obedience / obey

The Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, and Greek that is translated in English typically as “obedience” or “obey” is translated in Tepeuxila Cuicatec as “thing hearing,” because “to hear is to obey.” (Source: Marjorie Davis in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 34ff. )

In Huba it is translated as hya nǝu nyacha: “follow (his) mouth.” (Source: David Frank in this blog post )

In Central Mazahua it is translated as “listen-obey” and in Huehuetla Tepehua as “believe-obey” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in Noongar as dwangka-don, lit. “hear do” (source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).

See also disobedience.

stiff-necked

The now commonly-used English idiom “stiff-necked” (meaning haughtily or arrogantly obstinate) was first coined in 1526 in the English New Testament translation of William Tyndale (in the spelling stife necked). (Source: Crystal 2010, p. 284)

For other idioms in English that were coined by Bible translation, see here.

See also stiff-necked / uncircumcised.

Translation commentary on Baruch 2:30

For I know that they will not obey me, for they are a stiff-necked people: The sense of this sentence can be expressed in colloquial English as “But I know good and well that they aren’t going to listen to me, because they’re just as stubborn as a mule.” There is a small problem here: in verse 29 Israel’s disobedience is stated as a condition, but in this verse that condition is treated as a foregone conclusion. The tension between the two verses can be reduced with an introductory “But I know…” here. New Jerusalem Bible is obviously conscious of this problem, and has a unique approach to it. Verse 30a is presented as a kind of afterthought to verse 29, separated from it by a long dash, and with a verb in the past tense: “29 … where I shall scatter them—30 for I knew that, being an obstinate people, they would not listen to me.” The past tense verb “knew” is literally correct, and this approach is well worth considering, but there are two problems with it. It complicates the discourse structure, and it may not be as clear as we would like without the visual clue of punctuation devices, such as a long dash or parentheses.

Stiff-necked people is a Hebrew idiom for “stubborn,” which is used in Exo 32.9; 33.3, 5; 34.9; and 2 Chr 30.8. (Revised Standard Version translates it as “stubborn” at Deut 9.6, 13.) Another figurative expression that is used in many languages is “hardhearted.”

But: This signals that the writer is about to make a contrast with the previous statement. If the translator has chosen to introduce the verse with “But,” as suggested above, it may be necessary or advisable to find another word at this point, such as “Still” or “However” in English.

In the land of their exile may be rendered “in the land where their enemies have forced them to live.”

They will come to themselves: This is literally “they will turn back to their heart.” Several translations use the expression “they will come to their senses” (compare Good News Translation). New American Bible goes its own way, very nicely, with “they shall have a change of heart.” Contemporary English Version has “you will realize what you have done.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.