purple

The Greek and Hebrew hat is translated as “purple” in English is translated as “blue-red” in Ojitlán Chinantec (source: M. Larson in Notes on Translation 1970, p. 1ff.) and in Elhomwe (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext). In Silimo it is translated with a local reference: “the colour of the wipegen berry” (source: Buzz and Myrna Maxey ).

In Kasua was a little bit more involved, as Rachel Greco recalls (in The PNG Experience ):

“The Kasua people of Western Province have no word for the color purple. They have words for many other colors: black, red, white, yellow, green, and blue, but not for the color of royalty.

“About nine New Testament passages mention people placing a purple robe on Jesus. The Kasua translation team always wanted to use the word ‘red,’ or keyalo, to describe the robe. Tommy, one of the translation team helpers, disagreed because this is not historically accurate or signifies the royalty of Jesus.

“One of the main rules of translation is that the team must stick to the historical facts when they translate a passage. If they don’t, then how can the readers trust what they’re reading is true? Other questions about truth could bubble in the reader’s minds about the Scriptures. For this reason, Tommy was not willing to change the word purple. So the team hung up the problem, hoping to revisit it later with more inspiration.

“God did not disappoint.

“Years later, Tommy hiked with some of the men near their village. They saw a tree that possessed bulbous growths growing on the side of it like fruit. These growths were ‘the most beautiful color of purple I’d ever seen,’ explained Tommy.

“’What is the name of this tree?’ Tommy asked the men.

“’This is an Okani tree,’ they replied.

“Tommy suggested, ‘Why don’t you, in those passages where we’ve been struggling to translate the color purple, use ‘they put a robe on Jesus the color of the fruit of the Okani tree’?

“’Yeah. We know exactly what color that is,’ the men said enthusiastically.

“Everyone in their village would also visualize this phrase accurately, as the Okani tree is the only tree in that area that produces this kind of purple growth. So now, among the Kasua people, in his royal purple robe, Jesus is shown to be the king that he is.”

complete verse (Exodus 39:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 39:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “(They) made the pocket/bag worn on the chest to be used for inquiring what God desires. That thing was made from expensive cloth and decorated with threads of gold and other threads which were blue, purple and red. It was made/prepared in a skilled way like the ceremonial cloth.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “They made beautiful breastplate for the Most High Priest. This breastplate also was made as an ephod from gold, blue, purple and red fine linen.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They also made like-pocket(s) on-the breast, and it was-made very good/well. The material/cloth of-this is- also -like the material/cloth of-the special clothing of-the priests: fine linen that has yarn the color of gold, blue, purple and red.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “And when it was done, then a man of artwork made the small cloth for the chest of the man of offerings. He made the decoration for that small cloth of his chest to turn out the same as the trunk-cloth for the man of offerings. He sewed that cloth with needle thread which was red and somewhat red and blue. And he weaved small gol cords/threads onto it also.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “And they make cloth of chest which have pocket as wise people for clothes sewing do it. They made it with gold and thread be good which be purple, and that which red, and that which be green/blue, as they had done cloth of thigh.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “They made the sacred chest pouch. They made it of the same materials as the sacred apron and embroidered it in the same way.” (Source: Translation for Translators)