The Greek that is translated as “were consumed with passion for one another” or similar in English is translated as “became dark in their hearts by a lustful heart toward one another” in Hopi, as “only exceedingly desired to do evil in a different way with other men” in Central Tarahumara, and as “with ardent desire doing what is not good” in Sierra de Juárez Zapotec. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Language-specific Insights
heartless
The Greek that is translated as “heartless” in English is translated as “don’t love their fellows” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui, as “don’t delight in people” in Hopi, and as “didn’t love like people should” in Huehuetla Tepehua. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
expiation, propitiation, sacrifice of atonement
The Greek in Romans 3:25 that is translated as “sacrifice of atonement,” “expiation,” or “propitiation” in English is translated as “substitute in paying for our sins” in Tzeltal, as “God arranged for him to (die and) take away sin” in Hopi, and “God gave him (to die in order) to pardon us” in Sayula Popoluca. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
In Ajië, it is translated by a term which referred to a leaf used in traditional religion to heal a wound after the proper sacrifices had been made. (Source: Smalley 1991, p. 57 and Clifford 1992, p. 83ff.)
See also propitiation / atoning sacrifice, expiation, and atonement.
intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words
The Greek in Romans 8:26 that is translated as “intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words” is translated as “is the one who asks in our place when we just sigh, we do not find the words to say” in Highland Totonac, as “when we cannot speak, we groan in our hearts, then the Holy Spirit himself pleads to God for us” in Hopi, as “instead, the very good Spirit of God himself for us asking speaks with God. And he only speaks with groanings, he does not speak so we can understand” in Central Tarahumara, and as “the Holy Spirit himself groans in our hearts in a way which we cannot tell how he does, because he very much prays to God for us” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord
The Greek in Romans 8:39 that is translated in English as “nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” or similar is translated into Tezoatlán Mixtec as “And nothing that God has made is able to cause that God stops loving us, for He shows His great love for us through what Jesus Christ, our Lord, did for us.” (Source: John Williams in the Seeing Scripture Anew blog.)
Just the latter part (“separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord”) is translated as “make God forget us so that he won’t love us who have put our confidence in our chief Jesus Christ” in Huehuetla Tepehua, as “God on account of Jesus Christ our Lord loves us. And therefore nothing which is made can tear us away from him.” in Hopi, and as “cause that God should lose his grip on us because God loves us thanks to Jesus Christ our Lord” in Chicahuaxtla Triqui. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
my God
In certain languages some types of possession simply cannot be used. For example in Hopi one cannot speak of [what is translated in English as] “(Yahweh) my God,” for God cannot be possessed. One must say, “the God in whom I believe.” (p. 206)
See also LORD your God / Lord your God.
sanctification, sanctify
The Greek that is translated in English as “sanctify” or “sanctification” is translated in Balanta-Kentohe “separated to God.” (Source: Rob Koops)
Other translations include:
- San Blas Kuna: “giving a man a good heart”
- Panao Huánuco Quechua: “God perfects us”
- Laka: “God calls us outside to Himself” (“This phrase is derived from the practice of a medicine man, who during the initiation rites of apprentices calls upon the young man who is to follow him eventually and to receive all of his secrets and power. From the day that this young man is called out during the height of the ecstatic ceremony, he is identified with his teacher as the heir to his position, authority, and knowledge.”) (Source for this and above: Nida 1952, p. 147)
- Mezquital Otomi: “live a pure life”
- Hopi: “unspotted”
- Yatzachi Zapotec: “clean-hearted”
- Huehuetla Tepehua: “be servants of God”
- Central Tarahumara: “only live doing good as God desires” (source for this and four above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
- Mairasi: “one’s life/behavior will be very straight” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
- Enlhet: “new / clean 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. )
- Tibetan: dam par ‘gyur (དམ་པར་འགྱུར།), lit. “holy + become” (used for instance in 1 Cor. 1:2, 1 Cor. 6:11, 1 Cor. 7:14, or 1 Thess. 4:3) or gtsang bar byed (གཙང་བར་བྱེད།), lit. “make clean” (used for instance in Heb. 9:13) (source: gSungrab website )
The choices for translation of “sanctification” in the Indonesian Common Language Bible (Alkitab dalam Bahasa Indonesia Masa Kini, publ. 1985) differed according to context. (Click or tap here to see details)
“In Romans, hagiasmos [“sanctification”] occurs twice in chapter 6, in verses 19 and 22. It is used in relation to believers who are called to be saints (1:7), who are under grace (6:15), who have been set free from sin to become slaves of righteousness (6:18). Therefore here hagiasmos not only refers to God’s act of consecration, but also to the believer’s moral activity arising out of this state. It is this aspect that the translators have stressed in verse 19: ‘… so now yield your members to righteousness for sanctification’ has been translated untuk maksud-maksud Allah yang khusus: ‘for God’s specific purposes.’ So also in verse 22 ‘… the return you get is sanctification’ has been translated hidup khusus untuk Allah: ‘living for God alone.’
“!In 1 Corinthians 1:30: ‘… in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption,’ hagiasmos is put in a parallel position to wisdom, righteousness and redemption, and is rooted in Christ. In view of the parallel concepts, it is clear a result is indicated here. The believers are holy because they are ‘in Christ’ who is intrinsically holy. Hagiasmos here has been rendered as: umatnya yang khusus: ‘his own people.’
“In 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7, hagiasmos involves abstaining from unchastity (verse 3) and is contrasted with uncleanness (verse 7), while in verse 4 it is used as a parallel with ‘honor’ to modify the verb. Hagiasmos is here rooted in the will of God, and calls for moral conduct. The translators translate hagiasmos in verse 3 as hidup khusus untuk dia: ‘live for him alone,’ and in verses 4 and 5 menyenangkan hati Allah: ‘pleasing God’s heart.’
“The expression in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 ‘sanctification by the spirit’ (en hagiasmo pneumatos), is generally understood as sanctification or consecration effected by the Holy Spirit. This consecration was effected at the moment of conversion. The translation here is umat Allah yang suci: ‘God’s holy people.’
“The noun also appears in the Pastorals once (1 Timothy 2:15), where, in view of the context, it clearly denotes ethical behavior. The translators translate as hidup khusus untuk Allah: ‘living for God alone,’ but perhaps it would be better here to translate it with hidup tanpa vela: ‘lead a blameless life,’ which would suit the context better.
“In conclusion then, to translate hagiasmos in a way that is meaningful to the average modern reader, it may often be necessary to render it by a phrase which brings out the primary meaning of the term. If it refers to the act of consecration, this phrase should include the notion of belonging to God, and if it refers to the conduct of the believer, the phrase should stress the idea of pleasing God and refraining from evil.” (Source: Pericles Katoppo in The Bible Translator 1987, p. 429ff. )
simple-minded
The Greek in Romans 16:18 that is translated as “simple-minded” or similar in English is translated as “those who still don’t know well the truth” in Huehuetla Tepehua, as “those who don’t know how to decide” in Tzeltal, and as “those who are gullible” in Hopi. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)