The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated in English as “painful” or “sorrow” is translated in Huba as “cut the insides.” David Frank explains: “Huba has just one expression that covers both ‘angry’ and ‘sad.’ They don’t make a distinction in their language. I suppose you could say that the term they use means more generically, ‘strong emotional reaction’ (source: David Frank in this blog post ). Similarly, in Bariai it is “the interior is severed/cut” (source: Bariai Back Translation).
In Noongar it is translated as koort-warra or “heart bad.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)
In Enlhet it is translated as “going aside of the innermost.” “Innermost” or valhoc is a term that is frequently used in Enlhet to describe a large variety of emotions or states of mind (for other examples see here). (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “feel (terror, pain, suffering, anxiety, thirst)” or similar in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) in association with the verb kumva or “hear,” “as if the feeling is heard in the ear.”
In Psalm 115:7 the stand-alone “feel” is also translated as “hear.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 9:2:
Uma: “What I am saying here I say with my whole heart. I am not lying, for I am Kristus’ portion. And the Holy Spirit bears-witness that these words of mine are true. No kidding the sadness of my heart! I feel so sad and my heart continually hurts, because my fellow Jews, they refuse to believe in Yesus.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “This is what I want to say, that my liver is very heavy and I am always very sad/worried/troubled about my fellow tribesmen of Isra’il because they are not willing to follow/obey Isa Almasi.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “It is this: I am very sad and the painfulness in my breath cannot be removed, because of my companion fellow Jews who will not believe in Christ.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “What I want to say is that I am exceedingly burdened (lit. heavied), also I am always sad (lit. my thoughts are pained) on account of my fellow Jews who are related-to-me-by-blood.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “I am in very great sorrow. My heart lives in suffering on account of the fact that my fellow Jews do not want to believe in Christ.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Translators should attempt to make as clear as possible the relation between verse 2 and verse 1. In order to show this relation properly, it may be necessary in some languages to say “what is true is that I have great sorrow” or “it is true that my sorrow for my people is very great.”
The last phrase in this verse (for my people, my own flesh and blood!) actually appears in verse 3 of the Greek text. However, Paul’s sorrow is not for himself, but for his people, and so the Good News Translation brings this phrase up to verse 2 to make this fact clear.
The double exclamation of verse 2 may be changed into a strong affirmation—for example, “My sorrow is very great and the pain in my heart for my people never ends; I speak of the people of my own tribe.” It is quite impossible in most languages to employ a literal translation of my own flesh and blood, nor can one reproduce literally what the Greek has: “relatives according to the flesh.” A far more appropriate equivalent is usually some expression as “my own tribe,” “the people to whom I belong,” or “the people with whom I am one.”
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 .
deep sorrow and unceasing anguish: The two Greek words here both refer to emotional/mental pain. Many languages have two words or phrases similar in meaning like that. For example:
I am exceedingly burdened (lit. heavied), also I am always sad (lit. my thoughts are pained)
-or-
my grief is very severe and my mind/inner-being cries-over-it
But in some languages it is more natural to use only one word or phrase. For example:
I see very much sadness
heart: Here this word refers to the part of a person in which thoughts and feelings occur. In some languages people use a different part of the body, such as the mind, throat, liver, or stomach, in this way. See how you translated this word in 1:21 or 8:27.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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