covet

The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated as “covet” in English is translated as “bulge your eyes over what is someone else’s” in Isthmus Zapotec. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)

In Bura-Pabir it is translated with ngguka or “have strong desire for” which differentiates from silka or “jealous,” which refers not to one’s jealous attitude to one’s neighbor. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

See also greed / covetousness.

sin

The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated as “sin” in English has a wide variety of translations.

The Greek ἁμαρτάνω (hamartanō) carries the original verbatim meaning of “miss the mark” and likewise, many translations contain the “connotation of moral responsibility.”

  • Loma: “leaving the road” (which “implies a definite standard, the transgression of which is sin”)
  • Navajo (Dinė): “that which is off to the side” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Toraja-Sa’dan: kasalan, originally meaning “transgression of a religious or moral rule” and in the context of the Bible “transgression of God’s commandments” (source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 21ff. )
  • Kaingang: “break God’s word”
  • Sandawe: “miss the mark” (like the original meaning of the Greek term) (source for this and above: Ursula Wiesemann in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 36ff., 43)

In Shipibo-Conibo the term is hocha. Nida (1952, p. 149) tells the story of its choosing: “In some instances a native expression for sin includes many connotations, and its full meaning must be completely understood before one ever attempts to use it. This was true, for example, of the term hocha first proposed by Shipibo-Conibo natives as an equivalent for ‘sin.’ The term seemed quite all right until one day the translator heard a girl say after having broken a little pottery jar that she was guilty of ‘hocha.’ Breaking such a little jar scarcely seemed to be sin. However, the Shipibos insisted that hocha was really sin, and they explained more fully the meaning of the word. It could be used of breaking a jar, but only if the jar belonged to someone else. Hocha was nothing more nor less than destroying the possessions of another, but the meaning did not stop with purely material possessions. In their belief God owns the world and all that is in it. Anyone who destroys the work and plan of God is guilty of hocha. Hence the murderer is of all men most guilty of hocha, for he has destroyed God’s most important possession in the world, namely, man. Any destructive and malevolent spirit is hocha, for it is antagonistic and harmful to God’s creation. Rather than being a feeble word for some accidental event, this word for sin turned out to be exceedingly rich in meaning and laid a foundation for the full presentation of the redemptive act of God.”

In Warao it is translated as “bad obojona.” Obojona is a term that “includes the concepts of consciousness, will, attitude, attention and a few other miscellaneous notions.” (Source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. ). See other occurrences of Obojona in the Warao New Testament.

Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators for the Danish Bibelen 2020, comments on the translation of this term: “We would explain terms, such that e.g. sin often became ‘doing what God does not want’ or ‘breaking God’s law’, ‘letting God down’, ‘disrespecting God’, ‘doing evil’, ‘acting stupidly’, ‘becoming guilty’. Now why couldn’t we just use the word sin? Well, sin in contemporary Danish, outside of the church, is mostly used about things such as delicious but unhealthy foods. Exquisite cakes and chocolates are what a sin is today.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )

See also sinner.

complete verse (Romans 7:8)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 7:8:

  • Uma: “But when I heard the Lord’s Law that says ‘Don’t desire,’ sin had opportunity to work in my heart with the result that I just desired more-and-more. If for instance there were no Lord’s Law to point out my sin, sin would have no power in my heart.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “After I knew from the law that coveting is not good, then my inborn sinning/old nature moved/stirred that’s why my coveting/greedy desire increased. The meaning of what I am saying here is that if there were no law we (dual) would not know that we (dual) sin.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Sin was already with me, and when the Law taught me what coveteousness was, my coveteousness increased and my sinning also increased. For if there wasn’t a Law for us to break, we would not have known what sin is.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But since I am a sinner, I increasingly covet because of the law that prohibits coveting. Because if there is no law, neither does sin have any power.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “When we know what is said in the law, it seems that more powerfully we want something that is owned by another. During the time when it was not known what the law says, it did not appear what sin is.” (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 7:8

In the phrase sin found its chance the word chance translates a term which originally was used by the military to mean “a base of operation.” But in New Testament times the word was used frequently in a metaphorical sense with the meaning of “opportunity (to do something).” It should be noted that Paul clearly distinguishes between law and sin; law was not intended to be the means by which sin would launch its attack, but sin took advantage of this opportunity to attack man. Found its chance may be rendered as “found a way” or “discovered how.”

To stir up all kinds of covetousness may be rendered as “to cause me to desire all kinds of things” or “to cause me to desire those things I should not want.”

By working through the commandment may often be expressed as a separate sentence—for example, “sin did this by using the commandment” or “sin did this by reminding me of the commandment not to covet.”

The meaning of the last sentence in this verse, for sin is a dead thing apart from law, is difficult. Paul seems to mean that apart from law sin is inactive, that is, powerless (see the related thoughts in 4.15 and 5.13). In some languages sin is a dead thing apart from law may be expressed as “if there is no law, sin has no power” or “where the law does not exist sin can do nothing.”

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 .