The Greek in Romans 2:20 that is translated in English as “children” (in “a teacher of children”) is translated into Aari as “those who in their thoughts are like children.”
truth
Nida (1947, p. 230) says this about the translation of the concept of “truth”: “The words for ‘truth’ and ‘true’ are not always the most readily discovered in aboriginal languages. In some instances the only expression which corresponds to ‘true’ is something like ‘it happened.’ A falsehood is something that ‘did not happen.’ In a good many languages the meaning of ‘truth’ is expressed by the words signifying ‘straight’ and ‘direct.’ Untruth is accordingly ‘crookedness.’ An abstract noun such as English “truth” is quite difficult to find in some instances. Only an expression such as ‘true statement’ or ‘true word’ will be found to correspond to English ‘truth.’”
The Greek, Latin, Ge’ez, and Hebrew that is usually translated in English as “truth” is translated in Luchazi with vusunga: “the quality of being straight” (source: E. Pearson in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 160ff. ), in Obolo as atikọ or “good/correct talk” (source: Enene Enene), and in Ekari as maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (esp. in John 14:6 and 17; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).
Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) tells of the translation into Kui which usually is “true-thing.” In some instances however, such as in the second part of John 17:17 (“your word is truth” in English), the use of “true-thing” indicated that there might be other occasions when it’s not true, so here the translation was a a form of “pure, holy.”
The translation committee of the Malay “Good News Bible” (Alkitab Berita Baik, see here ) wrestled with the translation of “truth” in the Gospel of John:
“Our Malay Committee also concluded that ‘truth’ as used in the Gospel of John was used either of God himself, or of God’s revelation of himself, or in an extended sense as a reference to those who had responded to God’s self-disclosure. In John 8:32 the New Malay translation reads ‘You will know the truth about God, and the truth about God will make you free.’ In John 8:44 this meaning is brought out by translating, ‘He has never been on the side of God, because there is no truth in him.’ Accordingly Jesus ‘tells the truth about God’ in 8:45, 46 (see also 16:7 and 8:37a). Then, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’ (John 14:6) becomes ‘I am the one who leads men to God, the one who reveals who and what God is, and the one who gives men life.” At 3:21 the translation reads ” … whoever obeys the truth, that is God himself, comes to the light …’; 16:13a appears as ‘he will lead you into the full truth about God’; and in 18:37 Jesus affirms ‘I came into the world to reveal the truth about God, and whoever obeys God listens to me.’ On this basis also 1:14 was translated ‘we saw his glory, the glory which he had as the Father’s only Son. Through him God has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace)’; and 1:17 appears as ‘God gave the law through Moses; but through Jesus Christ he has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace).'” (Source: Barclay Newman in The Bible Translator 1974, p. 432ff. )
The German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) has followed a somewhat similar path to the Malay committee 50 years earlier in the gospel of John. In John 1 it translates “truth as “God’s nature,” in John 3 as “God’s will,” in John 8 as “God’s reality,” in John 14 as “encountering God,” and in John 16 as “God’s truth.”
complete verse (Romans 2:20)
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 2:20:
- Uma: “We say/think that we are the ones who are smart to lead-by-the-hand people who don’t know God, we are the ones who can enlighten [lit., make clear] those who are still in the darkness and who do not yet know the true teaching. For it is with us Jews that there is the main knowledge and true teaching that is written in the Lord’s Law.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “Because God’s law is there with you, which is only the true teaching, you say that you know how to teach the foolish ones and the ones ignorant about God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “You think mistakenly that you are the ones who are able to teach people who do not really know about God. And you also think mistakenly that you are the ones to teach people who have just begun to study what is right. The reason you think this way is because God entrusted the Law to you and very correct is the wisdom and very true is the doctrine which comes from it.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “You also know for-sure that you have the ability to advise and teach people who are like children, because they have not been taught and they don’t know what is correct. You say/think that, because you admittedly know God’s law which is the location of what is correct and true.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “They say that they know well how to teach people who do not know anything. They say they know well how to educate people who do not know the word. Because there in the law they say that there is all the true word which they use to teach people.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
law
The Greek, Hebrew, and Ge’ez that is translated in English as “Law” or “law” is translated in Mairasi as oro nasinggiei or “prohibited things” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Noongar with a capitalized form of the term for “words” (Warrinya) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
In Yucateco the phrase that is used for “law” is “ordered-word” (for “commandment,” it is “spoken-word”) (source: Nida 1947, p. 198) and in Central Tarahumara it is “writing-command.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
In a 1922 translation into Chagatai, a precursor language of both Uzbek and Uighur, it is translated with the Arabic loan word shari’at (شريعت), originally meaning “(Islamic) law (Shari’a).” (Source: F. Erbay and F.N. Küçükballı in Acta Theologica 2025 45/2, p. 133ff. )
Translation commentary on Romans 2:20
The word translated instructor (equivalent in the present context to “teacher”) may also have the meaning of “one who punishes,” a meaning which it does have in Hebrews 12.9, its only other occurrence in the New Testament. Some translators render this noun by a verb (An American Translation* “train the foolish”). The term foolish refers more to moral than to intellectual weakness, and for this reason renderings such as “ignorant” (Jerusalem Bible) and “stupid” (New English Bible) may be misleading to the reader. The concept of moral weakness may be expressed in some languages as “those whose hearts are weak” or “those whose hearts are twisted.”
The word rendered young (so also An American Translation*) may have the connotation of “immature” (New English Bible). The young may be rendered in some languages as “those who as yet have not learned” or “those who still need instruction.”
Full content translates a word in Greek that is rendered “embodiment” in most translations. The only other place where this Greek word occurs in the New Testament is 2 Timothy 3.15, where it has the meaning of “the outward form.” In the New English Bible this is rendered “the very shape (of knowledge and truth).”
Since in many languages the rendering of knowledge and of truth must be rather radically altered, the expression of full content may be indicated by an adverbial attributive—for example, “You are certain that because you have the law you know everything completely and what you say is absolutely true.”
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 .
SIL Translator’s Notes on Romans 2:20
2:20a
The “if” from 2:17a in the Greek affects this verse as well. Consider how to make that connection clear in your language. See the note on “if” at 2:17a.
an instructor of the foolish: This phrase probably refers to teaching someone who is foolish. The Jews generally considered Gentiles to be foolish.
The word foolish means “lacking good sense” or “without understanding.” Some people lack good sense regarding spiritual matters; they chose to do deeds that are morally wrong. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
instruct those who have no spiritual wisdom (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
show foolish people what is right (New Century Version)
2:20b
a teacher of infants: There are two ways to interpret Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as infants :
(1) It has the literal meaning of infants or “children” here.
(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, English Standard Version, King James Version, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, NET Bible)
(2) It has the figurative meaning of people immature in understanding or faith. The Jews sometimes referred to converts to Judaism with this word. For example:
immature (New American Standard Bible)
(Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition, New Century Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because many English versions support it. In English it is also possible to understand the word infants in the sense of interpretation (2). But if the major language version in your area follows interpretation (2), you may want to follow that.
infants: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as infants refers to children approximately one to four years old.
2:20c
the embodiment of knowledge and truth: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as embodiment refers to the structure and shape of something. The laws that God gave to the Jews show his knowledge and the truth of all he spoke of. God’s truth is contained within the law. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
the Law embodies all knowledge and all truth (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
God’s law which is the location of what is correct and true
-or-
true knowledge/teaching is only in the law ⌊of Moses⌋
knowledge and truth: In some languages these two words cannot be translated as nouns. If that is true in your language, translate the meaning using the proper kinds of words. For example:
knowing ⌊about God⌋ and those teachings are true
-or-
truly knowing ⌊about God⌋
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