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)
  • 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 .

snare

The now commonly-used German expression Fallstrick for “snare,” but today only used in German in the sense to cause someone to stumble (“jemandem einen Fallstick legen”), was first coined in 1534 in the German Bible translation by Martin Luther. (Source: Günther 2017, p. 65)

For other idioms or terms in German that were coined by Bible translation, see here.

complete verse (Exodus 34:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 34:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “Take care! Don’t make any agreement/covenant with people living in the land I am going to take you to. The moment you (plur.) do like that, then that matter will become a stumbling block to you (plur.).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Be careful, do not make a treaty with the people of the countries where you are going, otherwise they will be a trap for you.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You should-not[emphasis marker] make agreement/(covenant) with the people in this land where you (plur.) are-going, for it will-be a trap for you.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “But you (pl.) must watch out well. Lest you strike an agreement/decision with the people who are living in the area to which you are going, and so you (pl.) be in agreement. If you do like that, then it’s bad for you as [if] you’ve gone up and gotten stuck in a spring trap.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “those people [who] live that country [which] you will go there , you warn yourselves you not (imp.) with them be united. If you will be united with them, they will take you way of sin.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “Each Israeli person must obey what I am commanding you this day. Do not forget that if you obey me, I will expel the Amor, Canaan, Heth, Periz, Hiv, and Jebus people-groups from the land. But be careful that you do not make any peace agreements with any of the people who live in the land into which you are going, because if you do that, you will begin to do the evil things that they do. It will be like falling into a trap.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 34:12

Take heed to yourself, literally “be protected for you,” or “be on your guard,” is a different form of the same word used in verse 11 for “observe.” Another way to express this is “Be careful that you don’t….” Here it is followed by the negative lest, which may be understood as “beware” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Revised English Bible). Lest you make a covenant is literally “lest you cut a covenant.” (See the comment on “cutting a covenant” at 23.32.) This means “Do not make any treaties” (Good News Translation). In certain languages figurative expressions like the Hebrew may be used; for example, “Do not cut any agreements with….” With the inhabitants of the land whither you go refers to “the people who live in the land where you are going” (New International Version). They are named in verse 11. The inhabitants, literally “the dweller,” is singular in form but plural in meaning.

Lest it become a snare in the midst of you is literally “lest it [or, he] will be for a trap in your [singular] midst.” The word for snare is a common word for a bird trap. The it refers to “any treaties” (Good News Translation) the Israelites might make, or possibly to the act of making such treaties. It is also possible for the pronoun it (or, “he”) to refer to “the dweller,” which is singular in form but means the inhabitants. Thus New International Version has “or they will be a snare among you” (similarly Revised English Bible, New American Bible, and others). Good News Translation calls the snare “a fatal trap,” which may be implied. This is a metaphor that may be changed to a simile, “it [or, they] will be like a trap for you” or “it [or, they] will be like falling into a trap.” If this figure of speech cannot be used, the basic meaning may need to be expressed: “a treaty with them will be a continual source of temptation for you to sin,” or “they will be….” (See verse 15 below.)

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .