truth

Nida (1947, p. 230) says this about the translation of the concept of “truth”: “The words for ‘truth’ and ‘true’ are not always the most readily discovered in aboriginal languages. In some instances the only expression which corresponds to ‘true’ is something like ‘it happened.’ A falsehood is something that ‘did not happen.’ In a good many languages the meaning of ‘truth’ is expressed by the words signifying ‘straight’ and ‘direct.’ Untruth is accordingly ‘crookedness.’ An abstract noun such as English “truth” is quite difficult to find in some instances. Only an expression such as ‘true statement’ or ‘true word’ will be found to correspond to English ‘truth.’”

The Greek, Latin, Ge’ez, and Hebrew that is usually translated in English as “truth” is translated in Luchazi with vusunga: “the quality of being straight” (source: E. Pearson in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 160ff. ), in Obolo as atikọ or “good/correct talk” (source: Enene Enene), and in Ekari as maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (esp. in John 14:6 and 17; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).

Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) tells of the translation into Kui which usually is “true-thing.” In some instances however, such as in the second part of John 17:17 (“your word is truth” in English), the use of “true-thing” indicated that there might be other occasions when it’s not true, so here the translation was a a form of “pure, holy.”

The translation committee of the Malay “Good News Bible” (Alkitab Berita Baik, see here ) wrestled with the translation of “truth” in the Gospel of John:

“Our Malay Committee also concluded that ‘truth’ as used in the Gospel of John was used either of God himself, or of God’s revelation of himself, or in an extended sense as a reference to those who had responded to God’s self-disclosure. In John 8:32 the New Malay translation reads ‘You will know the truth about God, and the truth about God will make you free.’ In John 8:44 this meaning is brought out by translating, ‘He has never been on the side of God, because there is no truth in him.’ Accordingly Jesus ‘tells the truth about God’ in 8:45, 46 (see also 16:7 and 8:37a). Then, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’ (John 14:6) becomes ‘I am the one who leads men to God, the one who reveals who and what God is, and the one who gives men life.” At 3:21 the translation reads ” … whoever obeys the truth, that is God himself, comes to the light …’; 16:13a appears as ‘he will lead you into the full truth about God’; and in 18:37 Jesus affirms ‘I came into the world to reveal the truth about God, and whoever obeys God listens to me.’ On this basis also 1:14 was translated ‘we saw his glory, the glory which he had as the Father’s only Son. Through him God has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace)’; and 1:17 appears as ‘God gave the law through Moses; but through Jesus Christ he has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace).'” (Source: Barclay Newman in The Bible Translator 1974, p. 432ff. )

The German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) has followed a somewhat similar path to the Malay committee 50 years earlier in the gospel of John. In John 1 it translates “truth as “God’s nature,” in John 3 as “God’s will,” in John 8 as “God’s reality,” in John 14 as “encountering God,” and in John 16 as “God’s truth.”

complete verse (Daniel 11:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 11:2:

  • Kupsabiny: “But the truth is that kings will rule over Persia one after the other to the third, then the fourth who will be richer than all the previous ones shall follow. Then after he has gained power by means of his wealth, he will stir up the people to fight against the country of the Greeks.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Now I will tell you the truth, In Persia three more kings will appear. After that there will be a 4th king. He will be richer than those three and because of his wealth he will attain strength. And he will incite all to fight with the land of Greece. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘Now, I will- now -tell you (sing.) the truth: There are still three kings who-will-rule Persia. The fourth king who will-follow those three is more richer than they. By-means of his wealth, he will-become powerful, and he will-press/force the other kingdoms to fight against the kingdom of Grecia.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The angel also said, ‘And what I am going to reveal to you now will truly happen. There will be three more kings to rule Persia, one after the other. Then there will be a fourth king, who will be much richer than the others. As a result of his giving a lot of money to people, they will enable him to become very powerful. Then he will incite/persuade many nations to fight against the kingdom of Greece.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Daniel 11:2

And now: in some languages this wording may indicate that he had not been telling the truth up to this point. If this is the case, such meaning is definitely to be avoided. The idea is “here and now” (Revised English Bible), which is the normal introduction to a letter or a speech. In this case it marks the beginning of the long speech that continues to the end of this chapter.

I will show you the truth: these words, which introduce the long description of verses 2b-45, are a return to the wording of 10.21: “I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth.” The verb translated show here is the same as the one translated tell in 10.21; its meaning may be “announce, report” or “declare, make known” something previously hidden or misunderstood. This seems to be more appropriate to the context here. On the word for truth see comments on 8.12, 26 and 9.13, although the context is quite different here.

The meaning of this verse is not easy to understand, since it summarizes in a few words more than two centuries of Persian history (538-333 B.C.). The identification of the four Persian kings is uncertain, because there were in fact nine kings in succession who governed the empire during that period, and the apparent historical references are not precise enough to give us any positive confirmation.

Behold: see comments on 2.31; 4.10.

Shall arise: the verb used here has a different root from the ones in 2.39; 7.17, but the meaning is not radically different. The root here means rather “to stand,” and here the idea is that they will govern or be in command. New Jerusalem Bible restructures the whole sentence to say “Persia will have three more kings.”

And a fourth shall be far richer than all of them: literally “a fourth shall be rich with great richness more than all.” It is to be made clear that this fourth ruler will be wealthier than all those kings who ruled before he came to power.

When he has become strong through his riches: this reflects only two Hebrew words, literally “in-his-power by-his-wealth.” This statement whose meaning is not very clear has been rendered “strengthened by riches” (New American Bible), “by the power he obtains through his wealth” (New Jerusalem Bible), and “(when) by his wealth he has extended his power” (Revised English Bible), to give only a few examples.

Stir up all against the kingdom of Greece: the corresponding Hebrew text is not completely clear. It can mean “he will agitate all, namely the kingdom of Greece,” or “he will agitate all (others) against the kingdom of Greece.” New American Bible follows the former interpretation with “he will rouse all the kingdom of Greece,” but most English versions adopt the latter. Revised English Bible, for example, says “he will mobilize the whole empire against the kingdom of Greece.” The word Greece is literally “Javan,” as in 8.21 and 10.20.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René & Ellington, John. A Handbook on Daniel. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .