The Hebrew that is translated into English as forms of “(to not) harden heart” is translated into other languages with their own vivid idioms; for example, Thai uses “black-hearted” (source: Bratcher / Hattoon, p. 272), Pökoot uses makany kwoghïghitu mötöwekwo: “do not let become hard your heads” (source: Gerrit van Steenbergen), Anuak has “make liver strong” (source: Loren Bliese), and The Hebrew that is translated as “divination” or similar in English is translated in Elhomwe has “dried heart” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext).
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated colloquially as wie vernagelt or “obtuse” (in Mark 6:52 and 8:17).
While Moba has a rich metaphorical library using the concept of “heart” (pal) it follows very different paradigms compared to Greek, Hebrew and English concepts. The parallel expression of “hardened heart” means “courageous” or “encouraged” (see hearts burning) so in the 2008 Moba Yendu Kadapaaonn translation various constructs are used to translate “hardness of heart,” including “not willing to change one’s mind” (in Mark 3:5) or “make temptation into the heart” (John 12:40). (Source: Bedouma Joseph Kobaike in Le Sycomore 17/1, 2024, p. 3ff. )
The Hebrew that is translated as “hail” in English is translated in Tagakaulo as batu na ayis or “rocks of ice.” (Source: Scott and Becky Burton in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 73)
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. )
The term that is used for monarchs in ancient Egypt and is transliterated as “Pharaoh” in English is translated in Finnish Sign Language with the sign signifying the “fake metal beard (postiche)” that was word by Pharaohs during official functions. (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 9:34:
Kupsabiny: “When the ruler saw that the hailstone rain and the thunder had stopped/passed, he sinned again. That ruler and his people hardened their heads/hearts that they did not allow the people of Israel to go as/like God had told Moses.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “But when Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again. He and his officials hardened their hearts.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “When- the king -saw that the rain, the ice, and the thunder had- now -stopped, he sinned again. He and his officials hardened their hearts.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Bariai: “But the great chief of the Isip people saw that the hard raindrops and sky’s thundering was finished, and so he together with his [subordinate] leaders were unwavering and refused to listen and so they did badly again.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Opo: “When king of Egypt saw it that thunder and falling of hail stopped, and rain (n) let up, he again sinned, was with hard heartedness. And chiefs of his servants did it like that.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
English: “But when the king saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had stopped, he sinned again. He and his officials continued to be stubborn.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
But when Pharaoh saw is literally “And Pharaoh saw,” but most translations introduce when to emphasize he sinned yet again as the main verb phrase. Had ceased introduces the English pluperfect along with the relative when clause. The repeated reference to the rain and the hail and the thunder is natural in Hebrew narrative, but it may be condensed as in Good News Translation, “When the king saw what had happened.” Contemporary English Version has “When the king realized that the storm was over.”
He sinned yet again is literally “and he added to sinning.” And hardened his heart uses the verb meaning “to make heavy” (see the discussion at 4.21.) Note that here it is the king who causes his heart to become hard. He and his servants refers to the act of hardening the heart, not necessarily to the sinning. New International Version expresses it more naturally: “He and his officials hardened their hearts.”
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 .
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