The Greek that is typically translated in English as “sign” is translated in Huehuetla Tepehua as “thing to be marveled at” (source: Larson 1889, p. 279) and in Mairasi as “big work” (source: Enggavoter 2004).
full of grace
The Greek that is typically translated as “full of grace” in English is translated in the following ways:
- Chichimeca-Jonaz: “his heart was full of God’s love”
- San Mateo del Mar Huave: “he found much favor with God”
- Lalana Chinantec: “God helped Stephen”
- Desano: “God was in him”
- Ayutla Mixtec: “full of the goodness of God”
- Isthmus Mixe: “God favored Stephen”
- Teutila Cuicatec: “God loved him greatly”
- Desano: “God was in him” (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
wonder
The Greek that is often translated as “wonder” into English is different from the term that is translated as “miracle” (see miracle) since it “usually involves some unusual phenomena in nature which are a portent of dire woe or extraordinary blessing.” In Huichol these are “awe-inspiring things,” in Yucateco they are “things which show what is coming,” and in Eastern Highland Otomi the expression must be cast into the form of a verb phrase “they will amaze the people.”
grace
“The Greek word charis, usually translated by English ‘grace,’ is one of the desperations of translators. The area of meaning is exceptionally extensive. Note the following possible meanings for this word in various contexts of the New Testament: ‘sweetness,’ ‘charm,’ ‘loveliness,’ ‘good-will,’ ‘loving-kindness,’ ‘favor,’ ‘merciful kindness,’ ‘benefit,’ ‘gift,’ ‘benefaction,’ ‘bounty,’ and ‘thanks.’ The theological definition of ‘unmerited favor’ (some translators have attempted to employ this throughout) is applicable to only certain contexts. Moreover, it is quite a task to find some native expression which will represent the meaning of ‘unmerited favor.’ In some languages it is impossible to differentiate between ‘grace’ and ‘kindness.’ In fact, the translation ‘kindness’ is in some cases quite applicable. In other languages, a translation of ‘grace’ is inseparable from ‘goodness.’ In San Miguel El Grande Mixtec a very remarkable word has been used for ‘grace.’ It is made up of three elements. The first of these is a prefixial abstractor. The second is the stem for ‘beauty.’ The third is a suffix which indicates that the preceding elements are psychologically significant. The resultant word may be approximately defined as ‘the abstract quality of beauty of personality.’” (Source: Nida 1947, p. 223)
Other translations include (click or tap here to see more):
- Inuktitut: “God’s kindness that enables us” (source: Andrew Atagotaaluk)
- Kwara’ae: kwae ofe’ana (“kindness to one who deserves the opposite”) (source: Norman Deck in The Bible Translator 1963, 34ff. )
- Chichewa: “being favored in the heart by God” (Source: Ernst Wendland)
- Sayula Popoluca: “God’s favor” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
- Caribbean Javanese: kabetyikané (“goodness”)
- Saramaccan: bunhati (“good heart”)
- Sranan Tongo: bun ati (“good heart”) or gadobun (“God’s goodness”)
- Eastern Maroon Creole: (gaan) bun ati (“(big) good heart”) (source for this and three above: Jabini 2015)
- Fasu: “free big help”
- Wahgi: “save without reward” (source for this and the one above: Deibler / Taylor 1977)
- Warao: “goodness of his obojona.” Obojona is a term that “includes the concepts of consciousness, will, attitude, attention and a few other miscellaneous notions” (source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. ) — see other occurrences of Obojona in the Warao New Testament.
- Nukna: “God gave his insides to one.” (“The ‘insides’ are the seat of emotion in Nukna, like the heart in the English language. To give your insides to someone is to feel love toward them, to want what is best for them, and to do good things for them.” (Source: Matt Taylor in The PNG Experience )
- Hindi, Bengali: anugraha (Hindi: अनुग्रह, Bengali: অনুগ্রহ) from graha: “grasp, a reaching out after, with gracious intent” (source: R.M. Clark in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 81ff. )
In Latvian the term žēlastība is used both for “grace” and “mercy.” (Source: Katie Roth)
For Muna, René van den Berg explains the process how the translation team arrived at a satisfactory solution: “Initial translation drafts in Muna tended to (…) use the single word kadawu ‘part, (given) share, gift,’ but this word is really too generic. It lacks the meaning component of mercy and kindness and also seems to imply that the gift is part of a larger whole. Consequently we now [translate] according to context. In wishes and prayers such as ‘Grace to you and peace from God’ we translate ‘grace’ as kabarakati ‘blessing’ (e.g. Gal 1:3). In many places we use kataano lalo ‘goodness of heart’ (e.g. Gal 1:15 ‘because of the goodness of his heart God chose me’) as well as the loan rahamati ‘mercy’ (e.g. ‘you have-turned-your-backs-on the mercy of God’ for ‘you have fallen away from grace’; Gal 5:4). In one case where the unmerited nature of ‘grace’ is in focus, we have also employed katohai ‘a free gift’ (typically food offered to one’s neighbo-1urs) in the same verse. ‘The reason-you-have-been-saved is because of the goodness of God’s heart (Greek charis, Muna kataano lalo), going-through your belief in Kristus. That salvation is not the result of your own work, but really a free-gift (Greek dooron ‘gift’; Muna katohai) of God.’ (Eph 2:8).
See also grace to you.
Translation: Eastern Canadian Inuktitut
ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ᒍᕇᑭᒃᑯᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖅᑕᖓᑦ ᑐᑭᓕᐅᔾᔭᐅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᒫᒃ “ᓴᐃᒪᓂᖅ” ᖃᓪᓗᓈᑎᑐᓪᓕ ᑐᑭᓕᐅᔾᔭᐅᓯᒪᒻᒪᑦ ᐃᒫᒃ “ᒎᑎᐅᑉ ᑐᙵᓇᕐᓂᖓᓂ ᐅᕙᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᔪᓐᓇᑎᑦᑎᕙᑦᑐᖅ.”
(Translator: Julia Demcheson)
complete verse (Acts 6:8)
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 6:8:
- Uma: “As for Stefanus, God really blessed him, he gave him authority to do many surprising signs that showed the power of God to the people.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “That Estepan was a man who was helped very much by God, and was given by God supernatural power by God that’s why he did powerful works and wonder-causing works among the people in Awrusalam.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Now as for Stephen, God blessed him and he had great power. There were many miracles and signs which he showed to the people.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “Esteban, the miracles and signs he was doing that the people were seeing were extremely amazing, because God’s help to him was great and he was also full of his power.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “Well, as for that Esteban, it was obvious that with him was much grace/help and far-from-ordinary means/ability which comes from God. Proof was, many were the signs which were amazing things which he was able to do before the eyes of everyone.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)