The Greek proverb in Acts 26:14 which is translated directly by some English versions as “kick against the goads (=a spiked stick used for driving cattle)” and refers to “pointless fighting” became “throw chaff into the wind” in the Khmer Standard Version translation of 2005 (the translators also considered “spit vertically upwards”). (Source David Clark)
In Lalana Chinantec it is translated as “as a bull which kicks a sharp stick which his owner holds so do you,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “you are doing the same as an ox that is hurting itself, kicking the sharp stick that people drive it with,” in Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac as “like a horse when it kicks the stick with which it is driven” (source for this and two above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), and in Elhomwe as “because you are against me, you are hurting yourself” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext).
In Russian, the phrase Трудно тебе идти против рожна (Trudno tebe idti protiv rozhna) or “kick against the goads” is widely used as an idiom in every-day life, with the meaning of undertaking a risky action against constraint imposed by tradition or authority. The wording of the quote originated in the Russian Synodal Bible (publ. 1876). (Source: Reznikov 2020, p. 63f.)
The Greek word that mean both (the organ) “tongue” and “language” (glossa) allows for a word play in Acts 2. While English still has some traces of “tongue” also being used as “language” (such as in “mother tongue“) it is generally considered archaic in that use, although a number of modern English Bible translations (New International Version, Christian Standard Bible, English Standard Version) maintain “tongue” as the word for “language” in Acts 2:4.
Other languages have a more natural match between the words for “tongue” and “language”:
The Hebrew proverb in Ezekiel 16:44 that is translated as “like mother, like daughter” in English is rendered in Medumba with the existing expression tshu’ fu ngùt: “the character (nature) resembles the lineage.”
The phrase that is rendered in English versions as “land flowing with milk and honey” (“milk and syrup” in Goldingay [2018]) is translated into Afar as niqmatak tan baaxoy buqre kee lacah meqehiyya: “a blessed land good for fields and cattle.” (Source: Loren Bliese)
In the interconfessional Chichewa translation (publ. 1999) it is translated with the existing proverb dziko lamwanaalirenji or “a land of what (type of food) can the child cry for?” (i.e. there is more than enough to eat). (Source: Ernst Wendland in The Bible Translator 1981, p. 107 )
In Kwere it is “good/fertile land.” (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The Hebrew word for “honey”, devash, is also used for syrup extracted from figs, dates, and grapes, or from certain types of palm tree. The phrase “a land flowing with milk and honey” refers to a land that is fertile and thus rich in pasture, fruit, and the grain and flowers from which bees make honey. (Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators) )
In Russian, the phrase молоко и мед (moloko i med) or “milk and honey” is widely used as an idiom in every-day life. (Source: Reznikov 2020, p. 67)
In Russian, the phrase перекуют мечи свои на орала (perekuyut mechi svoi na orala) or “they shall beat their swords into plowshares” is widely used in many variations as an idiom in every-day life with the meaning ranging from “changing from war to peace” to “radical tranformation.” This is despite the fact that most modern Russians would not know what the meaning of the old-fashioned term орала (orala) or “plowshare” is. The wording of the quote originated in the Russian Synodal Bible (publ. 1876). (Source: Reznikov 2020, p. 90)
In Russian, the phrase бабьих басен (bab’ikh basen) or “old wives’ tales” is widely used as an idiom in every-day life , typically referring to nonsense. The wording of the quote originated in the Russian Synodal Bible (publ. 1876). (Source: Reznikov 2020, p. 87)
The now commonly-used Russian idiom кроткие наследуют землю (krotkiye nasleduyut zemlyu) was first coined in the Russian Synodal Bible (publ. 1876). (Source: Reznikov 2020, p. 12)
The now commonly-used German idiom wer Wind sät, wird Sturm ernten (literally “whoever sows wind will reap a storm”), was originally not used exactly like that by Luther (he used wer Wind sät, wird Sturm ernten or “whoever sows wind will reap bad weather”) but is now used in its common form in many modern Bible translations, including the Luther Bible, starting in 1964. Today it’s used both as a threat and as a warning. (Source: Günther 2017, p. 114)
In Russian, the phrase is also widely used as an idiom. The wording of the quote originated in the Russian Synodal Bible (publ. 1876). (Source: Reznikov 2020, p. 79)
For other idioms or terms in German that were coined by Bible translation, see here.
