truth

The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is usually translated in English as “truth” is translated in Luchazi with vusunga: “the quality of being straight” (source: E. Pearson in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 160ff. ), in Obolo as atikọ or “good/correct talk” (source: Enene Enene), and in Ekari as maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (esp. in John 14:6 and 17; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).

The translation committee of the Malay “Good News Bible” (Alkitab Berita Baik, see here ) wrestled with the translation of “truth” in the Gospel of John (for more information click or tap here):

“Our Malay Committee also concluded that ‘truth’ as used in the Gospel of John was used either of God himself, or of God’s revelation of himself, or in an extended sense as a reference to those who had responded to God’s self-disclosure. In John 8:32 the New Malay translation reads ‘You will know the truth about God, and the truth about God will make you free.’ In John 8:44 this meaning is brought out by translating, ‘He has never been on the side of God, because there is no truth in him.’ Accordingly Jesus ‘tells the truth about God’ in 8:45, 46 (see also 16:7 and 8:37a). Then, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’ becomes ‘I am the one who leads men to God, the one who reveals who and what God is, and the one who gives men life.” At 3:21 the translation reads ” … whoever obeys the truth, that is God himself, comes to the light …’; 16:13a appears as ‘he will lead you into the full truth about God’; and in 18:37 Jesus affirms ‘I came into the world to reveal the truth about God, and whoever obeys God listens to me.’ On this basis also 1:14 was translated ‘we saw his glory, the glory which he had as the Father’s only Son. Through him God has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace)’; and 1:17 appears as ‘God gave the law through Moses; but through Jesus Christ he has completely revealed himself (truth) and his love for us (grace).'” (Source: Barclay Newman in The Bible Translator 1974, p. 432ff. )

Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) tells of the translation into Kui which usually is “true-thing.” In some instances however, such as in the second part of John 17:17 (“your word is truth” in English), the use of “true-thing” indicated that there might be other occasions when it’s not true, so here the translation was a a form of “pure, holy.”

complete verse (Daniel 7:19)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 7:19:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then, I wanted to know something about the fourth beast which was so unique/different from the others. It was very terrifying and had teeth of iron and claws of bronze. It crushed the others with those teeth and trampled on what remained.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then I wanted to know the meaning of the 4th animal which seemed so frightening, so very different from the others. With his iron teeth and bronze claws, he would cut up his victims and eat them, trampling what was left over with his feet. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘Then I still- asked him -more what (is) the meaning of that fourth animal which is very different from the three animals. That was very frightening to-look-at, and its teeth are iron and the nails/claws are bronze. It bites and eats his victims, and if there were-leftovers, it trampled them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then I wanted to know what the fourth beast signified—the beast that was different from the other three, the beast that crushed those that it attacked with its bronze claws, and then ate their flesh with its iron teeth, and trampled on the parts of their bodies that it did not eat.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Daniel 7:19

Verses 19 and 20 constitute one long sentence in Aramaic and in Revised Standard Version. But they have been broken into four separate sentences in Good News Translation. This will probably be a good model to follow in the translation.

To know the truth: this verbal expression in Aramaic (“to be certain”) has the same root as the noun in verse 16, “the truth.”

The fourth beast: see verse 7 above. The information is not given in the same order as in verse 7, but all the elements are present, and in addition the claws of bronze are added to the description here.

Different from all the rest: this is better understood as meaning “different from the other three kingdoms” mentioned in this passage, rather than “different from all other kingdoms” in the world.

On the word bronze, see, for example, 2.32; 4.15, and comments there.

The wording of Revised English Bible may provide a helpful model to some translators: “exceedingly fearsome with its iron teeth and bronze claws, devouring and crunching, then trampling underfoot what was left.”

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 .