lamb

The term that is translated as “lamb” in English is typically translated as “offspring of a sheep” in Ixcatlán Mazatec since there is no specific word for “lamb.” Since this could distract readers with thoughts of God being the sheep when the “lamb” refers to Jesus the translation into Ixcatlán Mazatec chose “little (individual) sheep” for those cases. (Source: Robert Bascom)

In Dëne Súline the native term for “lamb” directly translated as “the young one of an evil little caribou.” To avoid the negative connotation, a loan word from the neighboring South Slavey was used. (Source: NCEM, p. 70)

For the Kasua translation, it took a long process to find the right term. Rachel Greco (in The PNG Experience ) tells this story:

“To the Kasua people of Western Province, every four-legged animal is a pig. They call a horse a pig-horse, a cow, a pig-cow, and a sheep, a pig-sheep, because all of these animals have four legs, which is kopolo, or pig, in their language.

“When the translation team would translate the word, ‘sheep’ in the New Testament, they would translate it as ‘pig-sheep’. So when Jesus is referred to as the ‘Lamb,’ (John 1:29; Rev. 12:11; Rev. 17:14), they translated as ‘pig-sheep’ so that in John 1:29 it would read: ‘Behold, the pig-sheep of God.’

“When some members of the translation team attended the Translators Training Course, they had the opportunity to observe and study sheep for the first time. As they watched and learned more about the animals’ behavior, their understanding of these creatures—and God’s Word—rotated on its axis.

“Once during the course, Logan and Konni — the translation team’s helpers — were driving with the team to a Bible dedication when Amos, one of the team members, said passionately, ‘We can’t use the word kopolo in front of the word, ‘sheep’! Pigs know when they’re about to die and squeal and scream.’ The team had often watched villagers tie up pigs so they wouldn’t escape.

“’But,’ Amos said, ‘Jesus didn’t do that.’ The team had learned that sheep are quiet and still when death walks toward them. They had observed, as they translated the New Testament, the words of Isaiah 53 fulfilled: ‘Like a lamb led to the slaughter, he did not open his mouth.’ And now they understood what it meant. For this reason, the team decided not to put pig-sheep in the New Testament for the word ‘sheep,’ but used sheep-animal or, in their language, a:pele sipi.

“The Kasua translation team also chose to discard the word ‘pig’ before sheep because pigs are unclean animals to the Jews. The team knew that Jesus was called the ‘Lamb of God’ in the New Testament to show that he is unblemished and clean. Hopefully the Lord will open up the Kasua villagers’ eyes to these same truths about Jesus as they read of Him in their own language.”

See also sheep and sheep / lamb.

dough

The Greek that is translated as “dough” or similar in English is translated in Matumbi as “kneaded flour.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

leaven

The Greek that is translated in English as “leaven” or “yeast” is translated in Alekano as “bile.”

Ellis Deibler (in Holzhausen 1991, p. 46f. explains): “A translation helper from the Gahuku people [one of the tribes that speak Alekano] and I had just finished translating chapter 5 of 1 Corinthians. In it, Paul gives instructions to the Corinthians on how to behave toward an immoral man in the church. In verse 6 it says ‘Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?’ Patiently, I explained to my trusted translation helper all about leaven and its function in baking bread. He shook his head in resignation and said, ‘We can try to translate it that way if you want, but people won’t understand. They don’t know how to bake bread, just as they don’t know what leaven is or what it does. How then will they understand what Paul is saying here? But …’ he added, following a sudden inspiration, ‘there would be another way. When we slaughter an animal, there’s a small part on its body that we never cut up, because otherwise when we cook it, all the rest of the meat becomes inedible.’ I could tell that he was thinking of bile. It was also clear to me that he had found a fitting example from the culture of his people. ‘We can translate it this way,’ he continued, ‘the gall bladder is a small thing, but if just a little of it is cooked together with the meat, the whole dish becomes so bitter that it cannot be eaten. Don’t you know that?’ He was quite confident in his version of translating this verse, but I had reservations. ‘What about the next verse, then, where Paul says to clean sweep out the old leaven?’, I asked. ‘Oh, that’s not difficult,’ he replied. Then he explained to me that it is customary among the Gahuku to use the word leaven figuratively to refer to an evil quality in a person, and added, ‘We can simply say, ‘Expel this disgusting stuff from your midst, and you will be truly palatable.” I thought about his suggestion for a while and discussed it at length with other colleagues. After that, I too was convinced that we had found an excellent substitute for the biblical figure of speech ‘leaven,’ and one that the Gahukus could not misunderstand. After all, they know a lot about cooking meat, but nothing at all about baking bread.”

See also leaven.

sacrifice

The Greek that is translated as “sacrifice” in English is translated in Huba as hatǝmachi or “shoot misfortune.”

David Frank (in this blog post ) explains: “How is it that ‘shoot misfortune’ comes to mean sacrifice, I wanted to know? Here is the story: It is a traditional term. Whenever there were persistent problems such as a drought, or a rash of sickness or death, the king (or his religious advisor) would set aside a day and call on everyone to prepare food, such as the traditional mash made from sorghum, or perhaps even goat. The food had to be put together outside. The king or his religious advisor would give an address stating what the problem was and what they were doing about it. Then an elder representing the people would take a handful of that food and throw it, probably repeating that action several times, until it was considered to be enough to atone for all the misfortune they had been having. With this action he was ‘shooting (or casting off) misfortune’ to restore well-being to his people. As he threw the food, he would say that this is to remove the misfortune that had fallen on his people, and everybody would respond by saying aɗǝmja, ‘let it be so.’ People could eat some of this food, but they could not bring the food into their houses, because that would mean that they were bringing misfortune into their house. There is still a minority of people in this linguistic and cultural group that practices the traditional religion, but the shooting of misfortune is no longer practiced, and the term ‘shoot misfortune’ is used now in Bible translation to refer to offering a sacrifice. Aɗǝmja is how they translate ‘amen.'”

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (1Cor. 5:7)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the inclusive form (including the addressee).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (1 Corinthians 5:7)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 5:7:

  • Uma: “When the Yahudi people do the custom of Paskah Feast, they remove yeast from their houses, and they slaughter their substitutionary/redemptive sheep. Like the Yahudi people remove yeast from their houses, so also you must remove the sinning person from your fellowship, so that you will become God’s holy people–for you are indeed God’s people, relatives. For Kristus has died as our Paskah sheep to redeem us.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Therefore you should remove that old yeast, that means your bad doings so that there won’t be any bad there with you. If you do this you are/will-be figuratively a new dough not mixed with yeast. I know that you are already clean/holy because you trust in Isa Almasi. Isa Almasi hep died to cause our (incl.) sins to be done away with and he is figuratively like the sheep slaughtered by the Yahudi at the time of the Feast for Remembering God’s Passing by.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “It’s necessary that you remove from yourselves that old yeast which is the former evil-doings, so that there is no evil there among you. If you obey this, you’ll be like the new bread which has no yeast. I know that you are already like this because of your faith in Christ. Because as for Christ, He is like a young sheep which is sacrificed on the Passover Feast, because He was sacrificed so that we might be set free.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “It is necessary then that you stop your bad behavior that is compared to yeast so that your behavior will become like your clean status in God’s estimation. You must do that so that you will be compared to just-cooked bread that has no yeast that is used-in-conjunction-with (lit. companioned-with) the sheep that the Jews butcher at the fiesta called Passed-By. Because Cristo who is the illustration of that sheep has already died to set-us -free from sin.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Yes indeed, remove now all your ways which are contrary to God’s will so that your lives may be renewed. For is it not so that God now regards you as people who now have no sin? His estimation of us is like this because of our believing-in/obeying Cristo, he who was made to be like a sheep which was sacrificed so that we would be passed-by by God’s punishment because of our sins. This is the fulfillment of what is alluded to in that fiesta of us (excl.) Jews in the past that is called Passed-by.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Therefore, throw outside the man who did the sin, in order that he will not spoil other people. Because he still hasn’t spoiled the thoughts of the people. Christ now has died to clear our sins, like when a sacrifice is made on the Passover celebration.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Christ, Messiah

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The Greek Christos (Χρηστός) is typically transliterated when it appears together with Iésous (Ἰησοῦς) (Jesus). In English the transliteration is the Anglicized “Christ,” whereas in many other languages it is based on the Greek or Latin as “Kristus,” “Cristo,” or similar.

When used as a descriptive term in the New Testament — as it’s typically done in the gospels (with the possible exceptions of for instance John 1:17 and 17:3) — Christos is seen as the Greek translation of the Hebrew mashiaḥ (המשיח‎) (“anointed”). Accordingly, a transliteration of mashiaḥ is used, either as “Messiah” or based on the Greek or Latin as a form of “Messias.”

This transliteration is also used in the two instances where the Greek term Μεσσίας (Messias) is used in John 1:41 and 4:25.

In some languages and some translations, the term “Messiah” is supplemented with an explanation. Such as in the German Gute Nachricht with “the Messiah, the promised savior” (Wir haben den Messias gefunden, den versprochenen Retter) or in Muna with “Messiah, the Saving King” (Mesias, Omputo Fosalamatino) (source: René van den Berg).

In predominantly Muslim areas or for Bible translations for a Muslim target group, Christos is usually transliterated from the Arabic al-Masih (ٱلْمَسِيحِ) — “Messiah.” In most cases, this practice corresponds with languages that also use a form of the Arabic Isa (عيسى) for Jesus (see Jesus). There are some exceptions, though, including modern translations in Arabic which use Yasua (يَسُوعَ) (coming from the Aramaic Yēšūa’) alongside a transliteration of al-Masih, Hausa which uses Yesu but Almahisu, and some Fula languages (Adamawa Fulfulde, Nigerian Fulfulde, and Central-Eastern Niger Fulfulde) which also use a form of Iésous (Yeesu) but Almasiihu (or Almasiifu) for Christos.

In Indonesian, while most Bible translations had already used Yesus Kristus rather than Isa al Masih, three public holidays used to be described using the term Isa Al Masih. From 2024 on, the government is using Yesus Kristus in those holiday names instead (see this article in Christianity Today ).

Other solutions that are used by a number of languages include these:

  • Dobel: “The important one that God had appointed to come” (source: Jock Hughes)
  • Noongar: Keny Mammarap or “The One Man” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Mairasi: “King of not dying for life all mashed out infinitely” (for “mashed out,” see salvation; source: Lloyd Peckham)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “One chosen by God to rule mankind” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Bacama: Ma Pwa a Ngɨltən: “The one God has chosen” (source: David Frank in this blog post )
  • Binumarien: Anutuna: originally a term that was used for a man that was blessed by elders for a task by the laying on of hands (source: Desmond Oatridges, Holzhausen 1991, p. 49f.)
  • Noongar: Keny Boolanga-Yira Waangki-Koorliny: “One God is Sending” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uab Meto: Neno Anan: “Son of heaven” P. Middelkoop explains: “The idea of heavenly power bestowed on a Timorese king is rendered in the title Neno Anan. It is based on the historical fact that chiefs in general came from overseas and they who come thence are believed to have come down from heaven, from the land beyond the sea, that means the sphere of God and the ghosts of the dead. The symbolical act of anointing has been made subservient to the revelation of an eternal truth and when the term Neno Anan is used as a translation thereof, it also is made subservient to a new revelation of God in Jesus Christ. The very fact that Jesus came from heaven makes this translation hit the mark.” (Source: P. Middelkoop in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 183ff. )

In Finnish Sign Language both “Christ” and “Messiah” are translated with sign signifying “king.” (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Christ / Messiah” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient Greek Septuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew mashiah was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments (click or tap here to read more):

“Another important word in the New Testament that comes from the Septuagint is christos, ‘Christ.’ Christ is not part of the name of the man from Nazareth, as if ‘the Christs’ were written above the door of his family home. Rather, ‘Christ’ is an explicitly messianic title used by the writers of the New Testament who have learned this word from the Septuagint’s translation of the Hebrew mashiach, ‘anointed,’ which itself is often rendered in English as ‘Messiah.’ To be sure, one detects a messianic intent on the part of the Septuagint translator in some places. Amos 4:13 may have been one of these. In the Hebrew Bible, God ‘reveals his thoughts to mortals,’ but the Septuagint has ‘announcing his anointed to humans.’ A fine distinction must be made, however, between theology that was intended by the Septuagint translators and that developed by later Christian writers. In Amos 4:13 it is merely possible we have a messianic reading, but it is unquestionably the case that the New Testament writers exploit the Septuagint’s use of christos, in Amos and elsewhere, to messianic ends.”

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Christ .

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )