harden

The Greek that is translated as “to harden” or similar in English is translated in Mwera as “to become stubborn.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

See also harden heart and hardness of heart..

every day

The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is translated as “every day” in English is translated in Chichewa as “day and day.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

sin

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. )
  • Kaingang: “break God’s word”
  • 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.”

In Warao it is translated as “bad obojona.” Obojona is a term that “includes the concepts of consciousness, will, attitude, attention and a few other miscellaneous notions.” (Source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. ). See other occurrences of Obojona in the Warao New Testament.

Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators for the Danish Bibelen 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. )

See also sinner.

complete verse (Hebrews 3:13)

Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 3:13:

  • Uma: “Rather, strengthen each others’ heart every day, so that none of you will be deceived by sin to the point that your hearts become hard. Strengthen each others’ hearts while you are still living in the time that is called "today"–its meaning, while you still have opportunity.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “This is what you should do so that none of you will be deceived by sin and so that your livers will not finally become hard, you should reciprocally-encourage your livers every day as long as the day which is called ‘This Day,’ has not yet come to an end.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And now while the salvation which God gives us is still available, we (incl.) must advise (encourage) each other so that we might not be deceived because of the sin which is not believing, and so that our breaths might not become hard (we might not become stubborn).” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “What you should do daily until our days are used-up is to admonish-one-another so that there is none of you who is deceived by sin which is the means-by-which-your minds -become-hardened.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well now, since the way/trail of salvation is still open, what is good for you to do is, every day strengthen one another’s believing/obeying and trust, so that nobody will be deceived by sin which will be the beginning of your heads becoming hard.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “While God is still calling us, every day strengthen each other. Let it not be that your hearts be deceived that you do the sin of rejecting the word God speaks.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Hebrews 3:13

The word translated Instead or “But” (Revised Standard Version) may also mean “What is more.” The problem for the translator is to decide which meaning suits the context better. If the more common meaning Instead is chosen, this will emphasize the contrast between turn away from the living God and help one another. It may be helpful to use some such introductory clause as “You shouldn’t do that but you should do this” or “Rather than turning away from God, you should….”

However, in the somewhat wider context the alternative meaning “What is more” perhaps makes better sense. The two main imperatives of verses 12 and 13 are be careful and help (or “encourage”). The writer is advising negative action in verse 12 and positive action in verse 13, but both are directed to the same end. This meaning may be brought out by some such expression as “Indeed, in order that none of you be deceived by sin and become stubborn, you must do more….”

None, like no one in the previous verse, means “no individual within the Christian community.”

On stubborn, see discussion on Heb. 3.8. The close relation between deceived by sin and stubborn may be made clear by some such translation as “in order that no one among you be made stubborn by the deceit of sin.”

Help in this context is a common language equivalent for “encourage,” though practical help is not excluded from the meaning here. There is a play on words in the Greek between the word translated help and the word for “called” (Revised Standard Version), but this has no importance for the meaning and should not influence the translation.

One another is literally “yourselves,” and some older commentators have thought that this emphasized the unity existing between members of the church; but this is rather speculative, and virtually all translations have one another.

As long as the word “Today” in the scripture applies to us states clearly, and more concisely than some modern translations, the most likely sense of a rather concentrated expression. It was common to refer to biblical passages by keywords, as in Mark 12.26, the bush, meaning “the passage about the burning bush.” Here the writer probably means “as long as we hear the word ‘Today’ spoken in its context in Psalm 95.” The psalm was probably used in Christian worship, as it is now. This interpretation is more likely than such translations as Knox “while the word To-day still has a meaning” and Jerusalem Bible “as long as this ‘today’ lasts.” The expression applies to us may be rendered as “refers to us,” “includes us,” or “is speaking to us.”

In some languages the purpose clause in order that none of you be deceived by sin and become stubborn must be shifted in order, so as to follow the main clause. If this is done, some adjustment needs to be introduced at the beginning of verse 14 in order to make the causal relationship clear.

In some languages it may be difficult to speak of “being deceived by sin.” The closest equivalent may be “become deceived by the sins that you commit” or “you sin and thus believe a lie.” And become stubborn may be rendered as “and thus become stubborn” in the sense of “and thus refuse to obey God.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Hebrews 3:13

3:13a

But: The word But introduces what believers should do in contrast to what the author warned believers not to do in 3:12. Instead of turning away from God and not believing him, they must encourage each other every day to keep away from sin and unbelief. Some other ways to translate this connection are:

Instead (Good News Translation)
-or-
Rather (Revised English Bible)

In some languages no conjunction is needed. For example:

You must warn each other (New Living Translation (2004))

exhort one another daily: This clause tells what believers should do (in contrast to refusing to trust the Lord in 3:12). Believers should encourage each other to continue to trust in God. The Greek verb which the Berean Standard Bible translates as exhort occurs frequently in the NT.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

Encourage each other every day (God’s Word)
-or-
Every day strengthen/advise each other

In some languages it may not be natural to use a word like “encourage” or exhort when telling people what they should not do. If that is true in your language, use a word that is natural for this context. For example:

You must warn each other every day (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
What you should do daily until our days are used up is to admonish one another

3:13b

as long as it is called today: The clause as long as it is called today is a figure of speech. It refers to this present time period while people still have the opportunity to hear God’s voice and obey him, as the quotation of the psalm in 3:7b said (“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts”). When the time ends and they have not obeyed him, God will punish them, as he punished the Israelites who disobeyed him.

This special meaning of the word today is discussed more fully in chapter 4.

Some other ways to translate 3:13b are:

While you are still living in the time that is called “today”
-or-
while you have the opportunity (God’s Word)

3:13c

so that: The conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as so that introduces the purpose for encouraging one another (3:13a). The purpose of encouraging one another is so that sin will not harden any of the readers.

none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness: This clause refers back to the quotation in 3:7–11. It is similar to the phrase “Do not harden your hearts” in 3:8a. Here the warning is even more explicit. It indicates that if the people continue to sin, the sin will deceive them and they will not be able to know the truth. The phrase may be hardened indicates that they may become stubborn and refuse to listen to God (as the Israelites did in the wilderness).

Some other ways to translate this purpose clause are:

If you do this, none of you will be deceived by sin and become stubborn. (God’s Word)
-or-
so that none of you will be deceived by sin to the point that your hearts cannot understand/obey what God says

you: The pronoun you is plural and refers to all the readers and hearers of Hebrews.

be hardened: The phrase be hardened is a figure of speech. It refers to becoming stubborn and refusing to listen to God. In some languages there may be a figure of speech to describe this. For example:

make your minds numb/insensitive
-or-
so that our breaths might not become hard

sin’s deceitfulness: The phrase sin’s deceitfulness is figurative. It means “sin that deceives.” It indicates that when a person sins (especially when he continues to sin for some time), the sins cause him to be unable to understand the truth. He believes what is not true. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

your sinning causes you to believe lies
-or-
you sin and become deceived/confused

© 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.