neighbor

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The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “neighbor” in English is rendered into Babatana as “different man,” i.e. someone who is not one of your relatives. (Source: David Clark)

In North Alaskan Inupiatun, it is rendered as “a person outside of your building,” in Tzeltal as “your back and side” (implying position of the dwellings), in Indonesian and in Tae’ as “your fellow-man,” in Toraja-Sa’dan it is “your fellow earth-dweller,” in Shona (translation of 1966) as “another person like you,” in Kekchí “younger-brother-older-brother” (a compound which means all one’s neighbors in a community) (sources: Bratcher / Nida and Reiling / Swellengrebel), in Mairasi “your people” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Mezquital Otomi as “fellow being,” in Tzeltal as “companion,” in Isthmus Zapotec as “another,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “all people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in most modern German translations as Mitmensch or “fellow human being” (lit. “with + human being”).

In Matt 19:19, Matt 22:39, Mark 12:31, Mark 12:33, Luke 10:27, Luke 10:29 it is translated into Ixcatlán Mazatec with a term that refers to a person who is socially/physically near. Ixcatlán Mazatec also has a another term for “neighbor” that means “fellow humans-outsiders” which was not chosen for these passages. (Source: Robert Bascom)

In Noongar it is translated as moorta-boordak or “people nearby” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

witness

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “witness” in English is translated in these ways:

  • “truly have seen” in Highland Popoluca
  • “telling the truth regarding something” in Eastern Highland Otomi
  • “know something” in Lalana Chinantec
  • “verily know something to be the truth” in San Mateo del Mar Huave
  • “we ourselves saw this” in Desano
  • “tell the truth about something” in Eastern Highland Otomi
  • “know something is true because of seeing it” in Teutila Cuicatec (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • “ones who will confirm that these-things that you have seen are true” in Kankanaey (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • “ones who are to testify about these things, because it all happened before your eyes” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Proverbs 24:28-29

This saying is made up of four lines, in which there are three negative commands. The commands are warnings against making false accusations and taking revenge on others. The setting may be a court of law or local tribunal.

“Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause”: The main part of this line is literally “Do not be a witness for nothing,” in which “for nothing” means “when he has given you no reason for. . .”; see the comments on 3.30. Contemporary English Version takes the expression to mean “who isn’t guilty,” but this is not quite the same thing. “Your neighbor”, as in 6.1, means “another person” or “anyone” rather than a person who lives nearby; so Good News Translation correctly says “Do not give evidence against others without good reason.”

“And do not deceive with your lips”: This would seem to say simply “don’t tell lies” (Contemporary English Version “don’t ever tell a lie”). But if the reference is to the same setting as in the previous line, the sense must be something like “and don’t give false [or, misleading] evidence.” So Good News Translation has “[Don’t] say misleading things about them” and Revised English Bible “or misrepresent him in your evidence.” In one translation this is expressed as “Don’t tell lies to deceive the court.”

“Do not say”: This can be understood in two ways; “say” may mean that the person speaks aloud to other people, or it may mean that he says the words to himself. In the second case we could translate “Do not think. . ..” The whole sentence is a warning against taking revenge.

““I will do to him as he has done to me””: Since “him” and “the man” can only refer back to “neighbor” in the first line of the saying, “I will do to him” must refer to the action described there. New Jerusalem Bible renders this clause “I will treat my neighbor as my neighbor treated me.” So this sentence suggests that the person wants to give false evidence against someone else in order to take revenge (“pay the man back”) for a past wrong.

““I will pay the man back for what he has done””: This repeats in other words the thought of the previous clause. The two clauses may be combined; however, this second clause (literally “I will give back to the man according to his action”) adds something to the meaning by expressing a view about retaliation which is common in many societies, and translators may wish to render this in the terms that are used in their languages. In English, for example, we may say “I’ll get even. . .” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version) or “I am paying off an old score” (Revised English Bible).

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

complete verse (Proverbs 24:28)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 24:28:

  • Kupsabiny: “Do not falsely accuse your neighbor a word/thing that he has not done or speak while lying.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Don’t give witness
    against your neighbors without cause.
    and don’t tell lies.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “[You (sing.)] do- not -witness against your (sing.) fellowman without any reason, or tell lies about him.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Do not (sing.) accuse your (sing.) fellow if there is no proper reason-for-it, also do not (sing.) speak-bad-about-(him) (lit. cause-to-be-badded).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)