The Greek in John 3:35 that is translated in English as “placed all things in his hands” is translated in Asháninka as “allowed him to rule over all.” The meaning of the metaphor in the Greek would have not been clear if translated directly. (Source: Larson 1998, p. 87)
the whole town came out
The Greek in Matthew 8:34 that is translated in English as “the whole town came out” or similar is translated in Kui as “everyone went to see him” since it was not possible to use “the whole town” with the extended meaning of “the people (of the town).” (Source: Larson 1998, p. 87)
healed (of spirits)
The Greek in Acts 5:16 that is translated as “the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed” or similar is translated in Tepeuxila Cuicatec as “the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed sand the evil spirits left them.” Larson (1998, p. 20) explains: “In Tepeuxila Cuicatec, ‘healed’ can be used only to talk about ‘sickness,’ not to talk about ‘casting out evil spirits.’ to be sure these people were helped as well, an obligatory addition was made.”
See also heal (from infertility).
the Father
The Greek in John 14:9 that is translated in English as “the Father” is translated in Alekano in the first instance as “my father” (when Jesus speaks) and “our father” (when the disciples speak),” since in that language “most kinship terms have an obligatory possessive pronoun suffix (or prefix and suffix). Hence it is impossible to say ‘a father’ or ‘the father’; one must say ‘my father” or ‘your father’ or ‘some person’s father.'” (Source: Larson 1998, p. 42)
If the foot would say “Because I am not a hand"
The Greek in 1 Corinthians 12:15 that is translated in English as “If the foot would say, ‘Because I am not a hand'” is translated in Alekano as “our foot cannot say to our hand,” since in that language body parts need to have an obligatory possessive designator attached (Source: Larson 1998, p. 42)
Moses and Elijah during the Transfiguration
“In a number of languages, including Yanesha’ of Peru, there is an obligatory morpheme that must be suffixed to the name of any person referred to after his death. An interesting problem arises in the transfiguration account as to whether or not Moses’ name should have the ‘dead’ suffix. The translators have decided to leave the suffix off the name of Moses in the transfiguration story, since his obvious physical presence would be contradictory to the reference to his death. They are using it with the names of the characters of the Old Testament when they are mentioned in the New in other contexts and with the names of characters of the New Testament only if they have reason to believe that the person was dead when the record was written.” (Source: Larson 1998, p. 46)
In Yatzachi Zapotec the translators encountered the same grammatical requirement but decided differently. Otis Leal (in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 164ff. ) explains: “Zapotecs never refer to a person who has died without indicating this fact. Thus the sentence. In Mark 9:4 Moses and Elijah spoke with Christ. Moses was obviously dead and was so designated in the translation. The question arose regarding Elijah. The informant was positive that he also should be referred to as dead since he no longer inhabited this mortal world. Should that be conceded, however, it would seem that Christ would also have to be referred to as dead at any time after the ascension. Thus Paul would be represented as beginning Romans, ‘Paul, a servant of the dead Jesus Christ.’ But because of the resurrection of Jesus, He is always spoken of as alive.”
love your neighbor as yourself
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “love your neighbor as yourself” is translated in Shilluk, Anuak, and Nuer as “love your neighbors as yourselves.” In those and other languages a plural form has to be used if it is to be applied to more than one person where in English a singular can stand for many (compare everyone, each, whoever, any). (Source: Larson 1998, p. 42)
See also he who / whoever and neighbor.
gave his only son
The Greek in John 3:16 that is translates as “(God) gave his only son” in English is translated in Amganad Ifugao as “(God) sent his only son” because “you can give animals and things, but you can’t give people.” (Source: Larson 1998, p. 86)