neighbor

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The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “neighbor” in English is rendered into Babatana as “different man,” i.e. someone who is not one of your relatives. (Source: David Clark)

In North Alaskan Inupiatun, it is rendered as “a person outside of your building,” in Tzeltal as “your back and side” (implying position of the dwellings), in Indonesian and in Tae’ as “your fellow-man,” in Toraja-Sa’dan it is “your fellow earth-dweller,” in Shona (translation of 1966) as “another person like you,” in Kekchí “younger-brother-older-brother” (a compound which means all one’s neighbors in a community) (sources: Bratcher / Nida and Reiling / Swellengrebel), in Mairasi “your people” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Mezquital Otomi as “fellow being,” in Tzeltal as “companion,” in Isthmus Zapotec as “another,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “all people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in most modern German translations as Mitmensch or “fellow human being” (lit. “with + human being”).

In Matt 19:19, Matt 22:39, Mark 12:31, Mark 12:33, Luke 10:27, Luke 10:29 it is translated into Ixcatlán Mazatec with a term that refers to a person who is socially/physically near. Ixcatlán Mazatec also has a another term for “neighbor” that means “fellow humans-outsiders” which was not chosen for these passages. (Source: Robert Bascom)

In Noongar it is translated as moorta-boordak or “people nearby” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

neighbor - relative

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “neighbor” or “relative” in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) and the Buku Lopatulika translation (1922/2018) with just one word: nansi. This word can also be translated as neighbors whom you share a blood relation with because in Chewa context a community is mostly comprised of people of blood relations. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

save

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The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as a form of “save” in English is translated in Shipibo-Conibo with a phrase that means literally “make to live,” which combines the meaning of “to rescue” and “to deliver from danger,” but also the concept of “to heal” or “restore to health.”

Other translations include:

  • San Blas Kuna: “help the heart”
  • Laka: “take by the hand” in the meaning of “rescue” or “deliver”
  • Huautla Mazatec: “lift out on behalf of”
  • Anuak: “have life because of”
  • Central Mazahua: “be healed in the heart”
  • Baoulé: “save one’s head”
  • Guerrero Amuzgo: “come out well”
  • Northwestern Dinka: “be helped as to his breath” (or “life”) (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida),
  • Matumbi: “rescue (from danger)” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
  • Noongar: barrang-ngandabat or “hold life” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • South Bolivian Quechua: “make to escape”
  • Highland Puebla Nahuatl: “cause people to come out with the aid of the hand” (source for this and one above: Nida 1947, p. 222)
  • Bariai: “retrieve one back” (source: Bariai Back Translation)

See also salvation and save (Japanese honorifics).

complete verse (Proverbs 6:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 6:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “But/and if you can withdraw yourself from those words, go to that person and humble yourself.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “And if you have gotten caught
    in anyone’s hand,
    Go to his place, humble yourself,
    and make a request to cancel it.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “and you (sing.) have an obligation to others. But this is what you (sing.) are going-to-do that you (sing.) will-be-free from your (sing.) obligation to him: Go-to him and you (sing.) plead that he will-set- you (sing.) -free from your (sing.) obligation.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “If that is-so, you (sing.) are held by the power of that person, but this is what you (sing.) will do so-that you (sing.) will-escape: go immediately to humble-yourself (sing.) in pleading-mercy from him.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Proverbs 6:3

In this verse Revised Standard Version has two series of commands that are separated by a reason for the commands. For clarity in the flow of thought it may be necessary to switch the first two lines of this verse. In this way verse 3 would begin with “You have come into your neighbor’s power.” See under verse 4 for an example of restructuring the whole verse. The discussion of the lines in this verse follows the Revised Standard Version order.

“Then do this, my son, and save yourself”: “Then” renders a term that marks a transition from the “if” clauses in verses 1-2 to the commands in verse 3. “Do this” may need to be restated as, for example, “This is what you should do,” “Follow these instructions,” or “Now do as I tell you.” For “my son” see 1.8. “Save yourself” means here to free yourself from your troubles, to escape or get out of your difficulty. One translation, for example, says, “Son, you must get out of this prison quickly.”

“For you have come into your neighbor’s power” is literally “You come into the palm [hand] of your neighbor,” which means “You have fallen into the control of. . .” or “Your neighbor now has control over you.” Since this situation is clearly very dangerous, some translations render the sentence “It is no good that you stay underneath this other man. So. . ..”

“Go, hasten, and importune your neighbor”: “Go” means to take immediate action. “Hasten” translates a verb whose form and meaning appear to have the sense of tread on, trample, or crush down. Although Good News Translation renders it “hurry,” it appears in this context to mean to “humble yourself.” Note the Revised Standard Version footnote. Some take it to mean mire or mud, and so it expresses the thought of getting down in the mud, an image of humbling yourself. One translation says, for example, “It doesn’t matter that you have to put yourself down and be ashamed, just go. . ..”

The word rendered “importune” is better translated “plead” or “beg.” The Hebrew text does not say what should be pleaded for. However, the context makes clear that it is a plea to be released, freed from the promise to pay the other person’s debts. Accordingly Good News Translation says, “beg him to release you.” Bible en français courant has “insist that he free you.”

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 .