The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “joy” or “happiness” is translated in the HausaCommon Language Bible idiomatically as farin ciki or “white stomach.” In some cases, such as in Genesis 29:11, it is also added for emphatic purposes.
Other languages that use the same expression include Southern Birifor (pʋpɛl), Dera (popolok awo), Reshe (ɾipo ɾipuhã). (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “mourn” or similar in English is translated in Newari as “have one’s heart broken” or “have a bursting heart” (source: Newari Back Translation).
In Cherokee it is translated as “going around feeling badly” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16).
The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated in English as “painful” or “sorrow” is translated in Huba as “cut the insides.” David Frank explains: “Huba has just one expression that covers both ‘angry’ and ‘sad.’ They don’t make a distinction in their language. I suppose you could say that the term they use means more generically, ‘strong emotional reaction’ (source: David Frank in this blog post ). Similarly, in Bariai it is “the interior is severed/cut” (source: Bariai Back Translation).
In Noongar it is translated as koort-warra or “heart bad.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)
In Enlhet it is translated as “going aside 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. )
The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “enemy” or “foe” in English is translated in the HausaCommon Language Bible as “friends of front,” i.e., the person standing opposite you in a battle. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
In North Alaskan Inupiatun it is translated with a term that implies that it’s not just someone who hates you, but one who wants to do you harm (Source: Robert Bascom), in Tarok as ukpa ìkum or “companion in war/fighting,” and in Ikwere as nye irno m or “person who hates me” (source for this and one above: Chuck and Karen Tessaro in this newsletter ).
In Cherokee it is either translated as “the one(s) who reprimand(s) you” or “the one(s) feared.” (Source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 47)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Esther 9:22:
Kupsabiny: “Let them set aside those days to be days of rejoicing. One should eat/celebrate and also share things and help the poor. One should remember those days when (the) fear/anxiety was over and happiness replaced (it), and suffering/sorrow turned to become happiness.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “He also wrote that since the Jews had new life, having been delivered from their enemies their sorrow had been changed into joy and rejoicing. He also wrote that they should observe that day as a family festival of joy, giving food to one another and also [giving] gifts to those who have nothing to eat.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “to remember the time that they were-able-to-escape from their enemies, and their sorrow was-turned into joy, and (their) crying into gladness. Mordecai also instructed them in the letter that they are to celebrate the feast with joy/gladness, and they are-to-give- gift -to-one-another, and they are to give also to the poor.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Eastern Bru: “These days were the days the Jews killed all the people who wanted to kill them, and their sadness was changed into joy; and death was changed into life. So they observed these days as joyful feast days, and they exchanged things and gave to the poor.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
English: “because those were the days when the Jews got rid of their enemies. He also told them that they should celebrate on those days by feasting and giving gifts of food to each other and to poor people. They would remember it as the month in which they changed from being very sorrowful to being very joyful, from crying to celebrating.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )
This verse is full of both lexical and stylistic repetition from earlier verses. First the days are described, then the month. Next, pairs of opposites are cited in parallel clauses to describe what has taken place. Finally, referring back to their first celebrations, it is spelled out how the Jews are to fulfil the obligation placed upon them in verse 21. The verse states very explicitly the theme of reversal that is central to the book of Esther (see introduction, “Translating the Book of Esther,” A-4, page 3), that the Jews’ situation had changed from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday.
On choice portions see 9.19. Here the detail is added that they are also to send gifts to the poor, that is, to “poor people,” to “people who are in need” or “in want.”
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Noss, Philip A. A Handbook on Esther (The Hebrew Text). (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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