The Greek in 2 Corinthians 4:6 that is often translated in English as “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God” is translated in Saint Lucian Creole French as “for us to be able to see that light and understand how great God is great.”
David Frank (in: Lexical Challenges in the St. Lucian Creole Bible Translation Project , 1998) explains: “Greek is rich in abstract nouns, and that was another problem area when translating into St. Lucian Creole. [Since many] abstract nouns are semantically related to verbs, adjectives, or adverbs that do exist in Creole, the best solution is often to adjust the sentence to use a part of speech other than a noun to translate an abstract noun. To express ‘the light of the knowledge of the glory of God’ (…) after a great deal of study and thought we came up with pou nou sa wè klèté sala épi kopwann mizi gwan Bondyé gwan, ‘for us to be able to see that light and understand how great God is great.’ Here the abstract noun ‘knowledge’ was translated by a verb meaning ‘understand,’ and ‘the glory of God’ was translated as ‘how great God is great,’ using an adjective and an idiomatic grammatical construction that is natural in Creole.”
The Greek and Hebrew that is often translated as “repent” or “repentance” is (back-) translated in various ways (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight):
Embu: “change heart” (“2 Cor. 7:10 says ‘For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.’ In ordinary speech the terms ‘repent’ and ‘regret’ are used interchangeably in Embu, so that this verse comes out as: ‘godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no repentance,’ which is contradictory. The problem was solved by using ‘changing heart’ in the first, and ‘sadness’ in the second.”) (source: Jan Sterk)
Muna: dofetompa’ao dhosa bhe dodoli ne Lahata’ala: “radically-end sin and to turn to God” (source: René van den Berg)
Bacama: por-njiya: “fetch sand” (“Before the coming of Christianity 100 years ago, when the elders went to pray to the gods, they would take sand and throw it over each shoulder and down their backs while confessing their sins. Covering themselves with sand was a ritual to show that they were sorry for what they had done wrong, sort of like covering oneself with sackcloth and ashes. Now idol worship for the most part is abandoned in Bacama culture, but the Christian church has retained the phrase por-njiya to mean ‘repent, doing something to show sorrow for one’s sins’” — source: David Frank in this blog post .)
Enlhet “exchange innermosts.” “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. )
Isthmus Zapotec: “heart becomes soft” (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Sabaot: “give one’s neck” — relating to traditional legal proceedings where someone who is convicted of a crime kneels before the aggrieved person who can either behead the accused or completely forgive (source Danny Foster in this recording )
Kâte: maŋ bârisiezo or “turn the insides around” (source: Renck 1990, p. 108)
Merina Malagasy: fifonana, deriving from mifona “meaning ‘to completely uproot so that something new can grow’ (a term also used for the loss of a baby tooth)” (source: Brigitte Rabarijaona)
“In Tzotzil two reflexive verbs to communicate the biblical concept of repentance are used. Xca’i jba means to know or to reflect inwardly on one’s self. This self inquiry or self examination is similar to the attitude of the prodigal son where Luke 15:17 records that ‘he came to his senses.’ Broke, starving, and slopping hogs, the prodigal admitted to himself that he was in the wrong place. The second reflexive verb ‘jsutes jba’ means turning away from what one is and turning to something else. In a sense, it is deciding against one’s self and toward someone else. It is similar to the attitude of the prodigal son when he said, ‘I will get up and go to my father’ (Luke 15:18).” (source: Aeilts 2009, p. 118)
The Greek that is usually translated as “scribe” in English “were more than mere writers of the law. They were the trained interpreters of the law and expounders of tradition.”
Tboli: “one who taught the law God before caused Moses to write” (or “one who taught the law of Moses”) (source for this and 5 above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Noongar: Mammarapa-Warrinyang or “law man” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Mairasi: “one who writes and explains Great Above One’s (=God’s) prohibitions” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Chichewa: “teacher of Laws” (source: Ernst Wendland)
Lalana Chinantec: “one who is a teacher of the law which God gave to Moses back then”
Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “one who know well the law” (Source for this and four above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Huixtán Tzotzil: “one who mistakenly thought he was teaching God’s commandments”(Huixtán Tzotzil frequently uses the verb -cuy to express “to mistakenly think something” from the point of view of the speaker; source: Marion M. Cowan in Notes on Translation 20/1966, pp. 6ff.)
Germandas Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “theologian” and in the 1964 translation by Helmut Riethmüller: “theologian of scriptures” (Schrifttheologe)
English translation by Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023): Covenant Code scholar
In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines the signs for “expert” and “law.” (Source: Anna Smith)
“Scribe” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL , used with permission)
Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Peter 4:15:
Uma: “But really don’t let there be even one of you who gets suffering because he is a murderer, or a thief, or something else evil or a bad/naughty person.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “If you endure difficulties/troubles never mind as-long-as the reason for it is not just/simply bad deeds like killing people or stealing or doing other bad things or interfering with your companions work.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “It is necessary that you not suffer punishment because of murder, stealing, or doing any kind of evil, or of meddling with that over which you have no right.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “But may it be that if/when you are hardshipped, it will not be because of your having-done wrong such as a murderer (lit. killer of life), thief, breaker of the law or meddler in what his companions are doing.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “I hope there won’t be any of you who will have to be sentenced to judgment because he is a murderer of his fellowman, or because he is a thief, or interferes in things he ought not to interfere in, or does whatever deeds that are evil.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “It is necessary that he who sins will suffer, like those who are murderers, thieves, evil people, those who meddle in the affairs of their fellowmen. But you are not to do so.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Huba: “Even if you drink suffering, let it not be about killing person, thievery, criminality, or people that are shooting their mouth in the living of other people.” (The expression “shooting their mouth” means being a busybody, meddling in other people’s affairs.) (Source: David Frank in this blog post )
If the Hebrew or (the transliterated) Greek “Amen” (as part of a prayer) is not transliterated it can also be translated into expressions such as “that is just the way it is” (Huichol), “that’s it” (Shilluk), “may it be thus” (Tzeltal) (source: Bratcher / Nida), “Let those things thus be” (Kituba) (source: Donald Deer in The Bible Translator 1973, p. 207ff. ), “It’s true” (Bariai) (source: Bariai Back Translation), or “so be it” (T’áá ákót’ée doo) ( Navajo (Dinė)).
In Mairasi the translation is aniaut aug or “it’s a tuberful dig.” The preface to Enggavoter 2004 explains: “Truth is like a tuber [sweet potatoes, taro, cassava, yams]. We Mairasi have tubers as our standard food. The leaves are visible above ground. But we planted the plant so that it would produce tubers, but those are beneath the ground. So the vocabulary about ‘truth’ and ‘produce’ or ‘fruit’ is based on words for ‘tubers.’ For example: the word for ‘Amen’ ‘it’s a tuberful dig’ [also used for ‘verily’ or ‘definitely’] has its story like this: We see the leaves of the sweet potato but we do not know: the question is ‘Are there tubers or not?.’ So we dig then we see tubers. Therefore we say that ani ‘dig’ was aut ‘with tubers,’ which is ‘Aniaut!‘ ‘Definitely true!'”
In Huba it is translated as Aɗǝmja or “let it be so.” David Frank (in this blog post ) explains: “Whenever there were persistent problems such as a drought, or a rash of sickness or death, the king (or his religious advisor) would set aside a day and call on everyone to prepare food, such as the traditional mash made from sorghum, or perhaps even goat. The food had to be put together outside. The king or his religious advisor would give an address stating what the problem was and what they were doing about it. Then an elder representing the people would take a handful of that food and throw it, probably repeating that action several times, until it was considered to be enough to atone for all the misfortune they had been having. With this action he was ‘shooting (or casting off) misfortune’ to restore well-being to his people. As he threw the food, he would say that this is to remove the misfortune that had fallen on his people, and everybody would respond by saying aɗǝmja, ‘let it be so.’ People could eat some of this food, but they could not bring the food into their houses, because that would mean that they were bringing misfortune into their house. There is still a minority of people in this linguistic and cultural group that practices the traditional religion, but the shooting of misfortune is no longer practiced, and the term ‘shoot misfortune’ is used now in Bible translation to refer to offering a sacrifice. Aɗǝmja is how they translate ‘amen.'”
In American Sign Language, “Amen” is translated with a sign that means “it is established.”
“The primary meaning of that Greek word is ‘bright, visible splendor.’ The same word has a variety of secondary and extended senses. Since there is not a well-understood Creole word for ‘glory’ and we had to translate it according to meaning, the renderings of ‘glory’ in Creole were diverse, as the following examples, all from the book of Luke, show:
Luke 2:9: èvèk klèté Bondyé té ka kléwé toupatou anlè yo (‘and God’s light was shining everywhere on them’)
Luke 2:14a: An syèl yo ka glowifyé Bondyé, yo ka di i gwan (‘In heaven they are praising God, they are saying he is great‘)
Luke 2:32b: èk i kay fè Izwayèl on plas pou moun konnèt (‘and he will make Israel a place for people to know‘)
Luke 4:6a: Mwen kay ba’w tout pouvwa èk wichès sé wéyòm sala (‘I will give you all power and riches of these kingdoms’)
Luke 9:26b: lè mwen kay vini an pouvwa mwen ka kléwé kon zéklè (‘when I will come in my power shining like lightning‘)
Luke 12:27b: pa menm Sòlomonn an tout wichès li ki té sa abiyé otan bèl kon yonn anpami yo (‘not even Solomon in all his riches was dressed as nice as one of them’)
Luke 14:10b: Sa kay ba’w lonnè wèspé an zyé lézòt sé moun-an (‘That will give you honor respect in the eyes of the other people’)
Luke 17:18: ki viwé di Bondyé mèsi (‘who returned to tell God thank you‘)
Luke 19:38b: Annou glowifyé Bondyé (‘Let’s praise God’)
Luke 21:27: épi pouvwa èk gwan klèté (‘with power and great light‘)
Luke 24:26: èk apwé sa i kay jwenn wèspé (‘and after that he will get respect‘)
Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Peter 2:5:
Uma: “so that you also are made by him to be like living stones that are used to build the worship house to God. He also made you holy priests. For like priests offer offerings/sacrifices to God, so also you offer your hearts to God, you consider it your offering to him. And that offering of yours does gladden his heart, because of the mediation of Yesus Kristus.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Now you have already new life from God. Let yourselves be used by God figuratively as stones for building his house. The meaning of God’s house is all the people who follow/obey him and are ruled over by his Spirit. And work also for God figuratively like priests (imam) chosen by him. Your work for him is thanking and praising God. And your thanksgiving and your praise God will accept because of Isa Almasi.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “As for us (incl.) also who have been given life forever, let us submit ourselves to Him so that we also might become like building stones for a house where God will be worshipped. And in that house of His, He will make us to become sacrificers whom He has chosen. And then by means of the help of Jesus Christ, we can offer sacrifice. And the sacrifice which He desires is: we will worship Him by means of the Holy Spirit.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Because of your coming-near to him, you also can-be-compared to living stones, because you are being used in-being-built-into a spiritual (naispiritoan) temple. You are also serving as God’s holy priests who are offering to him spiritual offerings with which he is content/pleased through Jesu Cristo.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Well since you are now submitting to him, he has given you renewing of your lives, and a likeness of you also is smoothed rocks/stones too which the Lord is using as materials with which he is building a house which is a worship-place to God. He is also making you like priests who are secured/dedicated as belonging to God. However, what you(emph) are-to-be-using-to-worship is your serving and praising him, which pleases him because of what was done by Jesu-Cristo.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “You must want that God makes you to be a stone for the building of God’s house of prayer. And you are as though priests in order for you to pray to God. God approves of this because you believe in Jesus Christ.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Saint Lucian Creole French: “You are rocks that are living also, so let God use you in that house he is building with his Spirit. You are priests God has set apart to do his work. God’s Spirit made it possible for you to be able to offer sacrifices God will accept for the sake of what Jesus Christ did.” (Source: David Frank)
Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Peter 1:16:
Uma: “For there is the Word of God that was written long ago that says: ‘You must be holy, because I am holy.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “For it is written hep in the holy-book, it says, ‘Don’t sin,’ says God, ‘because I do not have sin.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For there is a written word of God which says, ‘It must be that there is nothing in our actions to scold you for just like there is nothing in my actions to scold me for.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Because there is that which God caused-to-be-written which says, ‘You must be holy, because I, I am holy.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “For that is in harmony with his written word which says, ‘You must live lives which are far from all sin, because as for me, I really am very far from whatever sin.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “In the Holy Book it is written, ‘Do that which is supremely good, because I am supremely good,’ says God.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Saint Lucian Creole French: “… ‘You must separate yourselves from wickedness just as I God am separate from wickedness.” (Source: David Frank)
