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 .

establish (covenant)

The Hebrew and Greek that is most often translated as “establish” in English when mentioned in association with establishing a covenant is translated in Nyamwezi with a verb that means “erect.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

See also covenant.

Canaan

The term that is transliterated as “Canaan” in English is translated in American Sign Language with the sign loosely referencing the act of hiding/covering one’s face in shame. The association of “shame” with the name “Canaan” comes from Genesis 9, specifically verse 9:25. This sign was adapted from a similar sign in Kenyan Sign Language (see here). (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Canaan” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Canaan in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

complete verse (Exodus 6:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 6:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “I made a covenant with them that they would come and live/settle in the land of Canaan where there were living as foreigners.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “I also made a covenant with them that I would give them Canaan country where they were living as foreigners at that time” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I have-made an agreement with them, that I will-give them the land of Canaan where they lived as strangers.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “And in that day, I struck my true decision/agreement with them to give the land of Kenan to be theirs. But they were living in that land like guests/visitors.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “And ground of Canaan which they live there as foreigners, I put for them word of covenant down that I will give it to them.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “I also made my solemn agreement with them, promising to give them the Canaan region. That was the area in which they were living as foreigners.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on Exod 6:4

I also established my covenant with them is literally “and also I caused to stand up my covenant with them.” My covenant is sometimes rendered as “a covenant” (New English Bible, Translator’s Old Testament), but the pronoun my emphasizes the idea that this was God’s initiative and included God’s promise. However, a covenant was a relationship that involved a binding agreement between two parties, sealed with an oath, which both were obligated to keep. It was more than just a promise, but it included a promise. So Good News Translation adds the word “promising” to bring this out. (See the comment on covenant at 19.5.) Established, or “made,” is one of several words used with covenant throughout the Bible. It should be translated with whatever expression goes naturally with the word selected for covenant. (Living Bible has “And I entered into a solemn covenant with them.”) Other ways to express this are “I gave my binding word to them, promising…” or “I tied myself to them, promising….” The idea of “promising” in certain languages will require direct speech; for example, “I also made my covenant with them, saying, ‘I promise to give you the land of Canaan.’ ” With them means “with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

To give them the land of Canaan is what God had promised under the terms of the covenant. The land of Canaan was the country or territory occupied by the Canaanites (Gen 12.6-7). To give in this sense means “to entrust,” or “to turn over to,” or even “let you own it.”

The land in which they dwelt as sojourners is literally “the land of their stopover place which they were foreigners in it.” It is not necessary to repeat the land, so New International Version has “where they lived as aliens.” Both dwelt (“stopover place”) and sojourners carry the meaning of residence in a place away from one’s homeland. Thus Good News Translation has “the land in which they lived as foreigners.” (Further comment on “sojourner” is found at 2.22.)

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 .