The Greek, Ge’ez, and Aramaic that is translated as “mystery” in English is translated as “wisdom which was hidden” in Mezquital Otomi, as “that was not possible to be understood before” in Huehuetla Tepehua, as “which was not known in time past” in Central Tarahumara (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in Newari as “hidden meaning” or “hidden matter” (source: Newari Back Translation).
until the full number of the Gentiles has come in
The Greek in Romans 11:25 that is translated as “until the full number of the Gentiles come in” or similar in English is translated as “until the number of people who are not Jews has been reached of those who will be saved” in Mezquital Otomi, as “just while the non-Jews are being saved, as many as are arranged to be saved” in Isthmus Zapotec, as “until many non-Israelites will trust in Christ” in Yatzachi Zapotec, and as “until there become enough of those who believe in God among other groups” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
wise in one's own eyes / act too wise
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “wise in one’s own eyes,” “act too wise” or similar in English is translated in the Catholic Mandarin Chinese Sigao version with a historical Chinese idiom: zìzuò cōngmíng (自作聰明 / 自作聪明) or “thinking you’re so clever (lit. “make self smart”).” (Source: Toshikazu S. Foley in Hong Kong Journal of Catholic Studies, 2011, p. 45ff.)
gentiles / nations
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).
Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).
In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
See also nations.
brother (fellow believer)
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.”
See also brothers.
complete verse (Romans 11:25)
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 11:25:
- Uma: “My one-faith relatives! I want to say to you what the purpose of God is that men did not know from of old. I say this to you so your hearts will not be proud [high]. So that you know: some of the Israel people are stubborn [lit., have hard hearts] at this time. But their stubbornness is only for a while, until the amount of people who are not Jews who believe in Yesus is complete.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “My brothers who trust Isa Almasi, I have something to tell you so that you will not be proud (lit. high liver) and boast that you are better than the Yahudi. There is a true teaching I want to tell you about which has not been known until today. This is my telling/news. It is true that most of the people of Isra’il are not willing to believe, but I tell you that their not believing will not remain. When the number of the people not Yahudi who follow God is complete, then the Yahudi will believe and go-back to God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “It’s my desire, brothers, that you understand what God is doing, that mankind long ago did not understand. The reason I am explaining this to you is so that you may not think that you are greater than the Jews. In spite of the fact that God permitted some of the Jews to not believe, there’s time in the future when they will abandon their unbelief in God because this will last until the time when all of the people who aren’t Jews will believe whom God has determined that they will believe.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “My brothers, there is something that was not made-known previously that I want you to understand so you don’t become proud thinking that your knowledge is advanced (lit. high). What I am making-known is that the refusal of the rest of the Jews to believe in Cristo will not be-continued forever, but rather it will be continued only until the number of Gentiles who will be saved becomes-complete/correct.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “Listen my brothers, concerning this word which is not known about, I want that you now know well how it is. Because I do not want that you think that you are greater than the Jews. Truly many of the Jews do not want to believe in Christ. But they will believe when there arrives the day when a very great number of the people who are not Jews will have believed the message.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)
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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).
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Translation commentary on Romans 11:25
The opening words of this verse indicate that Paul is introducing a new phase in his discussion: literally “I do not want you to be ignorant.” This same expression appears at 1.13; 1 Corinthians 10.1; 2 Corinthians 1.8; and 1 Thessalonians 4.13. Along with other modern translations (Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, Moffatt), the Good News Translation transforms a Greek negative statement, “I do not wish you to be ignorant,” into a positive one, I want you to know. This is a much more natural way of speaking in English, and it carries better the force of the Greek. Also, the use of the address my brothers indicates a new section in Paul’s discussion.
Secret truth is generally translated “mystery” (King James Version, Revised Standard Version, New American Bible), but several modern translators feel that this is inadequate. Moffatt and An American Translation* translate as “this secret,” the Jerusalem Bible as “a hidden reason,” and the New English Bible as “a deep truth.” This is a favorite Pauline expression, appearing some 21 times in his writings, and so it is important to give close attention to it. Secret truth or “mystery” was a very familiar term in the religious vocabulary of Paul’s day. Each of the so-called “mystery religions” had a secret truth which was revealed only to the persons initiated into that particular religion. It was from this fact that the mystery religions were so named. The same term frequently appeared in Jewish apocalyptic literature also, where it was used to describe the secret truth of the way in which God was at work in the world. And this was a truth which, of course, was known only to God’s faithful people. So both in Judaism and in the other religions the term denoted a secret truth which was once hidden but had been revealed by God to his people. It is in such a sense that Paul uses the term in this passage and elsewhere. It is rare, however, in present-day languages to find an expression which closely parallels this rather technical concept of “mystery” as found in the context of the New Testament. In general, one must employ some kind of descriptive phrase: “truth that has not been known before,” “truth which is just now revealed,” or “restricted truth” (in the sense of truth restricted to persons to whom it has been specially revealed).
The sentence It will keep you from thinking how wise you are presents certain difficulties in some languages. First, it may be strange to speak of “a truth keeping you from thinking.” Second, how wise you are may be much more readily expressed in some languages as direct discourse. Furthermore, the more natural way of talking about this relation may be that of condition—for example, “If you know this, you will not think about yourself, saying, We are very wise” or “if we know this, we will not say inside of our hearts, We are indeed very wise.”
The stubbornness of the people of Israel is not permanent is literally “a hardening in part has come upon Israel.” The word “hardening” appears only here and in Mark 3.5 and Ephesians 4.18; the verb “to harden” appears in 11.7 and was discussed there. Translators and commentators differ as to how the phrase “in part” should be related to the rest of the sentence. This phrase appears elsewhere in 15.15, 24 and in 2 Corinthians 1.14. Its force may either be adverbial or adjectival. The Good News Translation understands it in an adverbial sense: the stubbornness of the people of Israel is not permanent. Those who take it as an adjective interpret it in either of two ways: (1) as a reference to a part of the nation, and not to all of the nation (Revised Standard Version “a hardening has come upon part of Israel”; see also New American Bible and Jerusalem Bible); or (2) as a partial, but not a complete, hardening of the people (An American Translation* “only partial insensibility has come upon Israel”; see also Moffatt and New English Bible).
In this context stubbornness may be specifically rendered in some languages as “refusal to believe,” for this is not stubbornness in the general sense of the term. Then, depending upon one’s interpretation of the phrase “in part,” one may have one of several different types of expressions: “not all the people of Israel refused to believe,” “the people of Israel have not absolutely refused to believe,” “the fact that the people of Israel have refused to believe will not always last,” or “the people of Israel will not always refuse to believe.” In some languages an expression for “refuse to believe” may be expressed as direct discourse—for example, “they declare, We will not believe” or “they insist, We do not believe.”
Complete number is the same word discussed in verse 12. There the reference was to the Jewish nation as a whole, but here it is to the non-Jewish world as a whole. Again Paul’s belief reflects the thought of Jewish apocalyptic, which assumed that God had not only determined the exact time in which men would be saved but also had determined exactly how many persons would be saved. The complete number should not be translated in such a way as to suggest “all.” It is rather “the number that should be,” “the determined number,” or “the number determined by God.”
Comes to God is literally “come in,” but the reference is to the coming of the Gentiles to God and his kingdom.
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 .
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