of the air

The Greek in Ephesians 2:2 that is translated as “of the air” in English is translated in Matumbi as “of the clouds.” Matumbi is missing a general word for “air,” so the translators preferred “clouds” to something referencing “heaven.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

See also cloud / sky.

unclean spirit / evil spirit

The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated/transliterated in English as “unclean spirit” or “evil spirit” is translated in Paasaal it is translated as gyɩŋbɔmɔ, which is also the term used for “demon.” Wyɩŋbɔmɔ are “beings that are in the wild and can only be seen when they choose to reveal themselves to certain people. They can ‘capture’ humans and keep them in hiding while they train the person in herbalism and divination. After the training period, which can range from a week to many years, the ‘captured’ individual is released to go back into society as a healer and a diviner. The gyɩŋbɔmɔ can also be evil, striking humans with mental diseases and causing individuals to get lost in the wild. The Pasaale worldview about demons is like that of others of the language groups in the area.” (Source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)

Note that often the words for “demon” “unclean spirit” are being used interchangeably.

Ephesians 2:1-10 as a bullet list

In Nicholas King’s English translation of the New Testament (2004), the translator decided to use bullet point lists in some case in the Ephesians, Colossians, and Titus. “There are elaborate groups of nouns strung together, and the sentences are rather long. I have tried, not entirely successfully, to make these long sentences more manageable by the use of bullet points.” One such list is Ephesians 2:1-10:

 

And you, who were dead because of your transgressions and sins,

  • in which once you walked in keeping with the age of this world, in keeping with the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among the children, of disobedience
  • among whom we all once lived because of the desires of our flesh, doing the wills of the flesh and of the intellects, and we were by nature children of anger, just like the rest,
  • but since God is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
  • and us who were dead because of transgressions

he made alive together with Christ
(It is by God s gift that you have been saved)

and raised you with him
and made you sit in the heavenly regions in Christ Jesus

in order that in the coming ages he might demonstrate the surpassing value of his free gift in kindness to you in Christ Jesus.

implicit exclusiveness (Eph. 2:1-2)

The translation in Yatzachi Zapotec had to make the inclusion of the writer in these verse explicit by changing the second person plural pronoun (“you”) to an inclusive first person plural pronoun (“we,” including the group that is addressed in the letter). Otherwise the writer of the letter would have been specifically excluded. (Source: Inez Butler in Notes on Translation 16, 1965, p. 4-5)

complete verse (Ephesians 2:2)

Following are a number of back-translations of Ephesians 2:2:

  • Uma: “At that time your everyday behavior followed the habit/custom of evil people in this world, you followed the will of the King of Evil-ones. That King of Evil-ones is the warchief that controls the evil spirits in the air/sky. To this present time he still works in the hearts of people who do not submit/bow to God.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “At that time your customs were like the customs of people who don’t follow God. Satan was the one you were following. He is hep the one who rules over the unseen people in space and now he also rules over those people who don’t follow God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “At that time, you followed an evil way which is the way followed by people who are enemies of God. You obeyed the commands of Satan. He is the one who controls those who have power in the sky. He’s also the one who controls all those who will not obey the commands of God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because you were following the bad customs/behavior of those who don’t believe and you were obeying the leader of the evil-spirits in the sky who rules indeed also over those who persist in not obeying God.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “There was nothing else that you were giving preference/priority to then in the past than the evil here in this world. For at that time you were still under the jurisdiction of the boss/leader of the evil-spirits, they who exercise-authority in the atmosphere, those entering-and-controlling-minds and (those) not, who exercize-control over people now who are opposing God.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “We did the evil there is here on the earth. We did the will of the devil, he who rules all the evil spirits who go everywhere. And it is the devil who has grabbed the hearts of the people who do not want to believe in God now.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

age / (for)ever / eternity / eternal / permanent / of old / long ago

The Greek in the referenced verses that is typically translated as “age,” “(for)ever / eternity / eternal / permanent,” “of old / long ago” in English is translated in the German translation by Fridolin Stier (1989) consistenty as “world (or: “cosmic”) time” (Weltzeit).

Sarah Ruden (2021, p. lxii) explains the complexities of the translation of aiōn: “Trickiest of all [the words relating to time] is aion, most simply an ‘age’ or ‘era’ but sometimes denoting either the whole present world or the whole world to come. The same word can allude to all the limits of material existence (or to dangerous worldly distractions in particular), or to their absence in the eternal age to come. Looking forward, especially to ‘ages of ages’ (in the pattern of ‘King of Kings’), the meaning is ‘eternity.’”