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’.

complete verse (Matthew 26:72)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 26:72:

  • Uma: “Petrus denied it again with oathing [sumpa], he said: ‘I don’t know that person!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But Petros denied/argued again. He swore yet and he said, ‘I do not know that man.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then the denial of Peter was very strong, he said, ‘I do not recognize that man.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But Pedro again denied it saying, ‘I swear I don’t know that man.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Pedro again really denied it once more. ‘Expletive,’ he said, ‘I swear I really don’t know that fellow whom you mean!'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Peter even called upon God as witness as he said: ‘No, I don’t know the man you are speaking of.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 26:72

Denied it may need to be expanded to read “denied that he was with Jesus of Nazareth.” Only Matthew notes that Peter used an oath to strengthen his denial. With an oath, “I do not know the man” may be restructured as in Good News Translation: “I swear that I don’t know that man!” or as “I declare before God that I don’t know the man.” But for further ideas on oath, see the discussion at 5.33.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .