adultery

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The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “adultery” in English (here etymologically meaning “to alter”) is typically understood as “marital infidelity.” It is (back-) translated in the following ways:

  • Highland Totonac: “to do something together”
  • Yucateco: “pair-sin”
  • Ngäbere: “robbing another’s half self-possession” (compare “fornication” which is “robbing self-possession,” that is, to rob what belongs to a person)
  • Kaqchikel, Chol: “to act like a dog” (see also licentiousness)
  • Toraja-Sa’dan: “to measure the depth of the river of (another’s) marriage”
  • North Alaskan Inupiatun: “married people using what is not theirs” (compare “fornication” which is “unmarried people using what is not theirs”) (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Purari: “play hands with” or “play eyes with”
  • Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “talk secretly with spouses of our fellows”
  • Isthmus Zapotec: “go in with other people’s spouses”
  • Tzeltal: “practice illicit relationship with women”
  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “live with some one who isn’t your wife”
  • Central Tarahumara: “sleep with a strange partner”
  • Hopi: “tamper with marriage” (source for this and seven above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • German: Ehebrecher or “marriage breaker” / Ehe brechen or “breaking of marriage” (source: Zetzsche)
  • In Falam Chin the term for “adultery” is the phrase for “to share breast” which relates to adultery by either sex. (Source: David Clark)
  • In Ixcatlán Mazatec a specification needs to be made to include both genders. (Source: Robert Bascom)
  • Likewise in Hiligaynon: “commit-adultery-with-a-man or commit-adultery-with-a-woman” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

See also adultery, adulterer, adulteress, and you shall not commit adultery.

idol / idols

The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is translated as “idol(s)” in English is translated in Central Subanen as ledawan or “images.” (Source: Robert Brichoux in OPTAT 1988/2, p. 80ff. )

In German, typically the term Götze is used. Originally this was used as a term of endearment for Gott (“God” — see here ), later for “icon” and “image, likeness.” Luther started to use it in the 16th century in the meaning of “false god, idol.”

Other terms that are used in German include Götzenbild(er) (“image[s] of idols”) or Bildnis (“image” — Protestant) / Kultbild (“cultish image” — Catholic) (used for instance in Exodus 20:4 and Deuteronomy 5:8). The latest revision of the Catholic Einheitsübersetzung (publ. 2016) also uses the neologism Nichtse (“nothings”) in 1 Chron. 16:26 and Psalm 96:5. (Source: Zetzsche)

See also worthless idols.

complete verse (Romans 2:22)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 2:22:

  • Uma: “We say to others not to commit adultery, how about if we commit adultery! We say we don’t worship statues. If that is really the case, why is it that there are those of us who pilfer/quietly-take stuff out of the houses where those statues are put!” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “You command not to commit adultery-fornication but you indeed commit adultery-fornication. To you the images honored (by) people are forbidden/unclean/repulsive but you do not hesitate to go in to rob the prayer-houses where those images are.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “You teach that it is evil to fool around with someone who is not your spouse; however, you fool around with those who are not your spouses! You are really disgusted with images which are worshipped by the people who are not Jews; however, you go inside of the house where those idols are worshipped so that you are able to steal.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “You also say, ‘Don’t commit-adultery.’ But is it indeed-the-case (RQ implying of course not) that you haven’t committed-adultery? Admittedly, you are revolted by idols (lit. imitation gods), but meanwhile you are also entering the temples where they are located to steal what is there.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But if they say that the word is true which they teach to other people, how come then they don’t do according to the word they teach? They say it is wrong for people to steal. Whey then do they themselves steal? They say it is wrong for people to commit adultery, yet they themselves commit adultery. They say they do not approve of idols, yet they themselves steal the money collected at the church.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Romans 2:21 – 2:23

In these verses Paul lists three sins which are also mentioned together in lists compiled by Jewish teachers: theft, adultery, and idolatry. The verbs teach and preach would refer to a context of a teaching and preaching situation, while the verb say should probably be understood as referring to a context of exegesis or interpretation.

In a number of languages the contrast between the four statements You teach … You preach … You say … You detest … and the following questions cannot be treated in the same way as in the Good News Translation. The contrast must be preserved, but this can be done in other ways—for example, “you teach others but you ought to teach yourselves; you preach that people should not steal but you yourselves steal”; etc.

A translation of commit adultery should normally be the most general expression for illicit sex relations. In some languages this becomes quite specific and is often male oriented—for example, “you say, Do not sleep with other men’s wives.”

You detest idols may be translated as “you speak strongly against idols” or “you denounce those who worship idols.” It is possible that in some languages there is no clear connection between the idols and their temples. It may, therefore, be necessary to say “you strongly denounce idols, but you rob buildings in which idols are kept” or “… buildings in which people worship idols.”

The verb rendered rob temples (so most translations) may be taken in a more general sense, “to commit an irreverent act towards a holy place” (Phillips “how honest are you towards the property of heathen temples?”) It is extremely doubtful that this word should be taken with the meaning “to hold back one’s gift from the (Jewish) temple.”

God’s law (v. 23) is literally “law,” but the reference is to the law which God have the Jewish people. The Good News Translation makes this identification explicit (note Jerusalem Bible “the Law”), in order to bring out the evident contrast with the statement that follows: but do you bring shame on God by breaking his law?

Bring shame on God may be rendered as “cause people to have disrespect for God” or “cause people to speak against God.”

In many languages one cannot “break a law.” One may, however, “disregard a law,” “refuse to obey a law,” or even “untie a law.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .