The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “joy” or “happiness” is translated in the HausaCommon Language Bible idiomatically as farin ciki or “white stomach.” In some cases, such as in Genesis 29:11, it is also added for emphatic purposes.
Other languages that use the same expression include Southern Birifor (pʋpɛl), Dera (popolok awo), Reshe (ɾipo ɾipuhã). (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
The Greek that is translated in English as “brother” or “brother and sister” (in the sense of fellow believers), is translated with a specifically coined word in Kachin: “There are two terms for brother in Kachin. One is used to refer to a Christian brother. This term combines ‘older and younger brother.’ The other term is used specifically for addressing siblings. When one uses this term, one must specify if the older or younger person is involved. A parallel system exists for ‘sister’ as well. In [these verses], the term for ‘a Christian brother’ is used.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae)
In Matumbi is is translated as alongo aumini or “relative-believer.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
In Martu Wangka it is translated as “relative” (this is also the term that is used for “follower.”) (Source: Carl Gross)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is often translated as Mitchristen or “fellow Christians.”
Following are a number of back-translations of Philippians 3:1:
Uma: “So then, relatives, you must be happy [command] because you are connected with the Lord. I do not consider-it-difficult to repeat here what I already wrote before. Because I want to warn you so no-one deceives you with wrong teaching.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “My brothers who trust in Isa Almasi, up to here (go) my instructions for you. You should/ought-to be always glad because you belong to Almasi. It doesn’t matter to me even if I happen-to-repeat what I have written to you and it is good for you so that you really stay-clear.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “So, brothers, this is my last advice to you: rejoice because of your relationship to the Lord. Never mind if I repeat to you former advice, because this is easy and it might be that means of this, your minds might be strengthened.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Another-thing yet that I will tell you my siblings, you should be happy because of your being joined to the Lord. As for me, I don’t become-tired-of repeating-and-repeating what I have been telling you, and it is for your good/betterment so that your faith doesn’t go-astray.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Well now, my siblings in believing, be very happy in the strength of your being united/tied-together with the Lord. I really don’t get tired of writing to you concerning these things, for as for these, they really are for your benefit.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Listen brothers, rejoice because you believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. As for me, not a thing is wasted in that the second time I tell you the word which I wrote. And this word is what will be good for you.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
The Hebrew adonai in the Old Testament typically refers to God. The shorter adon (and in two cases in the book of Daniel the Aramaic mare [מָרֵא]) is also used to refer to God but more often for concepts like “master,” “owner,” etc. In English Bible translations all of those are translated with “Lord” if they refer to God.
In English Old Testament translations, as in Old Testament translations in many other languages, the use of Lord (or an equivalent term in other languages) is not to be confused with Lord (or the equivalent term with a different typographical display for other languages). While the former translates adonai, adon and mare, the latter is a translation for the tetragrammaton (YHWH) or the Name of God. See tetragrammaton (YHWH) and the article by Andy Warren-Rothlin in Noss / Houser, p. 618ff. for more information.
In the New Testament, the Greek term kurios has at least four different kinds of use:
referring to “God,” especially in Old Testament quotations,
meaning “master” or “owner,” especially in parables, etc.,
as a form of address (see for instance John 4:11: “Sir, you have no bucket”),
or, most often, referring to Jesus
In the first and fourth case, it is also translated as “Lord” in English.
Most languages naturally don’t have one word that covers all these meanings. According to Bratcher / Nida, “the alternatives are usually (1) a term which is an honorific title of respect for a high-ranking person and (2) a word meaning ‘boss’, ‘master’, or ‘chief.’ (…) and on the whole it has generally seemed better to employ a word of the second category, in order to emphasize the immediate personal relationship, and then by context to build into the word the prestigeful character, since its very association with Jesus Christ will tend to accomplish this purpose.”
When looking at the following list of back-translations of the terms that translators in the different languages have used for both kurios and adonai to refer to God and Jesus respectively, it might be helpful for English readers to recall the etymology of the English “Lord.” While this term might have gained an exalted meaning in the understanding of many, it actually comes from hlaford or “loaf-ward,” referring to the lord of the castle who was the keeper of the bread (source: Rosin 1956, p. 121).
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Following are some of the solutions that don’t rely on a different typographical display (see above):
Iyansi: Mwol. Mwol is traditionally used for the “chief of a group of communities and villages” with legal, temporal, and spiritual authority (versus the “mfum [the term used in other Bantu languages] which is used for the chief of one community of people in one village”). Mwol is also used for twins who are “treated as special children, highly honored, and taken care of like kings and queens.” (Source: Kividi Kikama in Greed / Kruger, p. 396ff.)
Binumarien: Karaambaia: “fight-leader” (Source: Oates 1995, p. 255)
Warlpiri: Warlaljamarri (owner or possessor of something — for more information tap or click here)
We have come to rely on another term which emphasizes God’s essential nature as YHWH, namely jukurrarnu (see tetragrammaton (YHWH)). This word is built on the same root jukurr– as is jukurrpa, ‘dreaming.’ Its basic meaning is ‘timelessness’ and it is used to describe physical features of the land which are viewed as always being there. Some speakers view jukurrarnu in terms of ‘history.’ In all Genesis references to YHWH we have used Kaatu Jukurrarnu. In all Mark passages where kurios refers to God and not specifically to Christ we have also used Kaatu Jukurrarnu.
New Testament references to Christ as kurios are handled differently. At one stage we experimented with the term Watirirririrri which refers to a ceremonial boss of highest rank who has the authority to instigate ceremonies. While adequately conveying the sense of Christ’s authority, there remained potential negative connotations relating to Warlpiri ceremonial life of which we might be unaware.
Here it is that the Holy Spirit led us to make a chance discovery. Transcribing the personal testimony of the local Warlpiri pastor, I noticed that he described how ‘my Warlaljamarri called and embraced me (to the faith)’. Warlaljamarri is based on the root warlalja which means variously ‘family, possessions, belongingness’. A warlaljamarri is the ‘owner’ or ‘possessor’ of something. While previously being aware of the ‘ownership’ aspect of warlaljamarri, this was the first time I had heard it applied spontaneously and naturally in a fashion which did justice to the entire concept of ‘Lordship’. Thus references to Christ as kurios are now being handled by Warlaljamarri.” (Source: Stephen Swartz, The Bible Translator 1985, p. 415ff. )
Mairasi: Onggoao Nem (“Throated One” — “Leader,” “Elder”) or Enggavot Nan (“Above-One”) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Obolo: Okaan̄-ene (“Owner of person(s)”) (source: Enene Enene)
Lotha Naga: Opvui (“owner of house / field / cattle”) — since both “Lord” and YHWH are translated as Opvui there is an understanding that “Opvui Jesus is the same as the Opvui of the Old Testament”
Seediq: Tholang, loan word from Min Nan Chinese (the majority language in Taiwan) thâu-lâng (頭儂): “Master” (source: Covell 1998, p. 248)
Thai: phra’ phu pen cao (พระผู้เป็นเจ้า) (divine person who is lord) or ong(kh) cao nay (องค์เจ้านาย) (<divine classifier>-lord-boss) (source: Stephen Pattemore)
Arabic often uses different terms for adonai or kurios referring to God (al-rabb الرب) and kurios referring to Jesus (al-sayyid الـسـيـد). Al-rabb is also the term traditionally used in Arabic Christian-idiom translations for YHWH, and al-sayyid is an honorary term, similar to English “lord” or “sir” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
Tamil also uses different terms for adonai/kurios when referring to God and kurios when referring to Jesus. The former is Karttar கர்த்தர், a Sanskrit-derived term with the original meaning of “creator,” and the latter in Āṇṭavar ஆண்டவர், a Tamil term originally meaning “govern” or “reign” (source: Natarajan Subramani).
Burunge: Looimoo: “owner who owns everything” (in the Burunge Bible translation, this term is only used as a reference to Jesus and was originally used to refer to the traditional highest deity — source: Michael Endl in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 48)
Yagaria: Souve, originally “war lord” (source: Renck, p. 94)
Aguacateco: Ajcaw ske’j: “the one to whom we belong and who is above us” (source: Rita Peterson in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 49)
Konkomba: Tidindaan: “He who is the owner of the land and reigns over the people” (source: Lidorio 2007, p. 66)
Chichewa: AmbuyeAmbuye comes from the singular form Mbuye which is used to refer to: (1) someone who is a guardian or protector of someone or group of people — a grandparent who has founded a community or village; (2) someone who is a boss or master over a group of people or servants and has absolute control over them; (3) owner of something, be it a property, animals and people who are bound under his/her rule — for people this was mostly commonly used in the context of slaves and their owner. In short, Mbuye is someone who has some authorities over those who call him/her their “Mbuye.” Now, when the form Ambuye is used it will either be for honorific when used for singular or plural when referring to more than one person. When this term is used in reference to God, it is for respect to God as he is acknowledged as a guardian, protector, and ruler of everything. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation).
Hdi uses rveri (“lion”) as a title of respect and as such it regularly translates adon in the Old Testament. As an address, it’s most often with a possessive pronoun as in rvera ɗa (“my lion” = “my lord” or “sir”). So, for example, Genesis 15:2 (“O Lord God”) is Rvera ɗa Yawe (“My lion Yahweh”) or Ruth to Boaz in Ruth 2:13: “May I find your grace [lit. good-stomach] my lion.” This ties in nicely with the imagery of the Lord roaring like a lion (Hosea 11:10; Amos 3:8; Joel 3:16). Better still, this makes passages like Revelation 5:5 even richer when we read about rveri ma taba məndəra la Yuda, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah”. In Revelation 19:16, Jesus is rveri ta ghəŋa rveriha “the lion above lions” (“lord of lords”). (Source: Drew Maust)
Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient GreekSeptuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew adonai was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments: “Another case is the use of kurios referring to Jesus. For Yahweh (in English Bibles: ‘the Lord‘), the Septuagint uses kurios. Although the term kurios usually has to do with one’s authority over others, when the New Testament authors use this word from the Septuagint to refer to Jesus, they are making an extraordinary claim: Jesus of Nazareth is to be identified with Yahweh.”
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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 choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
That there is a break in the flow of thought in this verse is recognized by practically all interpreters and is reflected in various translations, but scholars cannot agree as to whether the break is in the middle of the verse or at the end of it. New English BibleJerusalem BibleDie Bibel im heutigen Deutsch have the break in the middle of the verse, while Phillips and New American Bible have it at the end. While the context seems to indicate a break in the middle of the verse, it is not necessary to consider the first part of verse 1 as the conclusion of the preceding paragraph, as the Greek phrase rendered in conclusion is sometimes loosely used as a marker of transition to a new section or fresh subject matter (cf. 1 Thes 4.1; 2 Thes 3.1). Here Paul is no doubt introducing new subject matter, most likely a concluding remark, and so renderings like “finally” (Revised Standard VersionJerusalem Bible) or in conclusion (PhillipsGood News Translation) are quite adequate. This may be expressed in some languages as “now I want to end my letter by saying,” “finally, this is what I say,” or “before stopping my writing I want to say.”
As in other contexts, my brothers may be rendered as “my fellow believers.” Such expressions of direct address must be placed at the beginning of a discourse in some languages, and therefore one may wish to modify the order by saying, “My fellow believers, in finishing this statement I still want to say….”
The exhortation be joyful in your union with the Lord, rendered in most translations as “rejoice in the Lord,” may express a wish (Barclay “… to wish you the joy that comes from being united with the Lord”). Christians are to be joyful, and their joy springs from Christ. In sounding this note Paul picks up the thought of 2.18, and the same phrase is repeated in 4.4.
The phrase “in the Lord” may be understood in the sense of the condition which leads to joy, for example, “be happy because of your union with the Lord” (cf. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). It can also be taken as an indication of the agent which causes the joy, for example, “may the Lord give you much joy,” or “may the Lord cause you to be very happy.” With expressions such as these, it may be necessary to suggest that this is a kind of prayer addressed to the Lord. In this type of interpretation it cannot be understood as an imperative, and therefore one may translate “I pray that the Lord will cause you to be very happy.”
The verb rendered “rejoice” is also the Greek word for “farewell.” For this reason New English Bible, for example, includes both meanings in the translation, “… farewell; I wish you joy in the Lord” (cf. Translator’s New Testament). However, except in 2 Cor 13.11, the word is generally not used in the sense of “farewell” in the New Testament.
I don’t mind repeating what I have written before is literally “to write the same things to you is not irksome to me” (Revised Standard Version). There are several possible interpretations of “the same things.” It is possible to regard the phrase as referring to the repeated call of “rejoicing” in this letter (Moffatt “I am repeating this word ‘rejoice’ in my letter”). But such an exhortation appears to have no direct bearing on the safety of the Philippians. It is also suggested that the words refer to the repeated warnings against disasters within the church mentioned in 4.1 ff. Verses 2-21 of chapter 3 are then of necessity taken as a long digression. The most likely explanation, however, is to take the words as an introduction to what follows in 3.2 ff., that is, a repetition of the warnings against false teachers which the apostle has sent in previous letters. Repeated warnings are necessary for the safety or spiritual well-being of the Philippians.
To avoid the implication that this sentence is merely a reference to the preceding admonition or prayer, it may be important to translate before as “on another occasion.” I don’t mind may be rendered in some instances as “I do not hesitate at all,” or, perhaps, “it doesn’t bother me.”
The word rendered safer means primarily “stable,” and is used of something to be relied on as profitable. Safer may be expressed in some languages as being “in less danger.” Therefore one may say “you will be in less danger if I do so,” or “… if I repeat what I have said.”
Quoted with permission from Luo, I-Jin. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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