earthly sanctuary

The Greek in Hebrews 9:1 that is translated as “earthly sanctuary” or similar in English is translated by the interconfessional Chichewa translation (publ. 1999) as malo opembedzeramo omangidwa ndi anthu or “a place for worshiping in made by people.” (Source: Wendland 1998, p. 110)

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.

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 .

complete verse (Hebrews 9:1)

Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 9:1:

  • Uma: “As for the Promise of God that was delivered by Musa to the Yahudi people long ago, they had customs of worship and they had a worship house that was made by mankind.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “In the first/previous covenant there were laws about worship and there was also a house for worship made by the people.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And in that first way for God to become one with mankind, God taught the way they should worship Him and how they should build the church here on the earth.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “God’s first agreement-that-he -presented to his people, it had commands concerning the proper way for them to worship him. There was also a Tent which they set-up in-which-to-worship him on this earth.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well in that initiated-agreement in the past there were indeed laws that the people were following/obeying in their worshipping, and there was a house/building which was their worshipping-place here in the world.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “In the old agreement which was before, there are many words written about what all the people will do as they worship God. But there where the people worship, it is a church which was here on earth.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

sanctuary

The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is translated as “sanctuary” in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) with opatulika or “separated place.” This is understood in a religious setup as a place designated for worship. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Hebrews 9:1

Revised Standard Version‘s “Now” (New English Bible “indeed”), omitted by Good News Translation, shows that the writer is taking up the argument again at the point at which he left it before the quotation from Jeremiah. The phrase which Revised Standard Version translates “Now” may also begin a comparison or contrast which is later completed by the word translated But in verse 11.

The first covenant: covenant is implied. “The first tent” is grammatically possible but is not the meaning chosen by any of the translations consulted. Most manuscripts include a word meaning “even” or “also,” which is included in Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, Luther 1984, and some other translations. The UBS Greek text prints it in square brackets. If this is part of the original text, it is a way of stating what the two covenants had in common, before going on to contrast them (compare 3.2 and 8.3, Revised Standard Version). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch misleadingly translates the word for “even” as “but.” In fact, the contrast begins with man-made (see below).

In English it seems perfectly natural to speak of “a covenant having rules,” but this involves a particularly complex relationship, and in many languages a covenant cannot possess anything, much less rules. The meaning of The first covenant had rules for worship may be expressed by translating “In order to act in accordance with the first covenant, there were certain rules for ways in which people should worship God,” “In order to keep the first covenant, people had to worship God according to certain rules,” or “… according to certain ways that were necessary.” Or perhaps “The first covenant was given with rules.”

Worship, as the context shows, means not “the spiritual content of worship” (that is, “adoration”), but “liturgical forms.”

Man-made, like on earth in 8.4, means “belonging to this world,” not to heaven (8.5). Good News Translation is followed by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch; Bijbel in Gewone Taal has “on earth”; like Revised Standard Version, Bible en français courant has “earthly.” This correctly suggests not only the location but the nature of the place for worship, like Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “of this world” and New English Bible “material.” Man-made or “earthly” is emphasized in the text in order to show that the writer is moving away from what the two covenants have in common to what makes them different. This is brought out by Barclay “it had a sanctuary, although a this-worldly one.” The place rather than the “maker” of the sanctuary is what matters here. There is a good note in the Good News Bible Word List on “Tent of the LORD’s presence.”

And … as well indicates that the rules for worship were closely related to the place for worship. The Greek is literally “the,” not “a” place for worship. This is because the writer could assume that his readers knew about it. However, modern readers may not, so a is correct.

Place for worship or “sanctuary,” literally “holy place,” is the entire place of worship. It is also called a tent in 8.2. It is not the same expression in the Greek as the one designating the Holy Place in verse 2 (literally “holy places”), which is the outer part of the sanctuary. The position is, however, complicated by the fact that the same word for tent is used to describe the whole building (8.2), the Holy Place (9.2), and the Holy of Holies or Most Holy Place (9.3). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch solves the problem by beginning verse 2 “Two tents had been put up.” Jerusalem Bible is more precise “There was a tent which comprised two compartments.” The writer was not interested in the details of any particular sanctuary, but the details which he does give may be fitted together within a general picture of a large room divided into two parts by a curtain.

In some languages it may be strange to speak of a man-made place, since a term for place may only suggest a location rather than a construction. Because the reference in this context is to the sanctuary, it may be necessary to translate a man-made place as “a tent which was made by people.”

Instead of adding as well to the end of verse 1, it may be necessary to relate more closely the phrases a man-made place for worship and rules for worship. The resulting translation may be “rules for how to worship God and also a tent for worship which had been made by people.”

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 .