covenant

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The Hebrew, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that are translated as “covenant” in English are translated in a variety of ways. Here are some (back-) translations:

  • Mossi: “helping promise”
  • Vai: “a thing-time-bind” (i.e. “an arrangement agreed upon for a period of time”)
  • Loma (Liberia): “agreement”
  • Northwestern Dinka: “agreement which is tied up” (i.e. “secure and binding”)
  • Chol: “a word which is left”
  • Huastec: “a broken-off word” (“based on the concept of ‘breaking off a word’ and leaving it with the person with whom an agreement has been reached”)
  • Tetelcingo Nahuatl: “a death command” (i.e. “a special term for testament”)
  • Piro: “a promised word”
  • Eastern Krahn: “a word between”
  • Yaka: “promise that brings together” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Nabak: alakŋaŋ or “tying the knot” (source: Fabian 2013, p. 156)
  • Kâte: ʒâʒâfic or “tie together” (source: Renck 1990, p. 108)
  • Nyamwezi: ilagano: “agreement, contract, covenant, promise” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Bariai: “true talk” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Q’anjob’al: “put mouths equal” (representing agreement) (source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. )
  • Manikion, Indonesian: “God’s promise” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • Natügu: nzesz’tikr drtwr: “oneness of mind” (source: Brenda Boerger in Beerle-Moor / Voinov, p. 164)
  • Tagalog: tipan: mutual promising on the part of two persons agreeing to do something (also has a romantic touch and denotes something secretive) (source: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
  • Tagbanwa: “initiated-agreement” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Cherokee: “that which is told” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16)
  • Guhu-Samane: “The concept [in Mark 14:24 and Matthew 16:28] is not easy, but the ritual freeing of a fruit and nut preserve does afford some reference. Thus, ‘As they were drinking he said to them, ‘On behalf of many this poro provision [poro is the traditional religion] of my blood is released.’ (…) God is here seen as the great benefactor and man the grateful recipient.” (Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. )
  • Chichewa: pangano. This word can also be translated as a contract, agreement, or a treaty between two parties. In Chewa culture, two people or groups enter into an agreement to help each other in times of need. When entering into an agreement, parties look at the mutual benefits which will be gained. The agreement terms are mostly kept as a secret between the parties and the witnesses involved. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Law (2013, p. 95) writes about how the Ancient Greek Septuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew berith was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments (click or tap here to read more):

“Right from the start we witness the influence of the Septuagint on the earliest expressions of the Christian faith. In the New Testament, Jesus speaks of his blood being a kaine diatheke, a ‘new covenant.’ The covenant is elucidated in Hebrews 8:8-12 and other texts, but it was preserved in the words of Jesus with this language in Luke 22:20 when at the Last Supper Jesus said, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Jesus’s blood was to provide the grounds for the ‘new covenant,’ in contrast to the old one his disciples knew from the Jewish scriptures (e.g., Jeremiah 31:31-34). Thus, the earliest Christians accepted the Jewish Scriptures as prophecies about Jesus and in time began to call the collection the ‘Old Testament’ and the writings about Jesus and early Christianity the ‘New Testament,’ since ‘testament’ was another word for ‘covenant.’ The covenant promises of God (berith in Hebrew) were translated in the Septuagint with the word diatheke. In classical Greek diatheke had meant ‘last will, testament,’ but in the Septuagint it is the chosen equivalent for God’s covenant with his people. The author of Hebrews plays on the double meaning, and when Luke records Jesus’ announcement at the Last Supper that his blood was instituting a ‘new covenant,’ or a ‘new testament,’ he is using the language in an explicit contrast with the old covenant, found in the Jewish scriptures. Soon, the writings that would eventually be chosen to make up the texts about the life and teachings of Jesus and the earliest expression of the Christian faith would be called the New Testament. This very distinction between the Old and New Testaments is based on the Septuagint’s language.”

See also establish (covenant) and covenant (book).

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Covenant in the Hebrew Bible .

not acknowledge / not care indifferent / not grieved / complacent

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “not acknowledge,” “not care indifferent,” “not grieved,” “complacent” or similar in English is translated in the Catholic Mandarin Chinese Sigao version with a historical Chinese idiom: mò bùguānxīn (漠不關心 / 漠不关心), lit. “unconcerned and not interested.” (Source: Toshikazu S. Foley in Hong Kong Journal of Catholic Studies, 2011, p. 45ff.)

complete verse (Deuteronomy 33:9)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 33:9:

  • Kupsabiny: “Those people refused their parents
    and said that they would never see them.
    They left their relatives
    and did not even know their children
    because they concentrated on your word
    and were keeping your covenant.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “They honored you more than they honored their own parents, brothers
    and children,
    They set their eyes on Your word
    and were the guardians of Your covenant.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They have-shown great loyalty to you than their parents, siblings, and children.
    They obeyed your word, and they kept your covenant.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The tribe of Levi did what you told them to do
    and obeyed the agreement that you made with the Israeli people;
    those laws were more important to them
    than their siblings and parents and children.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 33:9

Good News Translation shows how the first and second parts of this verse hang together; the Levites showed greater loyalty and dedication to Yahweh than to their parents, siblings, and children. Simply to translate all lines as complete, independent statements fails to bring out the meaning of the verse.

Who said of his father and mother, ‘I regard them not’: in many languages there is no need to reproduce the direct speech of the Hebrew text; in a number of cases it will be better to use indirect discourse (see Good News Translation). In all cases the plural forms should be used: “fathers and mothers [or, parents], brothers and sisters [or, siblings], sons and daughters [or, children].” The background for this appears to be the incident narrated in Exo 32.35-39, in which the Levites slaughtered their own people at the command of Yahweh. To regard is to have feeling for, or to be concerned with. In idiomatic English this may be expressed as “They mean nothing to me.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy preserves the same structure for all three, to good effect:

Who said to his parents: “I have never seen you,”
and to his brothers: “I don’t know you,”
and to his children: “I don’t know who you are.”

Either this or Good News Translation can serve as a good model for the translator. In English brothers is exclusive, so “brothers and sisters” should be used. New Revised Standard Version “his kin” includes all relatives, and not simply blood brothers and sisters.

Disowned … ignored: these terms have the same meaning.

They observed thy word: a reader of Revised Standard Version does not know who they are. It refers, of course, to the Levites.

Observed … kept: these terms have the same meaning.

Thy word … thy covenant: these are parallel but not identical; word is a general term for God’s message, God’s laws and commands, and covenant refers to the special relationship between Yahweh and the people of Israel.

We may reverse the order of the clauses in this verse and translate as follows:

• Obeying the LORD’s commands and keeping the agreement that he made with Israel was more important to you than the life of your father or mother, or brothers or sisters, or your own children.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .