hardened / stubborn

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The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated in English as “hardened” or “stubborn” is translated in the Hausa Common Language Bible idiomatically as taurin kai or “tough head.”

Other languages spoken in Nigeria translate similarly: Abua uses oḅom ẹmhu or “strong head,” Bura-Pabir kəra ɓəɓal or “hard head,” Gokana agẹ̀ togó or “hard/strong head,” Igede egbeju-ọngịrị or “hard head,” Dera gɨddɨng koi or “strong head,” Reshe ɾiʃitə ɾigbaŋgba or “strong head,” and in Chadian Arabic raas gawi (رَاسْكُو قَوِي) or “hard head” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

Other translation approaches include Western Bukidnon Manobo with “breath is very hard” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation) or Ixil with “callous heart” (source: Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 40).

See also hardness of heart.

What then

In Kadiwéu, it is not possible to use a rhetorical question for the purpose of linking subjects as is done in Romans 11:7 in the Greek (and English) text. Here, it was treated by including the introductory phrase “We can say then that…” at the beginning of the next statement and by omitting the rhetorical question. The verse, therefore, begins “We can say then that the people of Israel did not find what they were looking for.” (Source: Glyn Griffiths in Notes on Translation June 1986, p. 25ff.)

complete verse (Romans 11:7)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 11:7:

  • Uma: “So, the summary [lit., leveling-off words] is like this: the Israel people want/wanted to become straight in God’s sight, but they did not obtain what they were searching for. There were some that obtained it, but only a few, all the ones that God had chosen all-along/beforehand. The others hardened themselves to God’s call,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So then, what do we (dual) say about this? The people of Isra’il searched as to how/(what-they-should-do) so that God would consider them as straight but they did not find. Only just the ones chosen by God, the ones trusting in Isa were the ones who found it. But/and-what’s more the others/the rest their heads became hard because they did not listen to God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And since that’s the way it is, we understand that the descendants of Israel, they are carefully looking for a way that they might be made righteous; however, this doesn’t do them any good; but in spite of that, there are a few of their companions who were chosen by God. And these, by contrast, he has made righteous. But as for the majority, their breaths are hard and the word of God cannot pentrate their breaths.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “What all these-things mean to say is that the majority of Jews didn’t find the righteousness they were looking for. Only the few whom God chose found it. The rest of the Jews, God hardened their minds.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “This is what happened then, that the Jews searched how to clear their sins but not many found how to have their sins cleared. Only those who were chosen were cleared. The rest of the Jews had their minds closed so that they did not understand about this matter.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Romans 11:7

This verse sums up the contents of Paul’s discussion in verses 2-6. What they were looking for is emphatic in the Greek sentence structure, though Paul does not explain what he means by this phrase. Nevertheless, in light of the context, it is clear that the Jews were looking for a way to be put in a right relation with God.

In some languages the introductory question What then? may be related to what follows as “obviously the people of Israel did not find what they were looking for.”

It was the small group that God chose who found it is literally “the chosen found it” (Revised Standard Version “the elect obtained it”). “The chosen” has reference to the “people that God chose,” while the context (see v. 5) indicates that this was only a small number (v. 5) or a small group (v. 7), and so the Good News Translation makes the information clear.

In indicating the contrast between the first and second sentences of verse 7, one may place a contrastive particle at the beginning of the second sentence—for example, “but a small group whom God chose found it.”

Grew deaf is literally “were hardened” (Revised Standard Version; New English Bible “were made blind”; An American Translation* “became callous”; New American Bible “became blind”). This is an aorist tense in Greek, and as can be seen from the various translations, its force is generally felt to be inceptive; that is, it places the emphasis upon the beginning of the action.

Not all authorities are agreed in regard to the significance of the passive in this passage. Normally in such a construction it would be assumed that God is the agent (“God hardened them”), and this observation is supported by what is said in verses 8-10. On the other hand, in light of what is said in verse 11, some hesitate to go this far. The Good News Translation gives this passive a middle force, and makes clear what it was that they grew deaf to, that is, to God’s call (the Jerusalem Bible uses the passive and supplies an object: “the rest were not allowed to see the truth”). It is best to take this verb form as a genuine passive and to assume that the act of hardening is God’s judgment upon these people who have refused him. That is what Paul seems to be saying in the verses following, but he evidently looks upon this action as one aspect of God’s mercy. The passive relation in the final clause of verse 7 may be expressed as “God caused the rest of the people to become deaf to his call” or “… to be unable to hear his call.”

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 .