ means (obsessed with or possessed by). The thought comes to me of what the Amueshas [Yanesha’s] say about the shaman. They say that he can ‘wear’ the spirit of the tiger, that they can tell when he is wearing the tiger spirit because he then will act like a tiger. Their word for ‘wear’ is the same word as to ‘wear or put on a garment.’ Can this possibly be the way to say ‘filled with God’s Spirit’? As I cautiously question Casper about this, his face lights up immediately. ‘Yes, that is the way we would say it, he is ’wearing’ God’s Holy Spirit.’”
Note that Cheyenne also uses the term for “wear” in these instances. (Source: Wayne Leman)
Following are a number of back-translations of John 1:17:
Yatzachi Zapotec: “Moses taught the ancestors of us Israelites the law of God, but Jesus Christ came to teach that God loves mankind, and he teaches us all the true words of God.”
Huehuetla Tepehua: “The law about the things of God, the one who gave it was Moses. But the love which was to us and the truth came into being because of Jesus Christ.”
Umiray Dumaget Agta: “Even though Moses was caused to speak the rules of God, Jesus Christ was the one appointed to show mercy and to declare the truth.”
Guerrero Amuzgo: “. . . but Jesus Christ is the source of all favor and of the words that are true.”
Chol: “… . Jesus Christ came and gave us the goodness of his heart and truth.”
Tenango Otomi: “By means of Moses the law of God is known. But by means of Jesus Christ the love of God and the true word are known.” (Source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
Uma: “From the prophet Musa we received the Law of the Lord God. But [it is] from Yesus Kristus that we really know God, and his grace to us.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “The law of God was given/sent to mankind by Musa but God’s love and the truth are given to mankind by Isa Almasi, he is the one called the Word of God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And by means of Moses, God brought down to earth the laws. But by means of Jesus, God brought down to earth his love/grace for us and the true doctrine.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Because God made-known his law through Moses, but his mercy/kindness and the truth concerning him, he made-known to us through Jesu Cristo.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Because God gave his laws to Moises which he was commanding us, but that grace/mercy of his and truth concerning himself, he caused us to comprehend through Jesu-Cristo.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The Law was-given by God to us (incl.) through Moises, but mercy and truth arrived to us (incl.) through Jesus-Christ.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Mairasi: “We have already received the prohibitions Belonging to Above-One, we received them from Musa himself. But His good insides and tuber were revealed in Yesus Kristus.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
Bariai: “For the law came about by Moses’ hand, and then the action of kindness and true talk came about by Iesus Kristus’ hand.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Kupsabiny: “Moses gave us the laws and the Savior Jesus brought for us love and the words of truth.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
the Greek in Luke 15:5 that is translated as “lays it on his shoulders” in English is translated in Yakan as “take it in his arms” (source: Yakan Back Translation), in Western Bukidnon Manobo as “carries him in his arms” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation), and in Tagbanwa as “carries it round his neck” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 2:8:
Uma: “Actually Yesus knew what was in their thoughts. That is why he said: ‘Why are your thoughts like that?” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Immediately Isa knew what they were thinking and he said to them, ‘Why are you questioning like that in your liver?” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Then Jesus understood that that was what was in their minds, and he said to them, ‘Why are you thinking like that?” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “But Jesus knew nevertheless that that was in their minds, and he said, ‘Why are you thinking that?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But Jesus knew that which was in their minds. That’s why he said, ‘Why is like that in your minds?)” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Kim text for oral translation: “What is the easiest thing; it is that of saying to the paralysed: ‘Your sins have been forgiven’ or of saying ‘Get up, take your bed, go your going (go away)’?” (Source: Bayamy Tchande Awakde in The Bible Translator 2025, p. 23ff.)
English translation by Michael Pakaluk (2019): “So Jesus — who knows immediately in his spirit that this is how they are thinking about themselves — says to them: ‘Why are you thinking those things?'”
German Luther translation: Posaune, today: “trombone,” originally with the meaning of a wind instrument made from cow horn (from Latin bucina [bovi- / “cow” + the root of cano / “sing”]. Incidentally, bucina is also used in the Latin Vulgate translation). By the time of Luther’s translation it referred to the natural trumpet or a fanfare trumpet (see also trumpet). Once the meaning morphed to “trombone” in the 19th century, trombone ensembles started to play a central role in Protestant German churches and do so to the present day. In 2016, “Posaunenchöre” became added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list . (Note that Exodus 19:13 is the only exception in the Luther Bible. From the 1956 revision on, Widderhorn or “ram’s horn” is used here) (source: Zetzsche)
Description: The horn was a wind instrument made from the horn of an animal, usually a male sheep.
Usage: The animal horn was softened so that it could be shaped. The point of the horn was cut off to leave a small opening through which the user blew. The vibration of the lips produced the sound.
The ram’s horn served two general purposes:
1. It was blown in certain religious contexts, not as musical accompaniment to worship but as a signal for important events. Some of these events were the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, the Day of Atonement, the bringing of the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem, and the coronation of kings.
2. It also served as a signal or alarm when war was approaching. Such references are particularly common in the prophetic books, when the prophets are calling the people to repent (Hosea 5:8; 8:1; Joel 2:1; 2:15; Amos 3:6).
Translation: In many passages the purpose of the ram’s horn called shofar in Hebrew was to sound an alarm. This will be easy to express in those cultures where the horns of animals are used as musical instruments to give signals to large groups of people. In other cultures it may be possible to find another instrument that is used for an equivalent purpose. In some languages, for example, instruments such as bells or drums are the warnings for war. Some translations have transliterated the word shofar. Unless the instrument is well known, such a borrowing should normally be accompanied by a footnote or a glossary entry.
In some passages it will be necessary to expand the translation in order to indicate that the blowing of the ram’s horn was not just for music; for example, in Ezekiel 7:14Contemporary English Version has “A signal has been blown on the trumpet,” and the GermanContemporary English Version says “An alarm is sounded” [elsewhere, the same German version refers to the horns as Kriegshörner or “war horns.”]
Man blowing ram’s horn (source: Knowles, revised by Bass (c) British and Foreign Bible Society 1994)
