pregnant

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The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that are translated as “(become) pregnant” in English is rendered as “got belly” (Sranan Tongo and Kituba) as “having two bodies” (Indonesian), as “be-of-womb” (Sinhala), as “heavy” (Balinese), and as “in-a-fortunate-state” (Batak Toba). (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)

In Kafa it is translated as “having two lives” (source: Loren Bliese), in Southern Birifor as tara pʊɔ or “having stomach,” in Kamba as “be-heavy” (source for this and above: Andy Warren-Rothlin), in the Swabian 2007 translation by Rudolf Paul as kommt en andere Omständ, lit. “be in different circumstances,” and in Newari as “have in the womb” (source: Newari Back Translation).

In Mairasi it is translated as “have a soul [ghost].” (Source: Enggavoter, 2004)

Translation commentary on 2 Esdras 4:40

He answered me and said may be rendered simply “He replied” (Contemporary English Version) or “He answered” (see the comments on verses 1-2).

Go and ask a woman who is with child if, when her nine months have been completed, her womb can keep the child within her any longer: The phrase a woman who is with child refers to “a pregnant woman” (Good News Bible). Some languages say idiomatically “a woman with a stomach.” Here Uriel is not seriously suggesting that Ezra find a pregnant woman and ask her if she can delay the birth of her child after nine months. It is really a question addressed to Ezra himself, and Good News Bible well translates it so. Another possible model for this verse is:

• His answer was, “Can a pregnant woman keep her child from being born after she has carried it for nine months?”

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.