The name that is transliterated as “Eve” in English is translated in Finnish Sign Language with the sign signifying “life,” reflecting the original Hebrew meaning (see also Genesis 3:20). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Corinthians 11:3:
Uma: “But I am nervous/uneasy now, lest [lit., don’t-don’t] someone deceive you with the result that you don’t keep believing in Kristus with all your hearts. Like Hawa long ago was tempted by the snake with smooth/gentle words, so also there are those who want to tempt you to follow teaching that is different from your faith in Kristus.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “I am sad/troubled about you perhaps your thinking is diverted from Almasi and then your love for him is no longer wholehearted. Perhaps you are deceived like Sitti Hawa (Eve) in old times. For she was deceived by the expertise of the snake who lied.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I’m worried about you because you might abandon your carefully carrying out of the commands of Christ. For perhaps your faith is mixed up with other beliefs. Perhaps you are going to imitate Eve long ago, because she was deceived by that lying snake which was Satan.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “But I fear lest you go-astray and leave your sincere/heartfelt love for Cristo like Eva who was deceived by the trickiness of the snake.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “I am really worried that just as Eva was deceived by the snake that Satanas indwelled, maybe you also will be deceived by some (people) there. Maybe you will transfer, your believing/obeying and trust no longer being totally in Cristo.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Like Eve was deceived by the devil, thus I fear that you will be deceived so as to separate from Christ.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
Verse 3 is connected to verse 2 with the word But, which Good News Translation does not translate. Verse 3 is in contrast to what Paul hopes for on the basis of his actions described in verse 2. In many languages it will be helpful to mark this contrast explicitly, using a conjunction like “but” or “however.”
As the serpent deceived Eve: Paul alludes here to the account in Gen 3.1-6, 13. Some languages will need to indicate that this incident refers to a time in the remote past. Though Paul does not identify the serpent with Satan, he probably understood the passage in Genesis as referring to Satan (see Wisdom of Solomon 2.24).
On the translation of cunning see 4.2. In some languages it will be redundant to translate this word explicitly, since the verb used to translate deceived will already contain the idea of cunning or trickery.
Your thoughts will be led astray: the verb led astray has a root meaning of “ruin,” “corrupt,” or “spoil.” In some languages a word such as “spoil” rather than “lead astray” may tie in better with the following words sincere and pure. As the next verse indicates, the implicit agent of the verb be led astray is “someone who preaches a different gospel from the one that Paul preaches.” In those languages where a passive verb cannot naturally be used here, one may have to say “someone will trick you and make you abandon [your faith in Christ],” or possibly even “by their cunning those false apostles will cause you to go away from [Christ].” Since Paul more than likely had specific persons in mind, it is not a good idea to make Satan the primary subject of the verb “to lead astray” in the receptor language. Languages often have rather unusual ways of talking about deceiving or leading other people astray. Some may say things like “to lead by the ears” or “to treat like an animal.”
The word sincere (literally “sincerity”) is translated in Revised Standard Version as “liberality” in 8.2 and “generosity” in 9.11, 13. Here the sense is “singleness of purpose,” that is, a “full” or “total” (Anchor Bible) devotion.
Pure is literally “purity.” Some manuscripts omit the word pure after sincere (followed by New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, and Revised English Bible), but the editors of the UBS Greek New Testament kept the word “pure” in brackets, thinking it is more likely that a scribe accidentally omitted the word. But since the meaning of the two words is very similar in this context, they may possibly be rendered by a single term in the receptor language.
Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation restructure according to the implied meaning of the Greek, adding devotion to show that the “sincerity” and “purity” are qualities demonstrating a relationship with Christ. The Greek phrase may also be rendered “sincerity and purity [maintained] toward [or, for the sake of] Christ.” For normal English, of course, Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible do well to restructure as they do.
One possible restructuring of this verse may be as follows: “You remember the old story about the snake tricking Eve. I am afraid that you will be like that. Someone will trick you and then you will abandon your true and complete love for Christ.”
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellingworth, Paul. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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