whitewashed wall

The Greek that is translated in English as “(you) whitewashed wall” is translated in a number of ways:

  • Lalana Chinantec: “you are like a masonry wall on which they have put white paint. It is no longer evident what it is like inside.” (Source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2ff.)
  • Bariai: “a disintegrating wall and yet they applied paint to it so that it merely looks good” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac: “deceiver”
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “you talk up above (not from the heart)”
  • Morelos Nahuatl: “you change words (you are a hypocrite)”
  • Mezquital Otomi: “you two faced person”
  • Rincón Zapotec: “you who make your face broad” (source for this and four above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Dan: “whitewashed tomb” (to highlight the hypocrisy) (Source: Don Slager)
  • Mairasi: “you bad person and you liar trying to be like a clean person” (source: Enggavoter 2004)

See also complete verse (Acts 23:3) and complete verse (Matthew 23:37).

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments