Matt 11:5 – TIPs

leprosy, leprous

The Greek and Hebrew terms that are often translated as “leprosy” or “leprous (person)” in English is translated in Mairasi as “the bad sickness,” since “leprosy is very common in the Mairasi area” (source: Enggavoter 2004).

Following are various other translations:

Shilluk: “disease of animals”
San Mateo Del Mar Huave: “devil sore” (this and the above are indigenous expressions)
Inupiaq: “decaying sores”
Kaqchikel: “skin-rotting disease” (source for this and three above: Eugene Nida in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 34f. )
Nyongar: “bad skin disease” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Tzotzil “rotting sickness” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.)
Usila Chinantec “sickness like mal de pinta” (a skin disease involving discoloration by loss of pigment) (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)

lame

The Greek that is translated as “lame” in English is translated in various ways:

Lalana Chinantec: “with a dry foot”
Isthmus Mixe: “with a bad leg”
Chuj: “crippled foot”
Teutila Cuicatec: “withered legs”
Chichimeca-Jonaz: “can’t walk”
Ayutla Mixtec: “legs were drawn up” (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Nyongar: maat-wara or “leg bad” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)

blind

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “blind” in English is translated as “(having) eyes dark/night” in Ekari or “having no eyes” in Zarma. (Source: Nida 1964, p. 200)

complete verse (Matthew 11:5)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 11:5:

Uma: “The blind see, the lame walk straight, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, dead people I made live again, and the Good News I announce to people whose lives are pitiful.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Tell him that the blind see already/now, the crippled walk, the lepers are healed, the deaf hear, the dead live again and the good news are proclaimed to the people who are to be pitied.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus answered, ‘Go back to John and tell him what you’ve seen that I have done and what you’ve heard that I have spoken. What you should tell him is that because of me the blind can already see, the lame can already walk, lepers are cured, and deaf people are now able to hear. I have raised the dead, and I have caused the Good News to be understood by poor people. Far better off is the person who does not doubt that I am the one God sent.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “that the blind, they are-able-to-see, the lame, they can-walk, those who have a fearful skin disease, they have-become-well, the deaf, they can-hear, the dead, they have-lived again, and the good news, it is being preached to the poor.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “that the blind can now see, the lame can now walk, the leprosy of the lepers has now stopped, the deaf can now hear, and even those already dead are living again, and the Good News is being taught to the low-class/insignificant.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Tell him that the blind now see. The lame now walk. The people whose bodies were rotting now have been healed. The deaf now hear. The dead now have been resurrected. The poor have been told the good news.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)