covenant

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The Hebrew, Greek, and Latin that are translated as “covenant” in English are translated in a variety of ways. Here are some (back-) translations:

  • Mossi: “helping promise”
  • Vai: “a thing-time-bind” (i.e. “an arrangement agreed upon for a period of time”)
  • Loma (Liberia): “agreement”
  • Northwestern Dinka: “agreement which is tied up” (i.e. “secure and binding”)
  • Chol: “a word which is left”
  • Huastec: “a broken-off word” (“based on the concept of ‘breaking off a word’ and leaving it with the person with whom an agreement has been reached”)
  • Tetelcingo Nahuatl: “a death command” (i.e. “a special term for testament”)
  • Piro: “a promised word”
  • Eastern Krahn: “a word between”
  • Yaka: “promise that brings together” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Nabak: alakŋaŋ or “tying the knot” (source: Fabian 2013, p. 156)
  • Kâte: ʒâʒâfic or “tie together” (source: Renck 1990, p. 108)
  • Nyamwezi: ilagano: “agreement, contract, covenant, promise” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Bariai: “true talk” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Q’anjob’al: “put mouths equal” (representing agreement) (source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. )
  • Manikion, Indonesian: “God’s promise” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • Natügu: nzesz’tikr drtwr: “oneness of mind” (source: Brenda Boerger in Beerle-Moor / Voinov, p. 164)
  • Tagalog: tipan: mutual promising on the part of two persons agreeing to do something (also has a romantic touch and denotes something secretive) (source: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
  • Tagbanwa: “initiated-agreement” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Guhu-Samane: “The concept [in Mark 14:24 and Matthew 16:28] is not easy, but the ritual freeing of a fruit and nut preserve does afford some reference. Thus, ‘As they were drinking he said to them, ‘On behalf of many this poro provision [poro is the traditional religion] of my blood is released.’ (…) God is here seen as the great benefactor and man the grateful recipient.” (Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. )
  • Chichewa: pangano. This word can also be translated as a contract, agreement, or a treaty between two parties. In Chewa culture, two people or groups enter into an agreement to help each other in times of need. When entering into an agreement, parties look at the mutual benefits which will be gained. The agreement terms are mostly kept as a secret between the parties and the witnesses involved. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Law (2013, p. 95) writes about how the Ancient Greek Septuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew berith was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments (click or tap here to read more):

“Right from the start we witness the influence of the Septuagint on the earliest expressions of the Christian faith. In the New Testament, Jesus speaks of his blood being a kaine diatheke, a ‘new covenant.’ The covenant is elucidated in Hebrews 8:8-12 and other texts, but it was preserved in the words of Jesus with this language in Luke 22:20 when at the Last Supper Jesus said, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Jesus’s blood was to provide the grounds for the ‘new covenant,’ in contrast to the old one his disciples knew from the Jewish scriptures (e.g., Jeremiah 31:31-34). Thus, the earliest Christians accepted the Jewish Scriptures as prophecies about Jesus and in time began to call the collection the ‘Old Testament’ and the writings about Jesus and early Christianity the ‘New Testament,’ since ‘testament’ was another word for ‘covenant.’ The covenant promises of God (berith in Hebrew) were translated in the Septuagint with the word diatheke. In classical Greek diatheke had meant ‘last will, testament,’ but in the Septuagint it is the chosen equivalent for God’s covenant with his people. The author of Hebrews plays on the double meaning, and when Luke records Jesus’ announcement at the Last Supper that his blood was instituting a ‘new covenant,’ or a ‘new testament,’ he is using the language in an explicit contrast with the old covenant, found in the Jewish scriptures. Soon, the writings that would eventually be chosen to make up the texts about the life and teachings of Jesus and the earliest expression of the Christian faith would be called the New Testament. This very distinction between the Old and New Testaments is based on the Septuagint’s language.”

See also establish (covenant) and covenant (book).

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Covenant in the Hebrew Bible .

complete verse (Hebrews 9:17)

Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 9:17:

  • Uma: “If for instance there is an old-person/parent who wants to divide his stuff to his children, he makes ahead-of-time a last-request letter which makes-clear how his stuff is to be divided [lit., makes-clear the dividing of his stuff]. But that last-request letter is not yet used if he is still alive. If/When the last-requester dies, only then can the last-request letter be used. So, there must be a death in order that the last-request letter can be used.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “For that writing has no use/value as long as the owner of the wealth is still living. The writing only gets value when the person has died.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “If that owner of that possessions is still alive, that which was written in the document can not yet take place. However, when he dies, it can finally be carried out.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then the heir will be able to get what was bequeathed to him. Because if the bequeather is still living, it is not possible that those instructions of his will be implemented.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Because it’s clear that it’s like without effectiveness while he is still alive. It only has effectiveness when he is now dead.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But while the person who made the paper lives, the paper does not yet have power. Then when the person has died, then the paper has power.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Hebrews 9:17

Good News Translation reverses the two halves of this verse, putting the negative statement first. This is natural in English, but in some languages it may be better to keep the order of the Greek and Revised Standard Version.

A literal translation of a will means nothing may be misleading. What is important in some languages is a statement to the effect that “a will has no power while the person who made it is alive” or “a will doesn’t cause anything to be given to anybody while the person who wrote the will is still alive.”

The adjective translated goes into effect is used by the writer in various senses. In this legal context it means “valid.” Elsewhere it means “to be relied upon.” It is used in 2.2 of the “word spoken by angels,” in 6.19 of the “secure anchor,” and in 3.14 (and some manuscripts of 3.6) of holding on “firmly” to the confidence which is one aspect of Christian faith. The related verb means “confirm, prove to be true” (2.3) or “make strong” (13.9). A related noun is used in 6.16, in a similar context to 9.17, of an oath “confirming” what someone says. add possible footnote text here It may be better to omit only, which is not expressed in the Greek. This strengthens the positive statement and prepares for verse 18.

It goes into effect only after his death: his is understood; New English Bible has “a testament is operative only after a death.” Another model is “it causes a person’s possessions to be distributed only after that person has died.”

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 .