Bawm build with bamboo and thatch in their mountainous forests. They made the apostles and prophets become the roof ridge pole and Jesus the central uprights which support it. I asked why not the corner uprights since Greek has a term that is translated in English as ‘cornerstone.’ Bawm translators responded that the central uprights are more important than the corner ones, and Greek refers to the most important stone. (“Corner uprights” used in 1 Timothy 3:15.) (Source: David Clark)
Similarly, Chris Pluger tells the following from the translation into Tsamakko: “At the end of Ephesians 2, Paul uses the idea of a building to show that people of all nations and backgrounds are united together by faith in Christ. This building is pictured as standing on a stone foundation, and believers are ‘joined together’ as parts of that building. Christ himself is the cornerstone on which everything is based. However, the Tsamakko people of southwest Ethiopia do not build on stone foundations, and their buildings are traditionally round. This makes the idea of a ‘cornerstone’ difficult for several obvious reasons. In the Tsamakko translation of Ephesians 2:20, Christ is the mososso — the big center pole of a house that holds up the roof and the entire structure of the building. The apostles and prophets are the other poles that support the frame of the house. And believers are the house itself — all the pieces that make up the walls and the roof. We are all joined together as one, and Christ is the thing that keeps us together!” (for a complete back-translation of that verse in Tsamakko, see complete verse (Ephesians 2:20).
In Mono, translators used “main post,” in Martu Wangka “two forked sticks with another long strong stick laid across” (see also 1 Peter 2:6-7.), and in Arrernte, the translation in 1 Peter 2:7 (in English translation: “the stone . . . became the very cornerstone”) was rendered as “the foundation… continues to be the right foundation,” (source for this and two above: Carl Gross) and in Uripiv and Sabaot it is the “post” (source: Ross McKerras and Jim Leonhard in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 50). Likewise, in Hakha Chin it is the “central upright poles of a house.” (Hakha Chin speakers are mountain people who build houses with bamboo and palm thatch, not stone) (source: David Clark)
In Ixcatlán Mazatec it is translated with a term denoting the “the principal part of the ‘house’ (or work)” (source: Robert Bascom), in Enlhet as “like the house-root” (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. ), in Q’anjob’al it is translated with with the existing idiom “ear of the house.” (Source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. ), in Desano as “main support of the house,” and in Tataltepec Chatino as “the best stone” (source for this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.).
Shuar translates as “that stone was placed to the main house pole.” The Shuar use stones in house building either at the bottom of the posthole as a base for the house pole to rest on, or as chocking material around the post to hold it firm. Either function is acceptable here particularly as applied to the main house-pole. In Ocotlán Zapotec it is “master stone of the house.” This is a special stone they put into the foundation as sort of a guide stone of how the foundation is to true up. (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
In Matumbi it is “the great foundation stone.” It’s the first large stone you place for a house, the one that determines where all the other stones will go, but unlike in Greek thought it’s often in the center of a building instead of a corner. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Peter 2:7:
Uma: “The Redeemer King is like the/a stone that is indeed expensive to you who believe in him. But people who do not believe in him will certainly encounter disaster, with the result that words of the Holy Book long will have come to pass that say: ‘That stone was thrown away by the builders of the house. But actually that stone is the one that became the main foundation stone.’ And” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “This stone is of real great value for you the ones believing in him. But the ones who don’t believe in him, finally/eventually they will know that it is true, surprise, what is written in the holy-book saying, ‘The stone that was rejected by the people who make houses because they said it is of no use, that one is the stone of ultimate usefulness.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Now as for this king who is like a stone, He is very precious to us (incl.) who have trusted in Him, however as for all who will not believe, by means of them has been fulfilled the written prophecy which says, ‘As for that building stone, the carpenters threw it away. But it has now become the stone which alone can make the house right.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “So as for you believers, you join-in-experiencing (non past) Cristo’s greatness (lit. highness). But as for those who don’t believe, they should remember what God caused-to-be-written which says, ‘The stone which the ones-building the house rejected, that’s what God has turned-into the most-valuable stone which makes-firm the house.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Therefore he is really dear to you now, you who now believe/obey him. But to the ones who don’t believe/obey him, that which was said in the writing has been fulfilled, which is, ‘The rock which was not acceptable to the housebuilders, that very one is what was used as the main support of the house.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Now you believe in Christ, now you will know that he is supremely valuable. But it is written about that which will happen to those who do not believe in that it says: ‘This stone which the builders threw away, there is no other stone like this chosen stone.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
The Greek text of 1 Peter 2:6-7 is translated in Martu Wangka (combined with verse 6) “The Father’s talk from a long time back, is like this, ‘Some people will make a shade and they will stand up two forked sticks. And then they will get another long strong stick and lay it across (on those other two). And they will get that same strong stick and throw it down thinking mistakenly that it is rubbish. The Father from above will take that stick which was thrown down and make a shade out of it. After that we will see that very good shade which was made from that stick.'” (Source: Carl Gross)
Translations of the Greek and Ge’ez that are typically translated as “faith” in English (itself deriving from Latin “fides,” meaning “trust, faith, confidence, reliance, credence”) and “believe” (from Old English belyfan: “to have faith or confidence in a person”) cover a wide range of approaches.
Bratcher and Nida say this (1961, p. 38) (click or tap here to read more):
“Since belief or faith is so essentially an intimate psychological experience, it is not strange that so many terms denoting faith should be highly figurative and represent an almost unlimited range of emotional ‘centers’ and descriptions of relationships, e.g. ‘steadfast his heart’ (Chol), ‘to arrive on the inside’ (Chicahuaxtla Triqui), ‘to conform with the heart’ (Uab Meto), ‘to join the word to the body’ (Uduk), ‘to hear in the insides’ (or ‘to hear within one’s self and not let go’ — Nida 1952) (Laka), ‘to make the mind big for something’ (Sapo), ‘to make the heart straight about’ (Mitla Zapotec), ‘to cause a word to enter the insides’ (Lacandon), ‘to leave one’s heart with’ (Baniwa), ‘to catch in the mind’ (Ngäbere), ‘that which one leans on’ (Vai), ‘to be strong on’ (Shipibo-Conibo), ‘to have no doubts’ (San Blas Kuna), ‘to hear and take into the insides’ (Kare), ‘to accept’ (Pamona).”
Following is a list of (back-) translations from other languages (click or tap here to read more):
Limos Kalinga: manuttuwa. Wiens (2013) explains: “It goes back to the word for ‘truth’ which is ‘tuttuwa.’ When used as a verb this term is commonly used to mean ‘believe’ as well as ‘obey.'”
Ngiemboon: “turn one’s back on someone” (and trusting one won’t be taken advantage of) (source: Stephen Anderson in Holzhausen 1991, p. 42)
Mwera uses the same word for “hope” and “faith”: ngulupai (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Yala: ɔtū che or “place heart” (in John 5:24; 5:45; 6:35; 6:47; 12:36; 14:1); other translations include chɛ̄ or “to agree/accept” and chɛ̄ku or “to agree with/accept with/take side with” (source: Linus Otronyi)
Matumbi: niu’bi’lyali or “believe / trust / rely (on)” and imani or “religious faith” (from Arabic īmān [إيما]) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
Ebira: “place one’s liver on something” (source: Scholz /Scholz 2015, p. 60)
Barí: a word related to standing in a hammock. Bruce Olson (1972, p. 159f.) tells this story — click or tap here to read more)
One evening, though, Bobby began to ask questions. We were sitting around a fire. The light flickered over him. His face was serious.
‘How can I walk on Jesus’ trail?’ he asked. ‘No Motilone [speakers of Barí] has ever done it. It’s a new thing. There is no other Motilone to tell how to do it.’
I remembered the problems I had had as a boy, how it sometimes appeared impossible to keep on believing in Jesus when my family and friends were so opposed to my commitment. That was what Bobby was going through.
‘Bobby,’ I said, ‘do you remember my first Festival of the Arrows, the first time I had seen all the Motilones gathered to sing their song?’ The festival was the most important ceremony in the Motilone culture.
He nodded. The fire flared up momentarily and I could see his eyes, staring intently at me.
‘Do you remember that I was afraid to climb in the high hammocks to sing, for fear that the rope would break? And I told you that I would sing only if I could have one foot in the hammock and one foot on the ground?’
‘Yes, Bruchko.’
‘And what did you say to me?’
He laughed. ‘I told you you had to have both feet in the hammock. ‘You have to be suspended,’ I said.’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘You have to be suspended. That is how it is when you follow Jesus, Bobby. No man can tell you how to walk His trail. Only Jesus can. But to find out you have to tie your hammock strings into Him, and be suspended in God.’
Bobby said nothing. The fire danced in his eyes. Then he stood up and walked off into the darkness.
The next day he came to me. ‘Bruchko,’ he said, ‘I want to tie my hammock strings into Jesus Christ. But how can I? I can’t see Him or touch Him.’
‘You have talked to spirits, haven’t you?’
‘Oh,’ he said. ‘I see now.’
The next day he had a big grin on his face. ‘Bruchko, I’ve tied my hammock strings into Jesus. Now I speak a new language.’
I didn’t understand what he meant. ‘Have you learned some of the Spanish I speak?’
He laughed, a clean, sweet laugh. ‘No, Bruchko, I speak a new language.’
Then I understood. To a Motilone, language is life. If Bobby had a new life, he had a new way of speaking. His speech would be Christ-oriented.
Awabakal: ngurruliko: “to know, to perceive by the ear” (as distinct from knowing by sight or by touch — source: Lake, p. 70) (click or tap here to read more)
“[The missionary translator] Lancelot Threlkeld learned that Awabakal, like many Australian languages, made no distinction between knowing and believing. Of course the distinction only needs to be made where there are rival systems of knowing. The Awabakal language expressed a seamless world. But as the stress on ‘belief’ itself suggests, Christianity has always existed in pluralist settings. Conversion involves deep conviction, not just intellectual assent or understanding. (…) Translating such texts posed a great challenge in Australia. Threlkeld and [his indigenous colleague] Biraban debated the possibilities at length. In the end they opted not to introduce a new term for belief, but to use the Awabakal ngurruliko, meaning ‘to know, to perceive by the ear,’ as distinct from knowing by sight or by touch.”
Language in southern Nigeria: a word based on the idiom “lose feathers.” Randy Groff in Wycliffe Bible Translators 2016, p. 65 explains (click or tap here to read more):
What does losing feathers have to do with faith? [The translator] explained that there is a species of bird in his area that, upon hatching its eggs, loses its feathers. During this molting phase, the mother bird is no longer able to fly away from the nest and look for food for her hungry hatchlings. She has to remain in the nest where she and her babies are completely dependent upon the male bird to bring them food. Without the diligent, dependable work of the male bird, the mother and babies would all die. This scenario was the basis for the word for faith in his language.
Teribe: mär: “pick one thing and one thing only” (source: Andy Keener)
Tiv: na jighjigh: “give trust” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Luba-Katanga: Twi tabilo: “echo” (click or tap here to read more)
“Luba-Katanga word for ‘Faith’ in its New Testament connotation is Twi tabilo. This word means ‘echo,’ and the way in which it came to be adapted to the New Testament meaning gives a very good idea of the way in which the translator goes to work. One day a missionary was on a journey through wild and mountainous country. At midday he called his African porters to halt, and as they lay resting in the shade from the merciless heat of the sun. an African picked up a stone and sent it ricocheting down the mountain-side into the ravine below. After some seconds the hollow silence was broken by a plunging, splashing sound from the depths of the dark river-bed. As the echo died away the African said in a wondering whisper ‘Twi tabilo, listen to it.’ So was a precious word captured for the service of the Gospel in its Luba Christian form. Twi tabilo — ‘faith which is the echo of God’s voice in the depths of human sinful hearts, awakened by God Himself, the answer to his own importunate call.’ The faith that is called into being by the divine initiative, God’s own gift to the responsive heart! (Source: Wilfred Bradnock in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 49ff. )
The Japanese term shin-kō (信仰) was a newly coined word for the purpose of Bible translation but is used widely today beyond its Christian origin. Junko Nakai (in: The Bible Translator 2006, p. 115ff. ) explains: “There are many words either newly created or adapted to introduce new Christian concepts distinct from the established religious ones. An example is the Sino-Japanese noun, shin-kō, as the equivalent of pistis “faith.” The existing term for “belief” or “trust” was mainly the Sino-Japanese noun, shin, often used as the stem of a verb, shin-zu ‘believe.’ The term shin-kō, formed by adding another verb aogu, to ‘look up’ with respect, or to ‘ask,’ in native Japanese, read as kō in Sino-Japanese, did exist, but not in wide use. (…) This word was used in Buddhist scriptures, but read as shin-gō in early days. During the process of translating the Bible, the Chinese compound written in the same Chinese characters (信仰) but read as shin-kō establishes itself as the term denoting Christian ‘faith.’ Later it comes to be recognized as the new term denoting ‘faith’ in general in a wider religious context. This fact attests to the impact of Bible translation on the development of modern Japanese language.”
J.A. van Roy (in The Bible Translator 1972, p. 418ff. ) discusses how a translation of “faith” in a an earlier translation into Venda created difficult perceptions of the concept of faith (click or tap here):
The Venda term u tenda, lutendo. This term corresponds to the terms ho dumela (Southern Sotho), and ku pfumela (Tsonga) that have been used in these translations of the Bible, and means “to assent,” “to agree to a suggestion.” It is important to understand this term in the context of the character of the people who use it.
The way in which the Venda use this term reveals much about the priority of interpersonal relationships among them. They place a much higher priority on responding in the way they think they are expected to respond than on telling the truth. Smooth interpersonal relationships, especially with a dominant individual or group, take precedence over everything else.
It is therefore regarded as bad form to refuse directly when asked for something one does not in fact intend to give. The correct way is to agree, u tenda, and then forget about it or find some excuse for not keeping to the agreement. Thus u tenda does not necessarily convey the information that one means what one says. One can tenda verbally while heartily disagreeing with the statement made or having no intention whatsoever to carry out what one has just promised to do. This is not regarded as dishonesty, but is a matter of politeness.
The term u sokou tenda, “to consent reluctantly,” is often used for expressing the fatalistic attitude of the Venda in the face of misfortune or force which he is unable to resist.
The form lutendo was introduced by missionaries to express “faith.”
According to the rules of derivations and their meanings in the lu-class, it should mean “the habit of readily consenting to everything.” But since it is a coined word which does not have a clearly defined set of meanings in everyday speech, it has acquired in church language a meaning of “steadfastness in the Christian life.” Una lutendo means something like “he is steadfast in the face of persecution.” It is quite clear that the term u tenda has no element of “trust” in it. (…)
In “The Christian Minister” of July 1969 we find the following statement about faith by Albert N. Martin: “We must never forget that one of the great issues which the Reformers brought into focus was that faith was something more than an ‘assensus,’ a mere nodding of the head to the body of truth presented by the church as ‘the faith.’ The Reformers set forth the biblical concept that faith was ‘fiducia.’ They made plain that saving faith involved trust, commitment, a trust and commitment involving the whole man with the truth which was believed and with the Christ who was the focus of that truth. The time has come when we need to spell this out clearly in categorical statements so that people will realize that a mere nodding of assent to the doctrines that they are exposed to is not the essence of saving faith. They need to be brought to the understanding that saving faith involves the commitment of the whole man to the whole Christ, as Prophet, Priest and King as he is set forth in the gospel.”
We quote at length from this article because what Martin says of the current concept of faith in the Church is even to a greater extent true of the Venda Church, and because the terms used for communicating that concept in the Venda Bible cannot be expected to communicate anything more than “a mere nodding of assent”. I have during many years of evangelistic work hardly ever come across a Venda who, when confronted with the gospel, would not say, Ndi khou tenda, “I admit the truth of what you say.” What they really mean when saying this amounts to, “I believe that God exists, and I have no objection to the fact that he exists. I suppose that the rest of what you are talking about is also true.” They would often add, Ndi sa tendi hani-hani? “Just imagine my not believing such an obvious fact!” To the experienced evangelist this is a clear indication that his message is rejected in so far as it has been understood at all! To get a negative answer, one would have to press on for a promise that the “convert” will attend the baptism class and come to church on Sundays, and even then he will most probably just tenda in order to get rid of the evangelist, whether he intends to come or not. Isn’t that what u tenda means? So when an inexperienced and gullible white man ventures out on an evangelistic campaign with great enthusiasm, and with great rejoicing returns with a list of hundreds of names of persons who “believed”, he should not afterwards blame the Venda when only one tenth of those who were supposed to be converts actually turn up for baptismal instruction.
Moreover, it is not surprising at all that one often comes across church members of many years’ standing who do not have any assurance of their salvation or even realise that it is possible to have that assurance. They are vhatendi, “consenters.” They have consented to a new way of life, to abandoning (some of) the old customs. Lutendo means to them at most some steadfastness in that new way of life.
The concept of faith in religion is strange to Africa. It is an essential part of a religion of revelation such as Christianity or Islam, but not of a naturalistic religion such as Venda religion, in which not faith and belief are important, but ritual, and not so much the content of the word as the power of it.
The terms employed in the Venda Bible for this vital Christian concept have done nothing to effect a change in the approach of the Venda to religion.
It is a pity that not only in the Venda translation has this been the case, but in all the other Southern Bantu languages. In the Nguni languages the term ukukholwa, “to believe a fact,” has been used for pisteuo, and ukholo, the deverbative of ukukholwa, for pistis. In some of the older Protestant translations in Zulu, but not in the new translation, the term ithemba, “trust”, has been used.
Some languages, including Santali, have two terms — like English (see above) — to differentiate a noun from a verb form. Biswạs is used for “faith,” whereas pạtiạu for “believe.” R.M. Macphail (in The Bible Translator 1961, p. 36ff. ) explains this choice: “While there is little difference between the meaning and use of the two in everyday Santali, in which any word may be used as a verb, we felt that in this way we enriched the translation while making a useful distinction, roughly corresponding to that between ‘faith’ and ‘to believe’ in English.”
Likewise, in Noongar, koort-karni or “heart truth” is used for the noun (“faith”) and djinang-karni or “see true” for the verb (“believe”) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
In Hungarian Sign Language “faith” is translated with a sign that refers to the gesture of clinging to God, which expresses a certainty in things unseen (see Hebrews 11:1). (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)
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).
The positive and negative aspects of the last part of verse 6 are elucidated further in this verse. It is possible to translate of great value as “honor” (literally “The honor is to you who believe”), in which case the meaning of the expression could be that those who trust in Christ share in the very honor which God has given him, for example, Reicke “The honor is for you who believe.” Many translations, however, understand it as the Good News Translation, thus preserving the metaphor.
This stone is of great value for you that believe may be rendered as “this stone is of great benefit for you that believe” or “you that trust in the Lord will derive great benefit from this stone.”
The quotation from Psalm 118.22 is now applied to those who do not believe (for believe, see 2.6; for further exegetical help on this quotation, see discussion on 2.4). Rejected, when used of things, means “declare as useless” (AG; compare Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “discarded”; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “laid aside”). The most important stone is literally “the head of the corner” (see Revised Standard Version), referring to the chief cornerstone (compare Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “the main stone”).
It is not very easy to see how this verse can be applied negatively to those who do not believe, unless it is connected directly with the quotation in verse 8, together with the explanation in the last part of the verse, namely, that the unbelievers stumbled because they did not believe in the word. Some translations have tried to ease this difficulty by making verse 7 and verse 8 into one sentence, for example, New English Bible “the stone … has become not only the cornerstone, but also a stone to trip over, a rock to stumble against”; Barclay “The very stone … has become the cornerstone, and he becomes ‘A stone over which men will stumble, and a rock which will trip them up.’ ” (See also Phillips, Knox.)
Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The First Letter from Peter. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
In 2:7–8, Peter continued to use the metaphor of a cornerstone for Jesus Christ. He contrasted the positive result for any person who believes in Jesus Christ (2:7a) with the negative result for people who do not believe (2:7b–2:8). To prove his point, Peter quotes from two OT passages, Psalm 118:22 (in 2:7) and Isaiah 8:14 (in 2:8).
2:7a
To you who believe, then, this stone is precious: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as precious can mean either “honor” or “value/worth/preciousness.” The Greek literally says, “to you therefore the honor/value to the believing ones.” English versions interpret this clause in two ways:
(1) Believers receive honor from the stone. For example:
To you believers it brings honor (New Jerusalem Bible)
(God’s Word, New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version)
(2) The stone has value to the believers. It is precious to them. Translations that follow this interpretation often supply the words this stone, which are not in the Greek text. For example:
This stone is of great value for you that believe (Good News Translation)
(Berean Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, King James Version, New Century Version, NET Bible, New International Version, New Living Translation (2004), Revised English Bible, Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New American Bible, Revised Edition, New American Standard Bible)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). The great majority of commentators understand this word to mean “honor” in this context. Peter was saying that God honors those who believe in Jesus Christ. The New Jerusalem Bible is therefore used as the Source Line in the Display. Here are some other ways to translate this:
This honor, then, is for you who believe (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
This honor belongs to those who believe. (God’s Word)
-or-
So the honor is for you who believe (English Standard Version)
believe: In some languages it may be necessary to make the object of the belief explicit. For example:
believe ⌊in this stone⌋
then: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as then is literally “therefore.” It is not a time word but connects this sentence with the last part of the quotation in 2:6. Some English models to follow include:
So (NET Bible)
-or-
Therefore (Revised Standard Version)
2:7b
But to those who do not believe: In 2:7b Peter stopped writing about believers and started writing about people who did not believe in Jesus Christ. Through the end of 2:8, Peter discussed what happens to unbelieving people.
Other ways to translate this verse part include:
But for unbelievers (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
but for those who have no faith (Revised English Bible)
-or-
But to/for the ⌊people⌋ who do not believe ⌊in him⌋
But: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But in this context marks contrast. Peter contrasted the bad result of unbelief (2:7b–8) with what he had just written about the good result for those people who believed in Jesus Christ (2:6c–7a).
believe: In some languages it may be necessary to make the object of the belief explicit. If that is the case in your language, it is recommended that you use the same pronoun that you used in 2:6d:
believe ⌊in him⌋
2:7c
Here in 2:7c, Peter quoted from Psalm 118:22.
The stone the builders rejected: Peter continued using the metaphor of a stone to represent Jesus Christ. Here the metaphor is of builders who rejected this stone as if it were unfit for them to use. It may be more natural in your language to make explicit why they rejected the stone. For example:
The stone which the builders rejected as worthless (Good News Translation)
Your translation should not imply that The stone was actually unfit for use. Peter did not mean there was something wrong with Christ. Instead, Peter meant that there was something wrong with the decision of the builders. You may be able to say:
The builders would not use a certain stone
-or-
The stone that the builders refused to use
the builders: Writers of the Gospels also quoted Psalm 118:22. They too used it as a metaphor concerning Jesus Christ. In their writings, the builders represented the religious leaders of the Jews (see Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17). In Acts 4:11, Peter himself spoke of the Jewish authorities who had Christ killed as the builders. In this context, however, the builders refers to anyone who rejected Jesus Christ. Some other ways to translate builders are:
workmen
-or-
those who make houses
rejected: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as rejected is in the past tense. The Old Testament prophets often wrote about a future event as if it had already happened.
When you translate this verb, you should use a tense that is natural for this situation in your language. For some languages, it is natural to use a future tense. For example:
will reject
A form of this same Greek verb is found at 2:4b. See the note at 2:4b for other ways to translate this verb.
has become the cornerstone: Peter continued the metaphor of the stone. Even though the builders rejected this stone, it became the most important stone.
Neither Peter nor Psalm 118:22 that Peter quoted said how the rejected stone became so important in the building. If your language requires you to specify an agent, then you may make God explicit as the agent. For example:
⌊God⌋ has made it the capstone
-or-
⌊God⌋ used it as the cornerstone ⌊of his house⌋
If it is natural in your language to translate 2:7c as a continuation of God talking in 2:6, then you may be able to say:
⌊I⌋ made it the cornerstone
-or-
⌊I⌋ used it as the cornerstone ⌊of the building⌋
the cornerstone: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as cornerstone may be translated literally as “the head of the corner.” There are two ways of interpreting this phrase:
(1) It means “the cornerstone.” A cornerstone is a bottom stone where two walls meet. For example:
the cornerstone (New Century Version)
(Berean Standard Bible, God’s Word, New American Standard Bible, NET Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004), Revised English Bible, New Century Version)
(2) It means “the capstone.” A capstone is the top stone of a wall or arch. For example:
the capstone (New International Version)
(New International Version, compare Revised Standard Version “the head of the corner”)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) and the majority of English versions. See how you translated “cornerstone” in 2:6b.
General Comment on 2:7c
In some languages it may be more natural to reorder the phrase in 2:7c. Reordering may also make the transition to the quotation in 2:8 more natural. For example:
The most important stone of all is the one the builders rejected.
-or-
The stone that is now the main foundation stone ⌊of my/the house/temple⌋ is the ⌊same⌋ stone that the builders rejected.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.