bear child / give birth

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “bear (a child)” or “give birth to” is translated in Mairasi as “go to the forest,” reflecting the traditional place of childbirth for Mairasi women. (Source: Enggavoter 2004)

In Spanish it is translated as dar a luz, literally “to give to light.” Likewise, in Portuguese (dar à luz) and Italian (dare alla luce). (Source: Mark Terwilliger)

See also in childbirth / travail and birth.

sorrow

The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated in English as “painful” or “sorrow” is translated in Huba as “cut the insides.” David Frank explains: “Huba has just one expression that covers both ‘angry’ and ‘sad.’ They don’t make a distinction in their language. I suppose you could say that the term they use means more generically, ‘strong emotional reaction’ (source: David Frank in this blog post ). Similarly, in Bariai it is “the interior is severed/cut” (source: Bariai Back Translation).

In Noongar it is translated as koort-warra or “heart bad.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)

In Enlhet it is translated as “going aside of the innermost.” “Innermost” or valhoc is a term that is frequently used in Enlhet to describe a large variety of emotions or states of mind (for other examples see here). (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )

See also grieving / sorrowful.

joy

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The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated with “joy” or “gladness” in English is translated with various strategies:

  • Baoulé: “a song in the stomach” (see also peace (inner peace))
  • Bambara: “the spirit is made sweet”
  • Kpelle: “sweet heart”
  • Tzeltal: “the good taste of one’s heart”
  • Uduk: “good to the stomach”
  • Mískito: “the liver is wide open” (“happily letting the pleasures flooding in upon it”) (source for this and above: Nida 1952)
  • Mairasi: “good liver” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Noongar: koort-kwabba-djil or “heart very good” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “refreshed heart” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.).

See also Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling,” happiness / joy, and exceeding joy.

complete verse (John 16:21)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 16:21:

  • Uma: “Your joy, [will be] like the joy that a woman has who is ready to give birth. First she suffers/groans, because that is the way it is at the time to give birth. But when the child is born, she no longer considers her suffering, she is glad because a child is born in the world.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “It’s figure is like a woman giving birth. She is troubled because the time for giving birth has come. But when the child is born (lit. is outside), she does not remember/think of the pain that she experienced because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “When a woman is in labor pains, she endures the pain because she is giving birth. But when the child is born she forgets the pain because the new person here on the earth gives her great joy.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Like a woman whose hardship/suffering is extreme at her giving-birth. But when however the baby is born (lit. comes-out), she has forgotten her hardship, and great is her happiness on-account-of her child.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Isn’t it so that when a pregnant-woman is in advanced labor now, she really is distressed now (lit. her mind/thinking really is no longer very good), because the hour has been reached when her body experiences suffering/hardship? But after she has given birth, it’s like she has already forgotten this suffering of hers. She’s happy again because of the child to which she has given birth.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “A woman, when she is about to give birth, is sad because the time has come for her to suffer. But when the child has been born, then she doesn’t remember the pain she suffered. Because she is happy that a child is born here in the world.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 16:21

This verse is a parable, illustrating what Jesus meant by his remarks in verse 20. The Greek literally has “when the woman,” but the definite article “the” is simply a reflection of Semitic parabolic style. For example, in 12.24 a grain of wheat is literally “the grain of wheat.” In English, however, it is more natural to translate with the indefinite article “a.”

She is sad is literally “she has sadness.”

In some languages there is a problem in choosing a word for sad, since the emotion characteristic of a woman about to give birth would not be described as the same sort of sadness the disciples would presumably experience in contemplating the departure of Jesus. It is important, however, that the same term be used in both contexts; otherwise, the explanation in verse 21 will not seem relevant to what is said in verse 20. The aspect of sadness emphasized here is anxiety about the future, and a woman often experiences this kind of anxiety before giving birth to a child. In some languages the more usual term for sadness focuses upon what has already happened, but in this context it is important to employ a term or phrase which will emphasize anxiety about the future.

The Greek text has “her hour,” which Good News Translation qualifies as her hour of suffering. New English Bible renders “her time” (so also New American Bible and Jerusalem Bible). Jesus uses the ordinary experience of human birth to illustrate what he means, but his language reflects the language of the Old Testament, which speaks of the suffering of the faithful before the day of the Lord in terms of birth pangs. See, for example, Isaiah 26.17; 66.7 and Micah 4.9. Her hour of suffering may be expressed in many languages as “the time when she will suffer” or “the time when she will have great pain.”

She forgets is expressed negatively in Greek as “she no longer remembers.” An appropriate equivalent for she forgets may be “she no longer thinks about” or “thoughts about her suffering no longer come into her mind.”

Since suffering is stated explicitly in the Greek text, it offers a basis for making explicit the meaning of “her hour” in the earlier part of the verse.

Baby renders the Greek word which normally means “man” or “human being”; but in English baby is more appropriate to the context.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .