judge vs. condemn

The Greek terms krino and katakrino/katadikazo that are translated as “judge” and “condemn” respectively in English are translated with only one term in Kutu (tagusa). (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

See also do not condemn.

circumcise, circumcision

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The Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “circumcise” or “circumcision” in English (originally meaning of English term: “to cut around”) are (back-) translated in various ways:

  • Chimborazo Highland Quichua: “cut the flesh”
  • San Miguel El Grande Mixtec, Navajo (Dinė): “cut around”
  • Javanese: “clip-away”
  • Uab Meto: “pinch and cut” (usually shortened to “cut”)
  • North Alaskan Inupiatun, Western Highland Purepecha: “put the mark”
  • Tetelcingo Nahuatl: “put the mark in the body showing that they belong to God” (or: “that they have a covenant with God”)
  • Indonesian: disunat — “undergo sunat” (sunat is derived from Arabic “sunnah (سنة)” — “(religious) way (of life)”)
  • Ekari: “cut the end of the member for which one fears shame” (in Gen. 17:10) (but typically: “the cutting custom”) (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Hiri Motu: “cut the skin” (source: Deibler / Taylor 1977, p. 1079)
  • Garifuna: “cut off part of that which covers where one urinates”
  • Bribri: “cut the soft” (source for this and the one above: Ronald Ross)
  • Amele: deweg cagu qoc — “cut the body” (source: John Roberts)
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “cut the flesh of the sons like Moses taught” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.)
  • Newari: “put the sign in one’s body” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Central Mazahua: “sign in his flesh”
  • Hopi: “being cut in a circle in his body” (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Mandarin Chinese: gēlǐ (割礼 / 割禮) or “rite of cutting” (Protestant); gēsǔn (割损 / 割損) or “cut + loss” (Catholic) (Source: Zetzsche)
  • Tibetan: mdun lpags gcod (མདུན་​ལྤགས་​གཅོད།), lit. “fore + skin + cut” (source: gSungrab website )
  • Kutu: “enter the cloth (=undergarments)” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Circumcision .

complete verse (Romans 2:27)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 2:27:

  • Uma: “If it is like that, the result will be that the actions of those non-Jews show that we Jews are wrong/guilty. Because we [emphatic], we have the written Law of the Lord, and we are also circumcised according to that Law of the Lord, yet we just disobey his commands. They [emphatic], they are not circumcised, but it is they who follow the Lord’s commands.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “You Yahudi, you are circumcised and there is God’s law written for you yet you break the law. But the non-Yahudi even if they are not circumcised some of them follow the law of God. Therefore you will be shamed by them.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And even though he’s not a Jew, by means of his obeying the Law he shows that you Jews will be punished by God because you, by contrast, disobey the Law. And you are those to whom the Law has been left and you are the ones who were circumcised.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Thus the Gentile who is not circumcised but who nonetheless obeys God’s law, he shows the sin of the Jews because of his righteousness. Because the Jew, even though he has God’s written law and even though he has gotten-circumcised, he still breaks that law.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “When a person is not a Jew but does what the law says, then it is quite apparent that the Jew has sin. Because the Jew has the written law which he follows, and yet he doesn’t do what is said in the law.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

law

The Greek 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.” (wsource: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)

See also teaching / law (of God) (Japanese honorifics).

Translation commentary on Romans 2:27

It may be interesting to note that whereas the Greek text has 17 words, the Good News Translation has 37 words in this verse. Moreover, in order to make this verse intelligible for the English reader, the Good News Bible has to restructure it rather radically. By placing the Good News Bible rendering of this verse side by side with that of the King James Version, a rather literal rendering, the reason for the restructuring can readily be seen.

The main impact of this verse is to remind the Jews that they will be condemned by the Gentiles, and so the Good News Translation isolates this main element and makes it into a separate sentence at the beginning of the verse. In the Greek you Jews is simply “you” (King James Version “thee”), while the Gentiles is literally “the uncircumcision.”

The first clause of verse 27 should not be interpreted as meaning that Gentiles themselves will condemn the Jews. It is the fact that the Gentiles obey the commands of the Law which serves as the basis for the Jews being condemned. This relationship may be expressed in some instances as “you Jews will be condemned because of the fact that the Gentiles themselves obey the commands of the Law.” This provides an excellent basis for the contrast which follows: while they obey the Law, even though….

Because you break the Law must be introduced in such a way as to show clear contrast—for example, “but as for you Jews, you break the Law” or “but in contrast, you Jews break the Law.”

The phrase “who through letter and circumcision” should be understood as in the Good News Translation, even though you have it (the Law) written down and are circumcised (see An American Translation* “although you have it in writing, and are circumcised”). Most modern translations (Jerusalem Bible, Revised Standard Version, Moffatt, Phillips, An American Translation*) render the phrase “uncircumcision which is by nature” in the sense of physically uncircumcised. The New English Bible (“uncircumcised in his natural state”) makes little sense, because all men, Jew and Gentile, are uncircumcised in their natural state. Paul’s reference is, of course, to the Gentiles who are not physically circumcised.

If it is necessary to change are circumcised into an active form, one may employ either of two different possibilities: a direct agent-action expression, “you circumcise one another,” or a type of substitute passive, “you receive circumcision” or “you receive cutting of the body.”

Physically circumcised may be rendered as “literally circumcised” or “but in the skin.”

Although the verb rendered will be condemned may have the more general meaning of “to judge” or “to pass judgment on,” in the present context the judgment is one of condemnation, and for that reason the Good News Translation makes this explicit (so also An American Translation*). The Jerusalem Bible states that “(the Gentile) is a living condemnation of the way you (the Jew) disobey the Law,” but in this context it would seem that Paul is referring to the final judgment, and for this reason the idea of “a living condemnation” seems to miss the point.

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 .