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:
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)
Following are a number of back-translations of Titus 1:10:
Uma: “My intention in saying that to you, because there are many people who oppose our teachings, especially those who follow the custom of circumcision in the Law of Musa. They are unruly, and they deceive their companions with those useless teachings of theirs.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Because many people are disobedient (lit. have hard heads) and do not follow/obey instruction, especially some of your (pl.) companions who trust in Isa who used to follow the Yahudi religion. Those people, there is no use in their words/speech and they only deceive people.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The reason I say this is that there are many people who do not want to listen to proper teaching. Many of these are the Jewish believers who teach that it is necessary that we (incl.) believers obey the commands left behind by Moses. It is false, and there is no value in their teaching, however many have believed them.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “For there are many people who won’t-take-advice who are deceiving their companions by-means-of what they teach which has no value, especially Jews who have believed.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “For the truth is, many are the disobedient there who tell-stories/relate-things which achieve nothing. They only deceive the people. Really like this is what the Jews are doing who say, it’s necessary to circumcize all the believers, even though they aren’t Jews.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “And now, there are many disobedient people, it is not worth anything in what they teach and they deceive the people. But the worst of those who do this are the Jews.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Many refers to certain Christians in Crete; it is quite clear from the context that what is being referred to are not people outside the church but people within the church. For insubordinate see Titus 1.6 of this chapter and “disobedient” in 1 Tim 1.9. The word can also mean “disobedient,” but in the present context the focus is on the unwillingness to be under the control of anyone or anything; hence “rebellious” (Good News Translation), “undisciplined” (Revised English Bible), “will not recognize authority” (Phillips), “out of all control” (New English Bible).
Empty talkers appears only here in the whole New Testament; it is derived from a verb that means “to engage in idle talk.” This may be a reference to their telling about legends, genealogies, and other false teachings similar to those mentioned in 1 Tim 1.3-7. One may also express this as “people who talk nonsense,” and in some languages there will be figurative expressions for such people; for example, “people who talk wind.” Deceivers also appears nowhere else in the New Testament; it is derived from a verb that means “to lead astray,” “to mislead,” “to deceive.” It is possible to take empty talkers and deceivers as a hendiadys with the sense “empty talkers who deceive others” (so Good News Translation “deceive others with their nonsense,” Jerusalem Bible “who talk nonsense and try to make others believe it,” Contemporary English Version “fool others by talking nonsense”).
A very significant part (especially) of this rebellious group comes from the circumcision party, which is a term used of the Jews in general but in this case refers to Jews who have become Christians. Good News Translation makes this information explicit, although the use of the word “converts” for Jewish Christians may be questionable, due to the fact that Christians do not form a new community but understand themselves to belong to the same covenant community to which Jews belong. Jews who become Christians do not leave the covenant community to enter another group; instead, they simply recognize the place of Jesus the Messiah within the covenant community. For this reason it is better to describe Jews who have become Christians as Jewish Christians. One probable reason why Paul refers to this group as the circumcision party is that some of them were teaching that Gentiles or non-Jews must be circumcised before they can become Christians. In other parts of the New Testament, there are references to Jewish Christians who insist on adherence to Jewish rules (including circumcision) as a requirement for non-Jews to become Christians. This may have been the same case in Crete as well. In cultures where talking explicitly about circumcision will simply confuse readers or may even be offensive, translators may say “especially the Jewish Christians.” However, if the rite of circumcision is well understood, one may translate “especially those Jewish Christians who teach that Gentiles must be circumcised before becoming Christians (or, before receiving baptism).”
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• For there are many people who do not respect authority, and who talk nonsense and try to make others believe it. This is especially true of some Jews who have become Christians.
Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to Titus. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Section 1:10–16 Paul told Titus to rebuke rebellious people
In this section Paul warned Titus about those in Crete who were opposing correct teaching. They were deceiving believers and ruining their faith. Paul called them liars. They claimed to know God but in reality they did not.
Here are some other ways to translate this heading:
Correct Whoever Teaches What Is Wrong (God’s Word)
-or-
You(sing) must rebuke those who are rebellious
Paragraph 1:10–16
1:10a
For: This word introduces a reason for Paul’s instructions about choosing church leaders. Here are some other ways to translate this word:
Because
-or-
Do this/that because
many are rebellious: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as rebellious describes people who reject and oppose leaders and authority figures. Paul said that there were many such people. The context shows that he was talking about people in the congregations on the island of Crete.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
many people there are rebellious
-or-
many people reject/oppose their leaders
-or-
There are many who don’t respect authority (Contemporary English Version)
1:10b
and full of empty talk and deception: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as full of empty talk and deception are more literally “empty talkers and deceivers” (see the New American Standard Bible). Paul was describing people who regularly say things that are not true or helpful and try to make others believe their lies.
Here are some other ways to translate this verse part:
talk about worthless things and lead others into the wrong way (New Century Version)
-or-
who talk nonsense and try to make others believe it (New Jerusalem Bible)
full of…deception: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as full of…deception is literally “deceivers.” It indicates that these people tried to convince others that their falsehoods were true. They wanted people to believe that their teaching was true, even though it was not.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
and deceive others (Good News Bible)
-or-
they are liars
1:10c
especially: This word here indicates that Paul was thinking of one group in particular. One group of people was very rebellious, talked nonsense, and deceived other people.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
This is especially true of (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
in particular
-or-
But the worst of those who do this are (Otomi Back Translation on TW)
-or-
The group that does this/that the most is
those of the circumcision: This phrase refers to Jews who claimed to be Christians but wanted all Christians to follow the Jewish laws. In particular, they wanted all Christian men to be circumcised.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
the group that insists that all men be circumcised
-or-
those people who teach that believing men must follow the Jewish laws and have someone circumcise them
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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.
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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