sell

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “sell” in English is translated in Noongar as wort-bangal or “away-barter.” Note that “buy” is translated as bangal-barranga or “get-barter.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)

See also buy and buying / selling.

family / clan / house

The Hebrew terms that are translated as “family” or “clan” or “house” or similar in English are all translated in Kwere as ng’holo or “clan.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In the English translation by Goldingay (2018) it is translated as “kin-group.”

See also tribe.

prostitute

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The Greek, Latin, and Hebrew that is typically translated as “prostitute” in English (in some, mostly earlier translation also as “harlot” or “whore”) is translated in the 2024 revision of the inter-confessional Latvian Jauna Pārstrādāta latviešu Bībele as netikle or “hussy.” This replaced the previous translation mauka or “whore.” Nikita Andrejevs, editor of the Bible explains the previous and current translations: “The translators at the time felt that this strong word best described the thought contained in the main text. Many had objections, as it seemed that this word would not be the most appropriate for public reading in church.” (Source: Updated Bible published in Latvia ).

Other translations include:

  • Bariai: “a woman of the road” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “a woman who sells her body” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Uma: “a woman whose behavior is not appropriate” or “a loose woman” (source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “a bad woman” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “a woman who make money through their reputation” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “a woman who makes money with her body” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “a woman whose womanhood is repeatedly-bought” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

See also Translation commentary on Genesis 34:31, Rahab, and prostitute oneself / play the prostitute.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Prostitution in the Bible .

gentiles / nations

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė)) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).

Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).

In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

See also nations.

complete verse (Nahum 3:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Nahum 3:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “Oh, how you will be punished, city of Nineveh. You were like a prostitute with (magical) charms. You sedated communities with your charms until they became slaves.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “All this is due to the abominable act of a harlot,
    a mistress of sorceries,
    who enslaves nations by harlotry
    and clans by magic.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “This will-happen to Nineve because she is like a woman who sold her body many-times, who is alluring and enchanting. Therefore she was-able-to-entice the nations to be-under- her -jurisdiction.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “All that will happen because Nineveh is like a beautiful prostitute
    who lures men to where they will be ruined;
    Nineveh is a beautiful city
    which has attracted/enticed people of other nations to come there.
    The people of Nineveh taught those people of other nations rituals of magic,
    and caused them to become their slaves.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Nahum 3:4

Here a new metaphor begins in which the city of Nineveh is compared to a prostitute, or woman who receives payment for allowing men to have sexual relations with her. This metaphor extends over verses 4-7. In the Old Testament, prostitution is often used as a picture of unfaithfulness to the LORD. In this meaning it is of course applied to the LORD’s own people, who are linked to him in a covenant relationship as a wife is to her husband (compare, for instance, Ezek 16; Hos 2). Assyria was a pagan nation and could not really be accused of unfaithfulness to the LORD in the same way. The comparison of Nineveh with a prostitute is not therefore to be understood as speaking primarily of her idolatrous religion. Rather it speaks of the way in which her power attracted other nations, who became subject to her and who later regretted their association with her. In the same way, a prostitute presents an attractive outward appearance in order to lure men to their ruin. In some languages one may need to change the metaphor to a simile and say “Nineveh is like….”

One of the nations which had fallen under the power of Assyria’s false charms was Judah. King Ahaz, despite the warnings given by the prophet Isaiah (Isa 7.1–8.8), had asked for the help of the Assyrians against his enemies (2 Kgs 16.7-9). The help was given, but Judah became subject to Assyria and even followed the pattern of Assyrian idolatry (2 Kgs 16.10-16).

There is also another sense in which the comparison of Nineveh with a prostitute is very apt. The chief deity of Nineveh was the goddess Ishtar, in whose worship sacred prostitution played a large part. Some of her own worshipers even referred to her as a prostitute. Insofar as the city reflected the characteristics of its goddess, it is appropriate that Nahum should liken it to a prostitute.

The picture of the enemies of God’s people as a prostitute is also found elsewhere in Scripture, especially in Revelation 17–18 (compare Isa 47).

And all for the countless harlotries of the harlot: the words And all for refer back to the destruction of the city and the death of its inhabitants as described in verses 1-3. The expression means that all that punishment is coming upon Nineveh because of its past conduct. Good News Translation makes this more explicit by saying “Nineveh the whore is being punished.” This clause can also be translated “Because Nineveh is a prostitute, she is being punished” or “Because Nineveh is a prostitute, God is punishing her.”

There are numerous terms in English to speak of a prostitute. The word “prostitute” itself is probably the most general, and its emotional effect is rather neutral and colorless. The term harlot used in Revised Standard Version (compare New American Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible) is a somewhat stronger term but sounds rather old fashioned. The word “whore” used by Good News Translation and Jerusalem Bible is also a stronger word and is still in use today. It carries overtones of scorn and disgust, but it is not out of place in a formal setting such as a Scripture translation. Many languages will have a lot of terms covering this area of meaning, and if possible, translators should choose here some term which carries a strong emotive force, but which is not offensive in polite conversation. If no such term can be found, then it will be best to use a neutral term equivalent to the English “prostitute,” rather than a stronger word which may cause offense during the public reading of Scripture.

Graceful and of deadly charms: this is literally “fair and charming, a mistress of witchcraft” (New American Bible). In this case “witchcraft” refers to spells, potions, and even secret objects which were thought to arouse the sexual instinct in the men who went to a prostitute. Good News Translation translates in plain language as “Attractive and full of deadly charms.” Deadly charms may also be rendered “charms which lead to death,” or even more explicitly, “magic charms which lead to death.”

The third and fourth lines in Hebrew repeat keywords from the first and second lines. This pattern can be seen in the literal translation of Revised Standard Version, who betrays nations with her harlotries, and peoples with her charms. Good News Translation runs these two lines into one and says “she enchanted nations and enslaved them.” The term translated betrays or “enslaved” is literally “sold” (compare King James Version, Revised Version). Several modern English versions take this to imply “sold into slavery” and translate in a way similar to Good News Translation (Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New International Version). Others, like Revised Standard Version, interpret the word in the sense of “deceived,” and this possibility is shown in the footnote of Good News Translation, “seduced” (compare New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Moffatt). Both meanings fit the context very well.

Another translation model for this verse is:

• Because Nineveh is a prostitute, God is punishing her.
She is attractive and full of magic charms which lead (people) to death.
So she used her charms to attract nations to her and made them her slaves.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A . A Handbook on the Book of Nahum. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .