Ixcatlán Mazatec: “with your best/biggest thinking” (source: Robert Bascom)
Noongar: dwangka-boola, lit. “ear much” (source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018 — see also remember)
Kwere “to know how to live well” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Dobel: “their ear holes are long-lasting” (in Acts 6:3) (source: Jock Hughes)
Gbaya: iŋa-mgbara-mɔ or “knowing-about-things” (note that in comparison to that, “knowledge” is translated as iŋa-mɔ or “knowing things”) (source: Philip Noss in The Bible Translator 2001, p. 114ff. )
Chichewa: nzeru, meaning both “knowledge” and “wisdom” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated as “sin” in English has a wide variety of translations.
The Greek ἁμαρτάνω (hamartanō) carries the original verbatim meaning of “miss the mark” and likewise, many translations contain the “connotation of moral responsibility.”
Loma: “leaving the road” (which “implies a definite standard, the transgression of which is sin”)
Navajo (Dinė): “that which is off to the side” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
Toraja-Sa’dan: kasalan, originally meaning “transgression of a religious or moral rule” and in the context of the Bible “transgression of God’s commandments” (source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 21ff. )
Bariai: “bad behavior” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
Sandawe: “miss the mark” (like the original meaning of the Greek term) (source for this and above: Ursula Wiesemann in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 36ff., 43)
In Shipibo-Conibo the term is hocha. Nida (1952, p. 149) tells the story of its choosing: “In some instances a native expression for sin includes many connotations, and its full meaning must be completely understood before one ever attempts to use it. This was true, for example, of the term hocha first proposed by Shipibo-Conibo natives as an equivalent for ‘sin.’ The term seemed quite all right until one day the translator heard a girl say after having broken a little pottery jar that she was guilty of ‘hocha.’ Breaking such a little jar scarcely seemed to be sin. However, the Shipibos insisted that hocha was really sin, and they explained more fully the meaning of the word. It could be used of breaking a jar, but only if the jar belonged to someone else. Hocha was nothing more nor less than destroying the possessions of another, but the meaning did not stop with purely material possessions. In their belief God owns the world and all that is in it. Anyone who destroys the work and plan of God is guilty of hocha. Hence the murderer is of all men most guilty of hocha, for he has destroyed God’s most important possession in the world, namely, man. Any destructive and malevolent spirit is hocha, for it is antagonistic and harmful to God’s creation. Rather than being a feeble word for some accidental event, this word for sin turned out to be exceedingly rich in meaning and laid a foundation for the full presentation of the redemptive act of God.”
Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators for the DanishBibelen 2020, comments on the translation of this term: “We would explain terms, such that e.g. sin often became ‘doing what God does not want’ or ‘breaking God’s law’, ‘letting God down’, ‘disrespecting God’, ‘doing evil’, ‘acting stupidly’, ‘becoming guilty’. Now why couldn’t we just use the word sin? Well, sin in contemporary Danish, outside of the church, is mostly used about things such as delicious but unhealthy foods. Exquisite cakes and chocolates are what a sin is today.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ecclesiastes 9:18:
Kupsabiny: “Wisdom beats/is better than weapons of war, but one sinner can overthrow every good thing.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner will destroy much good work.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Wisdom is better than weapons in war. But one sinner can-destroy much goodness/good.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Being wise is more useful than a lot of weapons; but if you do one foolish thing, it is possible that because of doing that, you will ruin all the good things that you have done.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
This “better” saying is much briefer than that of verse 17, though it is similar to verse 16a. On Wisdom see verse 16; it includes all that the sages taught. When Qoheleth says that Wisdom is better than weapons of war, he means that it is more powerful or more useful. Weapons of war, or “instruments of war,” were much more basic than those of modern times, though effective for attack and defense. The noun weapons requires the qualification that they are used for military purposes, not just for self-defense. In some cases this line will have to be expanded: “being wise” can substitute for Wisdom, “makes a person more powerful” can replace better, and so on.
Suggested translations are:
• Wisdom is more powerful than any kind of weapon.
• Wisdom is the most powerful weapon.
• If a person is wise, that person is more powerful than someone with weapons for fighting.
But one sinner destroys much good adds something to what Qoheleth said in the first part of the verse, a feature we noted in verse 16. Its function is to present another truth which balances that of the first half. Thus the contrastive conjunction but is used. The statement weighs one sinner with much good and finds that the sinner is heavier. Of course this is not true all the time, but it is true quite often and so is another principle that has to be taken into account. Throughout wisdom writing sinner is equivalent to “fool,” and good is the equal of “wise.” In drawing attention to these two types of people, Qoheleth is actually comparing their behavior, not just themselves as people. The contrast between the words one and the much is a further feature of the expression, indicating that even a small amount of wrong can cancel out much good. The destructive power of the one foolish act is conveyed by a special form of the verb “to perish.” In this context the verb form takes on a causative meaning, “destroy.” The destructive nature of a little sinning can be rendered by a strong verbal expression such as “destroy completely,” or “completely wipe out.”
For translation the entire verse can read:
• Wisdom is more powerful than weapons of war, but [even] one foolish act can destroy [the achievements of] many good deeds.
• Being wise makes one more powerful than someone with weapons, but [even] one fool can destroy much of the good that a person can do.
The two principles found in these “better” sayings introduce 10.1-20 by identifying its twin themes. The wise person has a powerful weapon, his wisdom, but there is always the possibility that one foolish act can spoil much of the good achieved. So Qoheleth calls the wise to be vigilant, and to ensure that they do not commit even the smallest of indiscretions.
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Zogbo, Lynell. A Handbook on the Book of Ecclesiates. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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