world (Chinese)

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “world” in English is translated in Mandarin Chinese with shìjiè (世界). While shìjiè is now the commonly used term for “world” in Chinese, it was popularized as such by Chinese Bible translations. (Source: Mak 2017, p. 241ff.)

See also world.

complete verse (Hebrews 11:38)

Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 11:38:

  • Uma: “They fled out to the uninhabited prairie and the mountains, they dwelt in holes in the rocks. Yet actually, this world was not an appropriate dwelling-place for them.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “These people wandered about there in the lonely places and in the mountains like people who have no place. They lived in caves and in holes in the ground. A place much better than this world would have been/is fitting for them.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “As for the evil people here in the world, they are not worthy to go around with these righteous people! And other believers besides these, they had to leave their houses and they just wandered around as if lost in the land where nobody lives and in the mountains, and they lived in caves, in cliffs, and in holes in the earth.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “and they wandered-about in places with no inhabitants and in the mountain-area, staying-temporarily in caves and tunnels/caverns. But the truth of it is, the collective-people on this earth were not worthy to companion them.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “It’s really like this sinful world is/was not fitting for people with believing/obeying as good as this. For as for some, they were wandering-around-unable-to-settle in the mountains and wilderness places. There were those hiding in holes-in-the-ground and in caves.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Concerning these people, they were very good people, not to be compared at all with the evil people who live here in this earth. Yet they suffered, walking in the wilds not knowing where they could go. They went about the mountains. They lived in caves. And they lived in holes in the ground.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Hebrews 11:38

The world was not good enough for them!: at this tremendous climax the writer throws in a quiet aside, literally translated in Revised Standard Version, which is easy to translate in itself, but difficult to relate to the rest of the passage. common language translations and other modern translations (New English Bible, New American Bible, Barclay, Translator’s New Testament) make it a separate sentence and are thus in danger of making the rest of verse 38 an anticlimax. To link the first part of this verse with the rest is worse; for example, Jerusalem Bible has “They were too good for the world and they went out to live in deserts and mountains and in caves and ravines.” On the other hand, a common language translation must keep its sentences as short and light as possible. In some languages the best solution may be to link verse 38a with 37: “… poor, persecuted, tormented—people who were too good for this world.” Though the Greek text says literally “the world was not worthy of them” or “… was not good enough for them,” the meaning may often be expressed more effectively as “These people were too good for this world,” “These people were so good that the world was not worthy of them,” or “… the world did not deserve to have such people.”

Like refugees is not expressed in the Greek text but fits better here than does refugees in verse 13. This phrase is intended to summarize the wandering of such people and their living in caves and holes. Rather than saying They wandered like refugees in the deserts and hills, it may be better to say “Like refugees they wandered about in desert regions and hilly country.”

The basic difference between caves and holes is that a cave would normally be entered horizontally, while a hole would be entered vertically. In other words, a hole would be below the surface of the ground, and a cave might simply be an opening in the hillside or cliff.

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .