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 .

swear / vow

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The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “swear (an oath)” or “vow” in English is otherwise translated as:

  • “God sees me, I tell the truth to you” (Tzeltal)
  • “loading yourself down” (Huichol)
  • “speak-stay” (implying permanence of the utterance) (Sayula Popoluca)
  • “say what could not be taken away” (San Blas Kuna)
  • “because of the tight (i.e. ‘binding’) word said to a face” (Guerrero Amuzgo)
  • “strong promise” (North Alaskan Inupiatun) (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • “eat an oath” (Nyamwezi) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • “drink an oath” (Jju) (source: McKinney 2018, p. 31).
  • “cut taboos” (Mairasi (source: Enggavoter 2004)

In Bauzi “swear” can be translated in various ways. In Hebrews 6:13, for instance, it is translated with “bones break apart and decisively speak.” (“No bones are literally broken but by saying ‘break bones’ it is like people swear by someone else in this case it is in relation to a rotting corpse’ bones falling apart. If you ‘break bones’ so to speak when you make an utterance, it is a true utterance.”) In other passages, such as in Matthew 26:72, it’s translated with an expression that implies taking ashes (“if a person wants everyone to know that he is telling the truth about a matter, he reaches down into the fireplace, scoops up some ashes and throws them while saying ‘I was not the one who did that.'”). So in Matthew 26:72 the Bauzi text is: “. . . Peter took ashes and defended himself saying, ‘I don’t know that Nazareth person.'” (Source: David Briley)

See also swear (promise) and Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’, or ‘No, No’.

Joshua

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is transliterated as “Joshua” is translated in Swiss-German Sign Language with a sign that depicts a trumpet of rams’ horn, referring to Joshua 6:4 and following.


“Joshua” in Swiss-German Sign Language, source: DSGS-Lexikon biblischer Begriffe , © CGG Schweiz

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Joshua .

complete verse (Joshua 9:15)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 9:15:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then Joshua made a peace treaty with those people and the leaders of Israel swore it with an oath.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then Joshua made a treaty with them allowing them not to be killed. And the leaders of the assembly also swore an oath to agree with the treaty.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Josue made an agreement with them that he would- not -harm them or kill (them). And this was-sworn by the leaders/[lit. community/congregation] of the Israel.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So Joshua agreed to make a peace agreement with the men from Gibeon to not kill them. All the Israeli leaders vowed to do what Joshua said in the agreement. Then the men from Gibeon returned home.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Joshua 9:14 - 9:15

The trick worked; the Israelites partook of the food of the Gibeonites (even though it was dry and moldy!); this meal was part of the ceremony by which a treaty was ratified.The Masoretic text begins verse 14 “and the men took of their provisions,” which seems to mean, as Good News Translation has it, The men of Israel accepted some food from them. But the Septuagint has “the leaders” (the same word used in verse 15b), which New English Bible Bible de Jérusalem Jerusalem Bible New American Bible prefer. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project An American Translation Revised Standard Version Good News Translation translate the Masoretic text. Therefore accepted some food from them is inadequate as a translation, since the reader does not know (1) that the men of Israel actually ate the food, and (2) that the act of eating was the means by which the treaty was ratified. It will help to translate “The Israelites ate some of their provisions as a sign of fellowship” or “… as a sign that they had agreed to the treaty.”

The reason why the Israelites were deceived is given in verse 14: they did not consult the LORD, as they should have done. This would be done by the use of the sacred lots, the Urim and Thummim (see comments on 7.14). This clause may be translated as a complete sentence: “They agreed to this before they asked the LORD about it.” Or, in chronological order, “They should have consulted the LORD about this, but they did not do so.”

In verse 15 the Hebrew noun means not only “peace” (Revised Standard Version) as the absence of armed conflict, but friendship, thereby guaranteeing their safety (allowed them to live; New English Bible is better: “promising to spare their lives”). If the matter of making a treaty is mentioned in verse 14, then the first sentence of this verse may be translated, “Joshua promised the people of Gibeon that the Israelites would let them live in peace.”

The treaty was ratified also by the leaders of the community,The Hebrew phrase is unusual in this material, and some scholars believe it seems to indicate a different, later, writer. who are not otherwise identified; they gave their solemn promise to keep the treaty. The concept of a solemn promise may be too abstract. One may translate either “took an oath and promised” or “promised with an oath.” Many languages will also have idiomatic ways of describing a binding oath, such as the Hebrew, which frequently uses “place one’s hands between another’s thighs.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 9:15

9:15a

And: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And indicates the next action in the storyline. Indicate this in a natural way in your language.

Joshua made a treaty of peace with them: The Hebrew that the Berean Standard Bible and many English versions collapse into one clause, Joshua made a treaty of peace with them, is literally two clauses, “Joshua made peace with them, and he made a covenant for them.” Making a covenant, or a treaty, showed that there will be peace between the two groups of people. For example:

So Joshua made peace with them by making a treaty (God’s Word)

to let them live: The terms of the peace treaty allowed the Gibeonites to live as subjects, under the rule of the Israelites. The Israelites promised not to kill the Gibeonites as they did the other inhabitants of Canaan.

9:15b

and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them: The phrase the leaders of the congregation refers to the leaders of the whole Israelite community.

congregation: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as congregation refers to a meeting of free Israelite men who were eligible for military service.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

the leaders of the assembly (New International Version)
-or-
the leaders of the community (NET Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition)

Some English versions leave this word implicit. For example:

the Israelite leaders (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
their leaders (Good News Translation)

swore an oath to them: The clause swore an oath to them means that the Israelite leaders swore an oath, or made a solemn promise, that they will keep the agreement that they made with the Gibeonites.

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