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 (Exodus 33:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 33:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “Whenever the people saw that cloud at the door of the tent, everyone immediately got/stood up and bowed down and prayed.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “When the people saw the pillar of cloud at the entrance they would worship bowing down outside the entrance of their tent.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “And when the people saw the thick cloud at the door/entrance of the Tent, they would-stand and worshipped the LORD at the entrance of their tents.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “And when the people saw that long cloud descend and stand at the opening of the shelter, they all would arise and then kneel there at the openings of their shelters.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “When the many be watching cloud at door of tent, they arise up, kneeling down at door house their.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “When the people saw the tall cloud at the entrance of the Sacred Tent, they would all prostrate themselves on the ground and worship Yahweh.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 33:10

And when all the people saw … all the people would rise up is literally “And all the people saw … and all the people rose.” But the idea of repeated action continues, so the use of when and would expresses this. Good News Translation has “As soon as the people saw … they would.” New International Version uses “Whenever.” The pillar of cloud standing at the door of the tent uses the same words as verse 9. The tent means “the tent of meeting.”

All the people would rise up and worship is literally “and all the people rose and bowed low.” The words for rise up and worship suggest two opposite positions—standing up and then bowing to the ground. The word for worship, in fact, suggests prostrating oneself on the ground. (See 4.31 and 18.7.) But this should probably not be understood as two separate actions, since the people would already be standing (verse 9). Good News Translation does not repeat would rise up but simply has “As soon as the people saw … they would bow down.” And Revised English Bible has “As soon as the people saw … they would all prostrate themselves.” Every man at his tent door is identical with verse 8.

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .