forgive, forgiveness

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The concept of “forgiveness” is expressed in varied ways through translations. Following is a list of (back-) translations from some languages:

  • Tswa, North Alaskan Inupiatun, Panao Huánuco Quechua: “forget about”
  • Navajo (Dinė): “give back” (based on the idea that sin produces an indebtedness, which only the one who has been sinned against can restore)
  • Huichol, Shipibo-Conibo, Eastern Highland Otomi, Uduk, Tepo Krumen: “erase,” “wipe out,” “blot out”
  • Highland Totonac, Huautla Mazatec: “lose,” “make lacking”
  • Tzeltal: “lose another’s sin out of one’s heart”
  • Lahu, Burmese: “be released,” “be freed”
  • Ayacucho Quechua: “level off”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “cast away”
  • Chol: “pass by”
  • Wayuu: “make pass”
  • Kpelle: “turn one’s back on”
  • Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “cover over” (a figure of speech which is also employed in Hebrew, but which in many languages is not acceptable, because it implies “hiding” or “concealment”)
  • Tabasco Chontal, Huichol: “take away sins”
  • Toraja-Sa’dan, Javanese: “do away with sins”
  • San Blas Kuna: “erase the evil heart” (this and all above: Bratcher / Nida, except Tepo Krumen: Peter Thalmann in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 25f.)
  • Eggon: “withdraw the hand”
  • Mískito: “take a man’s fault out of your heart” (source of this and the one above: Kilgour, p. 80)
  • Western Parbate Kham: “unstring someone” (“hold a grudge” — “have someone strung up in your heart”) (source: Watters, p. 171)
  • Hawai’i Creole English: “let someone go” (source: Jost Zetzsche)
  • Cebuano: “go beyond” (based on saylo)
  • Iloko: “none” or “no more” (based on awan) (source for this and above: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
  • Tzotzil: ch’aybilxa: “it has been lost” (source: Aeilts, p. 118)
  • Suki: biaek eisaemauwa: “make heart soft” (Source L. and E. Twyman in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 91ff. )
  • Warao: “not being concerned with him clean your obonja.” Obonja 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.)
  • Martu Wangka: “throw out badness” (source: Carl Gross)
  • Mairasi: “dismantle wrongs” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Nyulnyul: “have good heart” (source )
  • Kyaka: “burn the jaw bones” — This goes back to the pre-Christian custom of hanging the jaw bones of murdered relatives on ones door frame until the time of revenge. Christians symbolically burned those bones to show forgiveness which in turn became the word for “forgiveness” (source: Eugene Nida, according to this blog )
  • Koonzime: “remove the bad deed-counters” (“The Koonzime lay out the deeds symbolically — usually strips of banana leaf — and rehearse their grievances with the person addressed.”) (Source: Keith and Mary Beavon in Notes on Translation 3/1996, p. 16)
  • Ngbaka: ele: “forgive and forget” (Margaret Hill [in Holzhausen & Ridere 2010, p. 8f.] recalls that originally there were two different words used in Ngbaka, one for God (ɛlɛ) and one for people (mbɔkɔ — excuse something) since it was felt that people might well forgive but, unlike God, can’t forget. See also this lectionary in The Christian Century .
  • Amahuaca: “erase” / “smooth over” (“It was an expression the people used for smoothing over dirt when marks or drawings had been made in it. It meant wiping off dust in which marks had been made, or wiping off writing on the blackboard. To wipe off the slate, to erase, to take completely away — it has a very wide meaning and applies very well to God’s wiping away sins, removing them from the record, taking them away.”) (Source: Robert Russel, quoted in Walls / Bennett 1959, p. 193)
  • Gonja / Dangme: “lend / loan” (in the words of one Dangme scholar: “When you sin and you are forgiven, you forget that you have been forgiven, and continue to sin. But when you see the forgiveness as a debt/loan which you will pay for, you do not continue to sin, else you have more debts to pay” — quoted in Jonathan E.T. Kuwornu-Adjaottor in Ibadan Journal of Religious Studies 17/2 2010, p. 67ff. )
  • Kwere: kulekelela, meaning literally “to allow for.” Derived from the root leka which means “to leave.” In other words, forgiveness is leaving behind the offense in relationship to the person. It is also used in contexts of setting someone free. (Source: Megan Barton)
  • Merina Malagasy: mamela or “leave / let go (of sin / mistakes)” (source: Brigitte Rabarijaona)

See also this devotion on YouVersion .

complete verse (Isaiah 2:9)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 2:9:

  • Kupsabiny: “So everybody will be pulled down.
    Please, do not forgive those people.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Because of that [they] will all be scorned and disgraced.
    Do not forgive them, either, O LORD.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Therefore you (sing.) will-humble each-one of them and put-to-shame. Do- not -forgive them, LORD!” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Japanese benefactives (-naide)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, -naide (ないで) or “do not (for their sake)” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Isaiah 2:9

This verse may begin a new subsection (so New Jerusalem Bible). However, we do not mark a break here, partly because the structure of the entire section (verses 6-22) is not certain. Verses 9-11 seem to form an introductory passage for verses 9-22. They do this by introducing the keywords man, men, humbled, brought low, and “lifted up,” together with the lines “from before the terror of the LORD, and from the glory of his majesty” (verses 10, 19, 21) and “the LORD alone will be exalted in that day” (verses 11, 17).

So renders the most common Hebrew conjunction, which is literally “And.” This conjunction can have many functions, and this is reflected in the variety of ways in which it has been rendered here in the English versions. New Revised Standard Version and Contemporary English Version are similar to Revised Standard Version with “And so.” For these versions the conjunction introduces the result of Israel’s evil behavior. New American Bible and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh have “But.” Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible do not translate the conjunction, but simply begin a new paragraph. These are equally valid options.

Man is humbled: Man renders the generic Hebrew term for human beings. It includes both men and women. New Jerusalem Bible says “Human nature,” while Good News Translation suggests “Everyone,” which may be a good model for many languages. The people in view here are the idol worshipers. Humbled is literally “bowed/bent over.” Is humbled renders the same Hebrew root as “bow down” in the previous verse, so there is a play-on-words. The form of the verb carries a negative sense here: people will be made to fall down and will be humiliated.

And men are brought low is parallel to the previous line. Because of the context the Hebrew noun rendered men is also generic, even though it usually refers to males. The verb brought low is synonymous with “humbled.” Both these verbs are metaphors for a low position and lack of honor and have sarcastic overtones in the context of idol worshipers bending down before their idols.

Translators should try to find two parallel lines that communicate the impact of the prophet’s words. Translators may combine these lines if they cannot find synonymous verbs, but they should keep the contrast with “bow down” (in worship) in verse 8. Bible en français courant uses idiomatic language: “This is why all men will be obliged to bend down and bite the dust.” In the previous verse it has “everyone bends down before idols.”

Forgive them not is literally “do not lift them up” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible, NIV footnote|prj:NIV84.Isa 2.9). The imperative verb here is singular. We need to ask who is the subject of the imperative. Presumably the prophet is speaking, so he is asking Yahweh not to “lift them up.” This is what we find explicitly in Good News Translation. Translators may feel that a direct address to Yahweh is necessary for the meaning to be clear.

Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation understand “lift up” to be an idiom for forgiveness. Maybe this particular way of expressing forgiveness was chosen because of the preceding metaphors about being “low.” However, there seems to be little support in the context for the meaning “forgive.” For this line Contemporary English Version has “Don’t help them!” while Bible en français courant (freely rendered) has “And you, Lord, should definitely not help them stand up!” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh adopts “Oh, do not forgive them!” but has a footnote saying that the Hebrew is unclear. If translators prefer not to take Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation as models for this line, probably Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant, or one of the models given below is the best alternative.

Translation possibilities for this verse are:

• Everyone is humbled, all are brought low.
Do not raise them [again], Yahweh!

• Every person has been humbled, and all are brought low.
Yahweh, do not raise them again!

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .