worship

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The Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek terms that are often translated as “worship” (also, “kneel down” or “bow down”) are likewise translated in other languages in certain categories, including those based on physical activity, those which incorporate some element of “speaking” or “declaring,” and those which specify some type of mental activity.

Following is a list of (back-) translations (click or tap for details):

  • Javanese: “prostrate oneself before”
  • Malay: “kneel and bow the head”
  • Kaqchikel: “kneel before”
  • Loma (Liberia): “drop oneself beneath God’s foot”
  • Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “wag the tail before God” (using a verb which with an animal subject means “to wag the tail,” but with a human subject)
  • Tzotzil: “join to”
  • Kpelle: “raise up a blessing to God”
  • Kekchí: “praise as your God”
  • Cashibo-Cacataibo: “say one is important”
  • San Blas Kuna: “think of God with the heart”
  • Rincón Zapotec: “have one’s heart go out to God”
  • Tabasco Chontal: “holy-remember” (source of this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Bariai: “lift up God’s name” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Q’anjob’al: “humble oneself before” (source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. )
  • Alur: rwo: “complete submission, adoration, consecration” (source: F. G. Lasse in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 22ff. )
  • Obolo: itọtọbọ ebum: “express reverence and devotion” (source: Enene Enene)
  • Ngäbere: “cut oneself down before” (“This figure of speech comes from the picture of towering mahoganies in the forest which, under the woodman’s ax, quiver, waver, and then in solemn, thunderous crashing bury their lofty heads in the upstretched arms of the surrounding forest. This is the experience of every true worshiper who sees ‘the Lord, high and lifted up.’ Our own unworthiness brings us low. As the Valientes say, ‘we cut ourselves down before’ His presence. Our heads, which have been carried high in self-confidence, sink lower and lower in worship.)
  • Tzeltal: “end oneself before God.” (“Only by coming to the end of oneself can one truly worship. The animist worships his deities in the hope of receiving corresponding benefits, and some pagans in Christendom think that church attendance is a guarantee of success in this life and good luck in the future. But God has never set a price on worship except the price that we must pay, namely, ‘coming to the end of ourselves.'”) (Source of this and the one above: Nida 1952, p. 163)
  • Folopa: “die under God” (“an idiom that roughly back-translates “dying under God” which means lifting up his name and praising him and to acknowledge by everything one does and thanks that God is superior.”) (Source: Anderson / Moore, p. 202)
  • Chokwe: kuivayila — “rub something on” (“When anyone goes into the presence of a king or other superior, according to native law and custom the inferior gets down on the ground, takes a little earth in the fingers of his right hand, rubs it on his own body, and then claps his hands in homage and the greeting of friendship. It is a token of veneration, of homage, of extreme gratitude for some favor received. It is also a recognition of kingship, lordship, and a prostrating of oneself in its presence. Yet it simply is the applicative form of ‘to rub something on oneself’, this form of the verb giving the value of ‘because of.’ Thus in God’s presence as king and Lord we metaphorically rub dirt on ourselves, thus acknowledging Him for what He really is and what He has done for us.”) (Source: D. B. Long in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 87ff. )

In Luang it is translated with different shades of meaning:

Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.

complete verse (Daniel 3:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 3:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “Whoever shall refuse to worship this thing shall be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace of fire.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “At that time all those who do not pay reverence, lying prostrate like that will be thrown into the roaring fire of a kiln."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Anyone who will- not -worship will-be-thrown into a blazing furnace.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Anyone who refuses to do that will be thrown into a blazing furnace!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Daniel 3:6

Fall down: see verse 5.

Worship: this verb may require an object in many languages. If so, the object in the context is clearly the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected. It should be noted that this is the same verb translated “did homage” in 2.46 and it occurs ten times elsewhere in this chapter (see verses 5, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 18, and 28).

Be cast: the passive verb form will almost certainly have to be rendered actively in some languages as “they (indefinite) will cast…,” or “someone will throw…,” or something similar.

A burning fiery furnace: literally “into the inside of a furnace of burning fire.” This was probably a kind of box or room with an opening in the side (see verse 25) and another in the top (verses 21-23). Note that in verse 26 the furnace is said to have a “door” or rather some kind of opening. This indicates that it had the shape of a room or enclosure. Since furnaces are unknown in some cultures, this may be a difficult idea to translate. Some possibilities are “a room filled with very hot fire” or “a small house where things are burned up completely.” Other similar terms that people may be familiar with are “oven,” “kiln,” and “incinerator.”

Other possible models for the verse as a whole are “If any person refuses to worship the statue, then they (indefinite) will throw that person into a flaming furnace” or “My men will at once throw you into a hot fire room (or house) if you do not bow down and worship the statue.”

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René & Ellington, John. A Handbook on Daniel. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .