The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated as “envy” or “envious” in most English translations is, according to Nida (1952, p. 134), translated into Tzeltal and Tabasco Chontal in the following manner:
“Envy is bred of covetousness and self-centeredness. The Tzeltals, who recognize a covetous man as having a ‘small heart,’ say that an envious person has ‘a greedy heart.’ ‘Small hearts’ and ‘greedy hearts’ go together, and the soul shrinks in direct proportion to its greediness. The envious person is never satisfied, for he can never keep step with his own insatiable ego.
“The Chontal Indians, living in the low, swampy delta land of Tabasco in southern Mexico, regard envy in a more subtle way. They say of the man who is envious of his neighbor, ‘He did not want to see his neighbor.’ This describes the end result of envy. People cannot bear to see others enjoying the privileges which they insist should be their own. The envious man has acquired such a self-directed stare that he cannot take his eyes off self to see another’s enjoyment.”
In Central Mazahua is is translated as “jealous of each other, their fellow people,” in Sayula Popoluca as “hate those who have something” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), in Matumbi as sukya, which means “envy” but also “hate” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext), and in Kupsabiny as “blackstomached” (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation).
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated in English typically as “gossip” or “whisperer” is translated in Tepeuxila Cuicatec as “speak-hide against people.” (Source: Marjorie Davis in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 34ff. )
In Tarok it is translated as anung awarwar or “a licking mouth.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
The Greek that is translated as “wickedness” or similar in English is translated as “delight in doing things against people” in Yatzachi Zapotec. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 1:29:
Uma: “Many kinds of sin and thoughts that are not straight are in their hearts. They are greedy, evil their behavior, jealous, want to murder, quarrel, deceive, hateful,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Their livers are filled with different-kinds of sin and whatever is evil/bad. They are covetous and they do bad to their companions. They are always jealous of their companions. They kill. They always fight/quarrel and they deceive their companions. They wish that bad things happen to their companions. They are always gossiping.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The only thing they think about is wickedness and evil behavior. They are selfish and their behavior is filthy. They are full of envy; they murder; they quarrel with each other; they tell lies; they harm their companions, they gossip.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “They continually are doing all kinds of evil. They are greedy (lit. grab-after what is not theirs) and envious. They are murderers, quarrelers, tricksters, and they are continually-thinking/planning to treat-their companions -maliciously. They are gossipers,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Concerning these people, their hearts have been grabbed by the evil they walk by. They are adulterers, evil people. They want to increasingly multiply what they own. They are envious. They are murderers, they are wanters of fights, they are deceivers, they are unrestrained.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Similar lists of sins appear in the New Testament at 13.13; 1 Corinthians 5.10, 11; 6.9, 10; 2 Corinthians 12.20, 21; Galatians 5.19-21; etc. The specific sins mentioned do not necessarily represent distinct and separate qualities in each case; in some instances it is obvious that Paul has heaped synonyms together. Nevertheless, the translator must attempt, insofar as possible, to cover all of these areas of sin and wickedness with more or less equivalent terms. For wickedness and evil it may be necessary to employ simply one generic expression equivalent to “badness.”
In a number of languages most of the nouns which identify evil activities must be expressed as verbs, so that greed must be rendered as “they want what others have” and vice as “they engage in badness with one another” or “they cause badness to one another.”
Similarly, jealousy and murder may be translated as “they are very jealous of one another” and “they kill one another.” Fighting is a Greek word which means “strife” or “party spirit,” resulting in sharp argument and dissension. Deceit may be equivalent to “they deceive one another.” Malice is a word which occurs only here in the New Testament and is defined as “the tendency to put the worst construction on everything.” Malice may be rendered in some languages as “they are always thinking the worst of others.”
Gossip may be rendered as “they say bad things about one another.” This is substantially equivalent to the first evil mentioned in verse 30, and the same translation may cover both expressions. In some languages one may have idiomatic expressions for gossip—for example, “they harvest lies” or “they throw lies into the wind,” with the implication that the lies will be carried far and wide.
The word rendered hateful to God (so also New English Bible) appears only here in the New Testament, and may possibly be taken as active: “haters of God” (Revised Standard Version) or “enemies of God” (Jerusalem Bible). Insolent may be rendered as “they insult one another.” Terms such as proud and boastful may be translated in such a way as to indicate the difference between personal attitudes and outward behavior—for example, “in their hearts they think they are great and they are always telling people that they are great” or “their hearts are proud and their words are big.” In some languages pride is expressed in a somewhat idiomatic form: “they think they are chiefs” or “they are always giving themselves power.”
They are immoral is simply a highly generic expression to describe evil, and the word which follows, translated they do not keep their promises, apparently is a play on words with the preceding term. Failure to keep their promises may be rendered as “they do not do what they say they will do” or “they promise but do not perform.” This may be rendered idiomatically in some languages as “they gamble with their words” or “their words have several layers.”
The negative expression they show no kindness or pity may be rendered positively in some languages as “they go on handling others roughly.”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
In this list of evil deeds, the Greek does not have a connecting word between each item. The Berean Standard Bible copies what the Greek does here. In some languages it is more natural to have an “and” between each item. Use the most natural way of connecting items in a list in your translation.
1:29a–b
every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity:
The phrase every kind of applies to all four words: wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. Make that clear in your language. For example:
all manner of these things: unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, and malice
-or-
all kinds of unrighteousness and all kinds of evil and all kinds of covetousness and all kinds of malice
wickedness: This word refers to deeds that are not right to do. Here are other ways to translate this word:
deeds that are not upright/straight
1:29a
They have become filled with: The Greek tense indicates that earlier these people became full of the bad deeds listed below and at that time were still full of them. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
They are full of
-or-
Their lives became full of (New Living Translation (2004))
In some languages using a past tense indicates that it is no longer true in the present. Translate in a way that indicates that they were still doing these things at that time.
have become filled with: This is a figurative way of saying that a person thinks of something often or all the time. Some languages cannot use have become filled when referring to sins. Here are other ways to translate this meaning:
They continually are thinking of
-or-
All of…arose in their insides
-or-
These kinds of bad thoughts are very much among them ⌊all the time⌋ :
1:29b
evil: The Greek word refers to a person having no moral values. Anything is okay to think or do if he wants to. Satan is called “the evil one” (Matthew 5:37, John 17:15, Ephesians 6:16, and other verses). He is the best example of this way of thinking. Here are other ways to translate this word:
wickedness (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
sinfulness
greed: This word refers to always wanting to have more. It often implies more than that person needs or more than other people. Here are other ways to translate this word:
covetousness (English Standard Version)
-or-
grab-after what is not theirs
-or-
They want to increasingly multiply what they own
depravity: This word refers to wanting to do things that hurt other people or hurting them on purpose when doing bad things to them. Here are other ways to translate this word:
hate (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
the desire to hurt others
-or-
They are mean (God’s Word)
1:29c
They are full of envy: The Berean Standard Bible adds the words They are. In Greek the list just continues but repeats the idea of full of. For example:
full of envy (New Jerusalem Bible)
In some languages it is more natural to add “also” when repeating the idea full of here. For example:
They are also full of envy
-or-
and also full of envy
envy: This word refers to being upset with someone because that person is in a better situation than him in some way. Here are other ways to translate this word:
jealous of their companions
-or-
resentment
-or-
They want what others have (Contemporary English Version)
The word here does not refer to sexual jealousy (for example, a husband upset with his wife because she talked to another man and he is worried about her liking the other man more than him).
murder: This word refers to killing another person. It usually implies killing someone on purpose and against the law.
1:29d
strife: This word refers to conflict of any kind: arguments, fighting over a difference of opinion, or rivalry over a job or position. Here are other ways to translate this word:
deceit: The Greek word here refers to misleading people in order to gain some benefit or advantage. Here are other ways to translate this word:
cheat (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
defraud people of their things
-or-
tricksters
malice: This word refers to an attitude of wanting to hurt other people. It is similar to the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “depravity” in 1:29b, but the word here refers to an ongoing attitude. Here are other ways to translate this word:
always hateful
-or-
the attitude of hurting others
-or-
being habitually mean
In some languages one word or phrase covers both “depravity” and malice. If that is true in your language, use only that one word or phrase in this verse.
1:29e
They are gossips: The Berean Standard Bible adds the words They are here. The Greek changes case to indicate that the next twelve items are not grouped with “full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice,” but in a separate group. Paul was still describing these people. For example:
deceit, malignity, they are gossips, (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
They gossip (Good News Translation)
-or-
and they also gossip
gossips: The Greek word here is literally “whisperers.” It refers to a person who, quietly, in the ear of someone else, says bad things about others and passes on information or rumors about them that are hurtful. Here are other ways to translate this Greek word:
whisperers-behind-doors (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
talk-behind-the-back
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