wisdom

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “wisdom” in English is rendered in various ways:

  • Amganad Ifugao / Tabasco Chontal: “(big) mind”
  • Bulu / Yamba: “heart-thinking”
  • Tae’: “cleverness of heart” (source for this and all above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Palauan: “bright spirit (innermost)” (source: Bratcher / Hatton)
  • Ixcatlán Mazatec: “with your best/biggest thinking” (source: Robert Bascom)
  • Noongar: dwangka-boola, lit. “ear much” (source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018 — see also remember)
  • Kwere “to know how to live well” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Dobel: “their ear holes are long-lasting” (in Acts 6:3) (source: Jock Hughes)
  • Gbaya: iŋa-mgbara-mɔ or “knowing-about-things” (note that in comparison to that, “knowledge” is translated as iŋa-mɔ or “knowing things”) (source: Philip Noss in The Bible Translator 2001, p. 114ff. )
  • Chichewa: nzeru, meaning both “knowledge” and “wisdom” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Uma: “clearness” (source: Uma Back Translation)

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with a hand gesture referring to God to indicate a human quality to communicate that wisdom does not originate from man but is linked to and connected with the fear of God (source: Jenjelvi Biblia and Andrea Bokros):


“Wisdom” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

See also wisdom (Proverbs) and knowledge.

complete verse (Ezekiel 28:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 28:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “Your wisdom and experience have made you pile up for yourself gold and silver until you became rich.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “By your wisdom and knowledge you became-wealthy and were-able-to-gather gold and silver in your hiding-place of wealth.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “By being wise and understanding a lot, you have become very rich;
    you have acquired much gold and silver for your treasuries.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 28:4

By your wisdom and your understanding you have gotten wealth for yourself: God refers to the king of Tyre’s wisdom again to stress that he (and Tyre) had become rich through ability and skill, not by accident. There is little difference in meaning between the Hebrew words for wisdom (here meaning “skill”) and understanding (here meaning “the ability to understand deep and difficult things”). If a language is unable to distinguish between these two words, it is acceptable to use a single term (so Contemporary English Version with “wisdom”). In this context the Hebrew word for wealth refers to any form of riches, anything that makes a person rich. You have gotten wealth for yourself may be rendered “you have made yourself very wealthy” or “you have been able to acquire [or, accumulate] a lot of wealth.” New Century Version renders these two lines as “Through your wisdom and understanding you have made yourself rich.” Some languages may prefer to reverse these lines, saying “You have become very rich because of your wisdom and skill.”

And have gathered gold and silver into your treasuries refers to specific riches of the king. Some translators keep the phrase gold and silver, but in other languages it is more natural to say “things made of gold and silver” or even “things made from the valuable metals gold and silver.” Gathered is a general word for getting property or making money (compare New American Bible “put”), but because the verse focuses on the king being very rich, most translations use a verb that implies getting a lot of gold and silver, for example, “amassed” (New International Version, New English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “piled up” (New International Reader’s Version). The Hebrew word for treasuries is literally “storerooms” or “warehouses,” places of storage where grain and all sorts of goods are stored. Here it may be translated “places where he kept his money and precious things.” However, it is not appropriate to use a modern term such as “bank.”

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .