The Greek and Hebrew that are translated as “worry” or “anxious” in English are translated in Navajo (Dinė) as “my mind is killing me.” (Source: Nida 1952, p. 24)
Nida (1952, p. 124) also gives other examples:
“The Piro in Peru use almost the same idiom when they say that a worried man is ‘one who is hard chased.’ The worried person is like a pursued animal in the forest trying to elude the hunter. The impenetrable jungle of the future, the failing strength, and the exhaustion of doubt all press hard upon the soul. And one’s heart seems to fail and even disappear. This is the very phrase employed by the Tzeltal Indians in the rugged mountains of southern Mexico. They describe ‘worry’ by the words ‘their hearts are gone.'”
See also anxious / worried about many things and worries/cares of the world/this age.
In Telugu different verbs for humans drinking (tāgu / తాగు) and animals drinking (cēḍu / చేడు) are required.
Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, translators typically select the inclusive form (including everyone asking everyone else).
Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 6:31:
- Uma: “‘That’s why I say to you don’t be afraid and say: ‘What shall we (incl.) eat and drink? What shall we (incl.) wear?'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “Therefore do not worry. Do not say, ‘What shall we eat, what shall we drink, what shall we wear.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Therefore don’t worry and say what are we going to eat, and what are we going to drink, and what will we clothe ourselves with.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “Therefore don’t be worrying saying, ‘Where perhaps is what we will use-to-get what we will eat and our clothes?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “Therefore don’t agitate your mind/thinking about your food, drink or clothes.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “So now, do not worry and say: ‘What will be eat and drink? Or what will be wear?'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Matthew 6:25-34:
I tell you not to worry about food, drink, or clothes!
Life is more than what you eat and wear.
Birds don’t plant or harvest,
yet your Father above takes care of them,
and you are worth much more than a flock of birds.
You may think the more you worry, the longer you live.
That’s simply not so.
Why worry about what you will wear?
Even royalty looks drab beside daffodils and regal lilies,
yet God colors and clothes the wild flowers,
even though they will wither in the summer heat.
Why do you have such little faith? God will take care of you.
Worry — wearisome worry about food, drink, and clothes —
Only a heathen would nurture such worries.
Put God first in everything you do and worry no more,
then all your needs will be met.
Why worry about tomorrow? Today is worrisome enough.
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