There are three different levels of speech in Burmese: common language, religious language (addressing and honoring monks, etc.), and royal language (which is not in active use anymore). Earliest Bible translations used exclusively royal and religious language (in the way Jesus is addressed by others and in the way Jesus is referred to via pronouns), which results in Jesus being divine and not human. Later editions try to make distinctions.
In the Common Language Version (publ. 2005) the human face of Jesus appears in the narrative of the angel’s message to Joseph and what Joseph did in response (Matthew 1:21-25). The angel told Joseph that Mary was going to give birth to a son, not a prince.
Likewise in Luke 2:6-7 the story of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem is told simply using the Common language. Again in the description of the shepherds’ visit to the baby Jesus (Mark 1:21-25), in the story of Jesus’ circumcision (Luke 2:6-2:7), and in the narrative of the child Jesus’ visit to Jerusalem (Luke 2:46-51), the human face of Jesus comes to the forefront.
On the other hand, the child Jesus is clearly depicted as a royal or a divine child in the story of the wise men (Matthew 2:9-12), the story of the flight to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-14), and the return to Nazareth (Matthew 2:20-21).
The Greek in Luke 23:30 that is translated as “they will begin to say … to the hills, ‘Cover us.’” in English is translated into Pwo Eastern Karen as “they will beg … the cliffs, ‘Please cover us with landslide.'” (Just one verb in Pwo Eastern Karen to say “cover with landslide.”)
The Hebrew in Genesis 31:40 that is translated as “sleepless” or “sleep fled from my eyes” in English is translated in Western Lawa with a couplet which says, “I can neither eat deliciously nor sleep peacefully.”
The Hebrew in Genesis 20:17 that is translated as “heal” (from infertility) in English could not be translated directly in Western Lawa. “Barrenness and impotency are not understood as sickness in the Western Lawa culture. Thus the verb ‘heal’ could not be used. Therefore the last part of the verse was translated: ‘Abimelech was saved from what God had planned to do to him. God caused his wife and women slaves to be able to have children like before.'”
The Hebrew in Genesis 15:15 that is translated as “go to your fathers (or: ancestors) in peace” in English is translated in Western Lawa as “die a delicious death.”
The Hebrew that is translated as “vagabond,” “fugitive,” or “wanderer” in English is translated in Western Lawa as one who has “no house to live in and no granary to eat out of.”
