vision

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin and Greek that is translated as “vision” in English is translated in a variety in the following languages:

  • Chol: “as if in a dream” (source: Robert Bascom)
  • Obolo: ilaak ọkpọchieen̄ or “dreaming awake” (source: Enene Enene)
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “a showing like dreams”
  • Desano: “see in a dream what God will send”
  • Rincón Zapotec: “see what God shows”
  • Mayo: “see things from God as in a dream”
  • Lalana Chinantec: “dream how it is going to be”
  • Chuj: “like dreaming they see”
  • San Mateo del Mar Huave: “understand what they see as if in a dream”
  • Ayutla Mixtec: “see that which will happen” (source for this and seven above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Tagbanwa: “being caused to dream by God” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Chichewa: azidzaona zinthu m’masomphenya: “they will see things as if face-to-face” (interconfessional translation, publ. 1999) (Source: Wendland 1998, p. 69)
  • Mandarin Chinese: yì xiàng (异象 / 異象), lit. “different (or: strange) appearance.” (Source: Zetzsche)

The Greek in the books of Revelation and Acts is translated as obq-rmwible: “look-dream” in Natügu. Brenda Boerger (in Beerle-Moor / Voinov, p. 162ff.) tells the story of that translation: “In the book of Revelation, the author, John, talks about having visions. Mr. Simon [the native language translator] and I discussed what this meant and he invented the compound verb obq-rmwible ‘look-dream’ to express it. Interestingly, during village testing no one ever had to ask what this neologism meant.”

See also see a vision.

soul

The Hebrew, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “soul” in English is translated in Chol with a term that refers to the invisible aspects of human beings (source: Robert Bascom), in Yagaria with oune or “shadow, reflection” (source: Renck, p. 81), and in Elhomwe as “heart” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext).

The Mandarin Chinese línghún (靈魂 / 灵魂), literally “spirit-soul,” is often used for “soul” (along with xīn [心] or “heart”). This is a term that was adopted from Buddhist sources into early Catholic writings and later also by Protestant translators. (Source: Zetzsche 1996, p. 32, see also Clara Ho-yan Chan in this article )

In Chichewa, moyo means both “soul” and “life.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

See also heart, soul, mind.

Translation commentary on 2 Esdras 1:28 - 1:29

Compare these two verses with Hos 11.1-4.

Thus says the Lord Almighty: See the comments on verses 12 and 15.

Have I not entreated you…?: This long rhetorical question may be rendered as one or more statements (so Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version; see also the models below). With this question God tells the Israelites that he has pleaded with them to be his people, just like a parent or nursemaid pleads with a child.

As a father entreats his sons or a mother her daughters means as parents urge their children to do what is right. Entreats may be rendered “begs,” “urges,” or “pleads with.” It is possible to combine as a father entreats his sons and a mother her daughters as follows: “as mothers and fathers [or, parents] urge their children.”

Or a nurse her children: The Latin word for nurse does not refer to a medical nurse. It refers to a “wet nurse,” a woman who takes care of another woman’s child by letting it nurse at her breast. Her children does not refer to the nursemaid’s own children, but to the children she is caring for.

That you should be my people and I should be your God: In the Old Testament God often says the Israelites will be his people and he will be their God as they obey him (see, for example, Exo 6.7; Lev 26.12; Jer 11.4; Ezek 36.28). This statement forms the central part of his covenant with them. Here he says he urged them to be his people by obeying him.

And that you should be my sons and I should be your father: This statement is parallel to the previous one and may be combined with it (see the models below). My sons may be rendered “my children” (Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version).

Here are possible models that combine verses 28-29:

• “ ‘The Lord Almighty says, “I have begged you to be my children, to let me be your father, your God. I have pleaded with you as parents plead with their children, or as a nursemaid with the children she is caring for.

• “ ‘… I have pleaded with you as a father pleads with his sons, as a mother with her daughters….

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Esdras. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.