The Greek in Ephesians 2:3 that is translated as “children of wrath” or similar in English is translated in the Welsh Beibl Cymraeg Newydd Diwygiedig 2004 as “lying under the judgment of God.” (Source: Iwan Rhys Jones in The Bible Translator 2003, p. 240ff. )
desires of the flesh
The Greek that is often translated as “desires of the flesh” in English is translated in Ixcatlán Mazatec as “human desires” (source: Robert Bascom), in Mezquital Otomi as “the desires of our old life,” in Tzeltal as “doing what your bodies want,” and in Huehuetla Tepehua as “doing the things that your thoughts like (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.).
In Enlhet it is translated as “wantings of the innermost.” “Innermost” or valhoc is a term that is frequently used in Enlhet to describe a large variety of emotions or states of mind (for other examples see here). (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )
See also flesh (human nature).
flesh (human nature)
The Greek that is often translated as “flesh” in English (when referring to the lower human nature) can, according to Nida (1947, p. 153) “very rarely be literally translated into another language. ‘My meat’ or ‘my muscle’ does not make sense in most languages.” He then gives a catalog of almost 30 questions to determine a correct translation for that term.
Accordingly, the translations are very varied:
- Highland Totonac: “like other men”
- Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “the path of sinful people”
- Mezquital Otomi: “of earthly kind” or “old life”
- Huehuetla Tepehua: “old life”
- Tzeltal: “body”
- Sayula Popoluca: “body that does evil”
- Tabasco Chontal: “old mind” (Source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
- Chichewa: “character that is inclined to evil things” (source: Ernst Wendland in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 319ff. )
- Huautla Mazatec: “the self” (Nida 1947, p. 248)
- Swabian 2007 translation by Rudolf Paul: irdisch menschliche Gesinnung or “earthly-human mind”
- Warao: “old 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.
The Toraja-Sa’dan translation uses a variety of terms for the translation of the same Greek term (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight)
- A form of kale tolinona or “corporeal” is for instance used in Romans 9:5 or Colossians 1:22 (and also in Genesis 6:3 and Exodus 30:32)
- A form of mentolinona or “the human” is for instance used in Matthew 16:17 or John 1:14
- Phrases that include pa’kalean or “bodiliness” (also: “human shape”) are for instance used in Romans 6:6 or 1 Peter 2:11 (as well as in Isa 52:14, Isa 53:2, and Lamentations 4:7)
(Source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 207ff. )
See also spirit / flesh, old self, and flesh (John 1:14).
will
The Greek that is typically translated as “will” in English is translated in Warao as obojona, 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.
In Mairasi, it is translated with “throat.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
See also will (of God) (Japanese honorifics).
complete verse (Ephesians 2:3)
Following are a number of back-translations of Ephesians 2:3:
- Uma: “Previously, we all were the same as them: our behavior followed the evil desires of our hearts, and we did the evil desires of our hearts and of our thoughts. At that time it was fitting that God be angry with us, because that was how our behavior was, the same as other people’s behavior.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “We (incl.) all were like them formerly because we (incl.) always did whatever we (dual) wanted even if/though we (dual) knew that that was bad. Whatever our (dual) bodies wanted and whatever our (dual) livers were happy about/what we took a fancy to that is what we (dual) always continually did. Therefore we (incl.) like the others were ‘wrathed’ by God because that is what was fitting for us (incl.).” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “As for us (incl.) also, we (incl.) long ago did evil according to the evil desires of our (incl.) bodies and our evil minds, and because of this we were still subject to punishment at that time, just like other humans who are not subjects of God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “Even also all of us previously, what we indeed also were doing was what we desired that was bad. Even anything that our bodies wanted and was in our thoughts, that’s what we were following. Therefore our former/original status/situation was that we were worthy to be punished the same as the original status of all people.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “The truth is, in the past, just like that were the nature/ways of us all for (we) were just following/obeying our congenital nature/ways which were evil. (We) were indulging the evil desires of the body and whatever was in the mind/thinking. Therefore in those nature/ways of ours in the past, we were really being-included among the people whom God would punish, for there is no other reward for us sinful people.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “At that past time, all of us did like the people who do not know God do. We did what we ourselves desired. The evil which settled on our hearts is what we did. Therefore we were going to suffer the punishment which God gives, just like the punishment which will be given to the people who do not now know God.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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.
Ephesians 2 in Jamaican Sign Language and Jamaican Country Sign Language
Following is the translation of Ephesians 2 into Jamaican Sign Language, intermixed with Jamaican Country Sign Language (see here for Country Sign ):
Source: Jamaican Sign Language Bible Translation
2:1-3 I am Paul. To the people of the church in Ephesus. Remember when you were not yet Christians, when you used to live in sin just like the rest of the world. You were dead. You were controlled by the unseen spirit of the Devil- that same spirit now working in the people who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate and selfish desires of our sinful nature. We should have faced God’s anger because of our sinful ways.
2:4-5 But God is merciful and he loves us very much, even though we were dead because we were detached from Him and lived in sin just like the rest of the world. He has given us a new life and has united us with Him through Jesus Christ. It is only by God’s grace that we have been saved.
2:6-7 Just as God raised Jesus from the dead and seated him in heaven, so will He raise us from the dead and seat us in heaven because we are united with Jesus Christ. God did this so He can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of His grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
2:8-10 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. You can’t take credit for this because it is a gift from God. We are saved only by His grace through Jesus Christ. We are God’s precious creations, His masterpiece, made new in Jesus Christ so that we can live the right way according to the plan that He had for us long ago.
2:11-13 Remember that you non-Jew used to be outsiders. You were called uncircumcised by Jews who were circumcised. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.
2:14-16 Jesus united Jews and non-Jews into one people when, in his own body on the cross he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and non-Jews by creating in himself one new people from the two groups, united in peace and harmony with each other and God.
2:17-18 The non- Jews [who were called outsiders] and the Jews [who were called Christians] were now united in peace. Now all of us can come to God the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
2:19-22 So now you non-Jews are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are now members of God’s family. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. Just like a house is built on a solid foundation, we are His house, built on the foundation of the apostles who spread the word of God. The cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. In him, we become a holy temple for the Lord. In Christ we are built together [Jews and non-Jews] and are made into a holy place where God lives through the Spirit.
Back-translation by Amakedia Wallen, coordinated by Tashi Widmer
inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Eph. 2:3)
Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, translators typically select the inclusive form (including the reader of the letter).
Source: SIL International Translation Department (1999)