arrogant, proud

The Greek and Ge’ez that is translated in English as “proud” or “arrogant” is translated in Chimborazo Highland Quichua as “making yourself chief.” (Source: Julia Woodward in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 140ff. )

In Isthmus Zapotec it is translated as “snobby” and in Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “thinking they are the people of worth.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)

In Elhomwe it is “to lift oneself up,” i.e. “to be pompous.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

For “proud” also see humble / lowly.

pride

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The Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “pride” in English is translated as

  • “continually boasting” (Amganad Ifugao)
  • “lifting oneself up” (Tzeltal)
  • “answering haughtily” (Yucateco) (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • “unbent neck” (like llamas) (Kaqchikel) (source: Nida 1952, p. 151)
  • “praising oneself, saying: I am better” (Shipibo-Conibo) (source: Nida 1964, p. 237).
  • “bigness of head” (existing idiom: girman kai) in the Hausa Common Language Bible it is idiomatically translated as or (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • “trying to make yourself the leader” in Mairasi (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • “make oneself important” (sick upspeeln) in Low German (source: translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006)
  • “a haughty liver” in Yakan (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • “lift head” in Upper Guinea Crioulo (source: Nicoleti 2012, p. 78)

See also proud / arrogant.

complete verse (2 Timothy 3:2)

Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Timothy 3:2:

  • Uma: “For many people will just love themselves, want to be rich-people, request-to-be-praised, have high hearts [i.e., haughty], and disparage their companion. They will not submit to their parents, they will not know to be thankful, they will not consider/esteem God,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Because the people in those days, what they only strive-for/aim-for is/will-be good for themselves, they (will) no longer think of their companions. They are/will-be greedy for money. They are/will-be proud/arrogant and their livers are/will-be high (proud). They (will) speak (evil) against their companions. They do/will not obey the instruction of their parents. They do/will not thank if someone helps them and they do/will not fear God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For at that time people will be selfish, and the only thing dear in their breath will be money. They will hold themselves high and they will seek for praise. They will insult their companions; they will not listen to their parents; and they will not give thanks. They will be very wicked.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because the behavior of people, it is only themselves they will think-about, they will be-greedy-for money, they will boast-about themselves and their minds will be arrogant/proud. They will mock their companions, they won’t obey their fathers and mothers, they will not know how to give-thanks and they will absolutely not think about God.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Because many then will be those who are indulging only their own will. They are desirous of having money, praise-seeking, conceited, insulting, disobedient to parents, and really far from them is the habit of giving thanks. And far from their mind/inner-being is the will of God.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “There will be people who only for themselves they will seek the good. They will only want to gather money. They will be proud in their talk. They will say that they are the greatest. They will insult others. They will not obey what their parents says. They will not think about the favors done to them. They will not be respectful to God.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 2 Timothy 3:2

For connects this verse with the previous one and can be interpreted as meaning either (1) that the presence of these evil people shows clearly that the last days have arrived, or (2) that the presence of these evil people is the reason for the last days being times of difficulty and stress. The second of these two interpretations seems to be the more likely one. Men is better translated “people” (Good News Translation); however, the impression must not be given that all people are evil and that everyone’s life is characterized by all the vices mentioned. One way of avoiding this problem is to say “There will be people who are….”

Lovers of self (literally “lovers of themselves”) appears only here in the New Testament. The term denotes a love that is selfish (so Good News Translation) and puts emphasis on self-importance; hence “self-centered” (New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Revised), “utterly self-centered” (Phillips). As already indicated, it is appropriate that this vice is placed at the head of the list, since the other vices seem to stem from it.

Lovers of money denotes an attitude of loving wealth; hence “avaricious” (New Jerusalem Bible), “covetous,” “greedy” (Good News Translation), “greedy for money” (Phillips). See further on 1 Tim 6.10. In languages which have a word for “love” that can be used both for self and money, one may join these expressions by saying “People will love only themselves and money” (compare Contemporary English Version).

Proud and arrogant are synonyms. The first of these describes a person who is proud but without any basis (hence “pretentious pride”), and who continuously brags about it (hence “braggart,” “boasters” [New Revised Standard Version], “boastful” [Good News Translation], “full of big words” [Phillips]). The second describes a person who is shamelessly proud; hence arrogant, “haughty” (New American Bible, Revised), “contemptuous,” “looks down on others.”

Abusive is literally “blasphemous,” which in this context means “slanderous,” “insulting” (Good News Translation), “rude” (New Jerusalem Bible), “disrespectful.”

The next five vices in the list have the Greek letter a as a prefix, which means that the opposite meaning of the word is being emphasized. (This is similar to the English use of the prefixes un-, im-, dis-, in-, il-, and so forth.)

Being disobedient to parents is a very grave sin, especially in a situation where the family is the most important social unit in society.

Ungrateful appropriately follows disobedient to their parents, since ungrateful people don’t show any appreciation for the acts of kindness done to them by others.

For unholy see 1 Tim 1.9. Except in these two places the word appears nowhere else in the New Testament. The word here denotes failure to give due honor and respect particularly to those aspects of life that need to be treated with decency (hence “irreligious” [Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible], “no reverence” [Translator’s New Testament], “devoid of piety” [Revised English Bible], or “no place for God in their lives”).

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .