forgive, forgiveness

The concept of “forgiveness” is expressed in varied ways through translations. Following is a list of (back-) translations from some languages:

  • Tswa, North Alaskan Inupiatun, Panao Huánuco Quechua: “forget about”
  • Navajo (Dinė): “give back” (based on the idea that sin produces an indebtedness, which only the one who has been sinned against can restore)
  • Huichol, Shipibo-Conibo, Eastern Highland Otomi, Uduk, Tepo Krumen: “erase,” “wipe out,” “blot out”
  • Highland Totonac, Huautla Mazatec: “lose,” “make lacking”
  • Tzeltal: “lose another’s sin out of one’s heart”
  • Lahu, Burmese: “be released,” “be freed”
  • Ayacucho Quechua: “level off”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “cast away”
  • Chol: “pass by”
  • Wayuu: “make pass”
  • Kpelle: “turn one’s back on”
  • Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “cover over” (a figure of speech which is also employed in Hebrew, but which in many languages is not acceptable, because it implies “hiding” or “concealment”)
  • Tabasco Chontal, Huichol: “take away sins”
  • Toraja-Sa’dan, Javanese: “do away with sins”
  • San Blas Kuna: “erase the evil heart” (this and all above: Bratcher / Nida, except Tepo Krumen: Peter Thalmann in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 25f.)
  • Eggon: “withdraw the hand”
  • Mískito: “take a man’s fault out of your heart” (source of this and the one above: Kilgour, p. 80)
  • Gamale Kham: “unstring someone” (“hold a grudge” — “have someone strung up in your heart”) (source: Watters, p. 171)
  • Hawai’i Creole English: “let someone go” (source: Jost Zetzsche)
  • Cebuano: “go beyond” (based on saylo)
  • Iloko: “none” or “no more” (based on awan) (source for this and above: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
  • Tzotzil: ch’aybilxa: “it has been lost” (source: Aeilts, p. 118)
  • Suki: biaek eisaemauwa: “make heart soft” (Source L. and E. Twyman in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 91ff. )
  • Warao: “not being concerned with him clean your obonja.” Obonja is a term that “includes the concepts of consciousness, will, attitude, attention and a few other miscellaneous notions” (source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. See other occurrences of Obojona in the Warao New Testament.)
  • Martu Wangka: “throw out badness” (source: Carl Gross)
  • Mairasi: “dismantle wrongs” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Nyulnyul: “have good heart” (source )
  • Kyaka: “burn the jaw bones” — This goes back to the pre-Christian custom of hanging the jaw bones of murdered relatives on ones door frame until the time of revenge. Christians symbolically burned those bones to show forgiveness which in turn became the word for “forgiveness” (source: Eugene Nida, according to this blog )
  • Koonzime: “remove the bad deed-counters” (“The Koonzime lay out the deeds symbolically — usually strips of banana leaf — and rehearse their grievances with the person addressed.”) (Source: Keith and Mary Beavon in Notes on Translation 3/1996, p. 16)
  • Arapaho: “setting is aside” (source )
  • Ngbaka: ele: “forgive and forget” (Margaret Hill [in Holzhausen & Ridere 2010, p. 8f.] recalls that originally there were two different words used in Ngbaka, one for God (ɛlɛ) and one for people (mbɔkɔ — excuse something) since it was felt that people might well forgive but, unlike God, can’t forget. See also this lectionary in The Christian Century .
  • Amahuaca: “erase” / “smooth over” (“It was an expression the people used for smoothing over dirt when marks or drawings had been made in it. It meant wiping off dust in which marks had been made, or wiping off writing on the blackboard. To wipe off the slate, to erase, to take completely away — it has a very wide meaning and applies very well to God’s wiping away sins, removing them from the record, taking them away.”) (Source: Robert Russel, quoted in Walls / Bennett 1959, p. 193)
  • Gonja / Dangme: “lend / loan” (in the words of one Dangme scholar: “When you sin and you are forgiven, you forget that you have been forgiven, and continue to sin. But when you see the forgiveness as a debt/loan which you will pay for, you do not continue to sin, else you have more debts to pay” — quoted in Jonathan E.T. Kuwornu-Adjaottor in Ibadan Journal of Religious Studies 17/2 2010, p. 67ff. )
  • Kwere: kulekelela, meaning literally “to allow for.” Derived from the root leka which means “to leave.” In other words, forgiveness is leaving behind the offense in relationship to the person. It is also used in contexts of setting someone free. (Source: Megan Barton)
  • Merina Malagasy: mamela or “leave / let go (of sin / mistakes)” (source: Brigitte Rabarijaona)
  • Mauwake: “take away one’s heaviness” (compare sin as “heavy”) (source: Kwan Poh San in this article )

See also this devotion on YouVersion .

complete verse (Numbers 30:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 30:5:

  • Kupsabiny: “But/And if (her) father hears it and refuses for that girl to fulfill those words, those (words) are just nothing. God will forgive the girl because (her) father has blocked (it).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “However, if her father prohibits her on the day that he hears [it], none of the vows or the obligations with which she bound herself will stand. Because her father prevented her, the LORD will pardon her.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But if her father will-hinder when- he -knew it, (it is) not a must that she will-fulfill (it). The LORD will-forgive her for her father had-hindered.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But if her father hears about what she promised and does not allow her to do that, then she does not need to do what she promised. Yahweh will forgive her for not doing what she promised.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("forgive")

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, yurus-are-ru (赦される) or “forgive” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Numbers 30:5

But if her father expresses disapproval to her on the day that he hears of it: But renders well the Hebrew waw conjunction, which introduces a contrast here. The Hebrew verb rendered expresses disapproval (heniʾ) may also be translated “restrains” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “forbids” (Good News Translation), or “overrules” (NET Bible). But why would a father forbid his daughter from fulfilling a vow? According to Cole (page 483), if she made a vow that she might not be able to fulfil or one that might cause hardship or embarrassment to the family, her father could cancel it. For he hears of it, see verse 4.

No vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself, shall stand: For the distinction between vow and pledge by which she has bound herself, see the comments on verse 2. The Hebrew verb for stand is the same one as in verse 4, but here it may need to be expressed differently; for example, Good News Translation renders this clause as “she is not required to keep it,” and Chewa has “there is no law which forces that child to do/keep it.”

And the LORD will forgive her: The central meaning of forgive here is the legal sense of releasing (so Bijbel in Gewone Taal, De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling) the young woman from the commitment or obligation that she now cannot keep, so Chewa uses the verb “untie.” From another perspective, the non-performance of the vow incurs guilt, but since the woman has been prevented from fulfilling the vow by a higher authority, the LORD absolves her of this vow (so Ashley, page 580).

Because her father opposed her gives the reason why the LORD will release the woman from her vow. The Hebrew verb for opposed (heniʾ) is the same one rendered expresses disapproval. If possible, translators should render it the same way both times; for example, Good News Translation‘s model may be adjusted here to read “because her father forbade her.”

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .