hardness of heart

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The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “hardness of heart” in English is translated as “large heart” has been translated in many ways:

In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated colloquially as wie vernagelt or “obtuse” (in Mark 6:52 and 8:17).

While Moba has a rich metaphorical library using the concept of “heart” (pal) it follows very different paradigms compared to Greek, Hebrew and English concepts. The parallel expression of “hardened heart” means “courageous” or “encouraged” (see hearts burning) so in the 2008 Moba Yendu Kadapaaonn translation various constructs are used to translate “hardness of heart,” including “not willing to change one’s mind” (in Mark 3:5) or “make temptation into the heart” (John 12:40). (Source: Bedouma Joseph Kobaike in Le Sycomore 17/1, 2024, p. 3ff. )

See also stubborn / hardness of heart.

fear (of God)

The Hebrew and Greek that are translated as “fear (of God)” (or: “honor,” “worship,” or “respect”) is translated as “to have respect/reverence for” (Southern Subanen, Western Highland Purepecha, Navajo (Dinė), Javanese, Tboli), “to make great before oneself” (Ngäbere), “fear-devotion” (Kannada — currently used as a description of the life of piety), “those-with-whom he-is-holy” (those who fear God) (Western Apache) (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel), “revere God” (Lalana Chinantec), “worship God” (Palantla Chinantec) (source for this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), “obey” (Chichewa) (source: Ernst Wendland), “having/showing respect (for God)” (Makonde) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext), or with a term that communicates awe (rather than fear of an evil source) (Chol) (source: Robert Bascom).

Bullard / Hatton (2008, p. 8) say the following about this concept: “As the writer of Proverbs states in 1:7, ‘The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.’ (…) ‘The fear of the Lord,’ that is, human fear of God, is an exceptionally difficult concept to express, at least in English. Other languages may have more appropriate terms. The idea probably is rooted in the most ancient days when people were indeed afraid of any deity. But in Israel the concept of fearing God was transformed by God’s revelation into a much fuller idea. Basically, as used in the Bible, the fear of God refers to the proper attitude of reverence and awe before the Holy One. To fear God is to recognize one’s own place as a mere mortal before the Creator, one’s place as a sinner before the Judge, one’s place as a child before the Father, one’s place as the recipient of God’s love. It thus involves submission, repentance, trust, and grateful love toward the One who is fearsome in holiness, in justice, in power that both protects and punishes, and in love. Using the word “fear” is sometimes as good as we can do, but often we will alternate that word with terms like ‘reverence’ or ‘awe.’”

See also fear of the LORD (Isa 11:2) and complete verse (Genesis 22:12) et al.

Translation commentary on Proverbs 28:14

“Blessed is the man who fears the Lord always”: “Blessed” means here to be fortunate or happy. For the expression “Blessed is”, see 3.13 and 14.21, where Revised Standard Version renders the same Hebrew word “Happy is.” “Man” translates Hebrew ʾadam, which is better translated as “person.” “Fears the Lord always” is literally “dreading always.” “The Lord” is not mentioned in the Hebrew text, but this may be intended. Note that both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation supply “the Lord“, whereas New Revised Standard Version has “the one who is never without fear.” Some interpreters understand “dreading” or “fearing always” to mean “fearing to do evil.” Accordingly, Contemporary English Version says “The Lord blesses everyone who is afraid to do evil.” Bible en français courant has “Happy is the man who lives in the fear of acting wrongly.” The Septuagint assumes that it is “the fear of the Lord” by saying “fear with reverence.” Both “fears the Lord” and “is afraid to do evil” are possible translations in this line.

“But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity”: “Hardens his heart” is an expression used, for example, in Exo 7.3, meaning “to be stubborn” or “to refuse to listen to God’s words.” “Fall into calamity” means to come to a bad end, to “end up in trouble” (Contemporary English Version). This contrasts with being “Blessed” in line 1. We may translate the whole verse, for example, “You will always be happy if you honor the Lord, but if you have a stubborn heart, you will end up in trouble.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

complete verse (Proverbs 28:14)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 28:14:

  • Kupsabiny: “A person who obeys God is blessed,
    but a stubborn person will suffer punishment.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Those who fear the Lord will be blessed.
    Those who are disobedient will be destroyed.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Blessed is the man who always respect the LORD, but a man on-the-other-hand whose heart is hard will-be-destroyed.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The one who keeps-being-afraid to sin is fortunate, but those whose minds are hard (i.e. are stubborn), bad is their outcome.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “God is pleased with those who always revere him,
    but those who are stubborn will experience disasters.” (Source: Translation for Translators)