salvation

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The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated with “salvation” (or “deliverance”) in English is translated in the following ways:

  • San Blas Kuna: “receive help for bad deeds” (“this help is not just any kind of help but help for the soul which has sinned)
  • Northwestern Dinka: “help as to his soul” (“or literally, ‘his breath'”) (source for this and the one above: Nida 1952, p. 140)
  • Central Mazahua: “healing the heart” (source: Nida 1952, p. 40)
  • Tzeltal: col: “get loose,” “go free,” “get well” (source: Marianna C. Slocum in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 49f. )
  • Aari: “the day our Savior comes” (in Rom 13:11) (source: Loren Bliese)

in Mairasi its is translated as “life fruit” or “life fruit all mashed out.” Lloyd Peckham explains: “In secret stories, not knowable to women nor children, there was a magical fruit of life. If referred to vaguely, without specifying the specific ‘fruit,’ it can be an expression for eternity.” And for “all masked out” he explains: “Bark cloth required pounding. It got longer and wider as it got pounded. Similarly, life gets pounded or mashed to lengthen it into infinity. Tubers also get mashed into the standard way of serving the staple food, like the fufu of Uganda, or like poi of Hawaii. It spreads out into infinity.” (See also eternity / forever)

In Lisu a poetic construct is used for this term. Arrington (2020, p. 58f.) explains: “A four-word couplet uses Lisu poetic forms to bridge the abstract concrete divide, an essential divide to cross if Christian theology is to be understood by those with oral thought patterns. Each couplet uses three concrete nouns or verbs to express an abstract term. An example of this is the word for salvation, a quite abstract term essential to understanding Christian theology. To coin this new word, the missionary translators used a four-word couplet: ℲO., CYU. W: CYU (person … save … person … save). In this particular case, the word for person was not the ordinary word (ʁ) but rather the combination of ℲO., and W: used in oral poetry. The word for ‘save’ also had to be coined; in this case, it was borrowed from Chinese [from jiù / 救]. These aspects of Lisu poetry, originally based on animism, likely would have been lost as Lisu society encountered communism and modernization. Yet they are now codified in the Lisu Bible as well as the hymnbook.”

In the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) it is translated with chipulumutso which is used to refer to an act of helping someone who is in problems but cannot help him/herself come out of the problems because of weakness. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

See also save and save (Japanese honorifics) / salvation (of God) (Japanese honorifics).

complete verse (Deuteronomy 32:15)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 32:15:

  • Kupsabiny: “The people of Israel grew up
    and then they kicked.
    They became fat, their stomachs grew
    and they became healthy looking.
    And then they abandoned their God,
    and despised the shield that saved them.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Jeshurun by getting to eat and drink so well,
    became obese.
    And they abandoned their strong defender who save them,
    God, the One who had created them.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The Israelinhon became prosperous but they rebelled.
    They grew-fat and healthy, but they turned-back from God who created them,
    and rejected their rock of refuge who is their Savior.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘he Israeli people became rich and prosperous,
    but then they rebelled against God;
    they abandoned him, the one who created them,
    the one who powerfully saves them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 32:15

Jeshurun: this is an affectionate name for the people of Israel, and it appears also in 33.5, 26; Isa 44.2; in all instances the Septuagint translates “Jacob.” Jeshurun means “the upright one.” If the name is used in the text, a footnote like the one in New International Version should be used: “Jeshurun means the upright one, that is, Israel.” In most languages it will be better to use “Israel” or “Yahweh’s people” in the text.

Kicked: that is, “rebelled.” For a description of rebellion see 8.12-17.

You waxed fat … grew thick … became sleek: these are successive stages in the process of becoming fat and prosperous (see 31.20). In this context sleek means well-fed, healthy, even prosperous. Notice the change from the third person of narration to the second person of address. The second line of the verse expands what is said in the first line; see point 2 in the section about “Translation of Poetry” in “Translating Deuteronomy” at the beginning of the Handbook (page 8). It is thus possible to combine the two lines as follows:

• People of Israel, you grew rich and revolted against God….

He forsook: another change of person; see 31.16. However, “you [plural]” may be kept by translators who have been using the second person pronoun throughout.

Scoffed: New International Version and Good News Translation take it to mean “rejected,” as a closer parallel to forsook. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates “spurned” (see its use in Jer 14.21; but the meaning “treat with contempt” is to be found in Micah 7.6; Nahum 3.6). See below for a way to combine these two verbs.

The Rock of his salvation: that is, the Rock (see verse 4) who saved them. Translators should be careful that the translation of the final two lines doesn’t seem to refer to two separate deities, one who is the God who made him and the other the Rock of his salvation. Since scoffed at and forsook in the previous line are so close in meaning, it is possible to combine the information in the final two lines as follows:

• They [or, You] rejected God their [or, your] Creator,
the one who is their [or, your] mighty savior.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .