justification, justify

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The Greek that is translated as “justify” in English is translated into Tzotzil in two different ways. One of those is with Lec xij’ilatotic yu’un Dios ta sventa ti ta xc’ot ta o’ntonal ta xch’unel ti Jesucristoe (“we are seen well by God because of our faith in Jesus Christ”) (source: Aeilts, p. 118) and the other is “God sees as righteous” (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.).

Other (back-) translations include:

sin

The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated as “sin” in English has a wide variety of translations.

The Greek ἁμαρτάνω (hamartanō) carries the original verbatim meaning of “miss the mark” and likewise, many translations contain the “connotation of moral responsibility.”

  • Loma: “leaving the road” (which “implies a definite standard, the transgression of which is sin”)
  • Navajo (Dinė): “that which is off to the side” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Toraja-Sa’dan: kasalan, originally meaning “transgression of a religious or moral rule” and in the context of the Bible “transgression of God’s commandments” (source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 21ff. )
  • Kaingang: “break God’s word”
  • Bariai: “bad behavior” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Sandawe: “miss the mark” (like the original meaning of the Greek term) (source for this and above: Ursula Wiesemann in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 36ff., 43)

In Shipibo-Conibo the term is hocha. Nida (1952, p. 149) tells the story of its choosing: “In some instances a native expression for sin includes many connotations, and its full meaning must be completely understood before one ever attempts to use it. This was true, for example, of the term hocha first proposed by Shipibo-Conibo natives as an equivalent for ‘sin.’ The term seemed quite all right until one day the translator heard a girl say after having broken a little pottery jar that she was guilty of ‘hocha.’ Breaking such a little jar scarcely seemed to be sin. However, the Shipibos insisted that hocha was really sin, and they explained more fully the meaning of the word. It could be used of breaking a jar, but only if the jar belonged to someone else. Hocha was nothing more nor less than destroying the possessions of another, but the meaning did not stop with purely material possessions. In their belief God owns the world and all that is in it. Anyone who destroys the work and plan of God is guilty of hocha. Hence the murderer is of all men most guilty of hocha, for he has destroyed God’s most important possession in the world, namely, man. Any destructive and malevolent spirit is hocha, for it is antagonistic and harmful to God’s creation. Rather than being a feeble word for some accidental event, this word for sin turned out to be exceedingly rich in meaning and laid a foundation for the full presentation of the redemptive act of God.”

In Warao it is translated as “bad obojona.” Obojona 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.

Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators for the Danish Bibelen 2020, comments on the translation of this term: “We would explain terms, such that e.g. sin often became ‘doing what God does not want’ or ‘breaking God’s law’, ‘letting God down’, ‘disrespecting God’, ‘doing evil’, ‘acting stupidly’, ‘becoming guilty’. Now why couldn’t we just use the word sin? Well, sin in contemporary Danish, outside of the church, is mostly used about things such as delicious but unhealthy foods. Exquisite cakes and chocolates are what a sin is today.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )

See also sinner.

complete verse (Romans 6:7)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 6:7:

  • Uma: “For if for example a person dies, he is released from the power of sin.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “For if a person is already dead, he can no longer be ruled over by sin.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For anyone who’s already dead, he is no longer regarded as a transgressor.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because if a person dies, he is set-free from the power of sin.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Because the person who makes the judgment that his body has died has now separated from sin.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Romans 6:7

The verb is set free from is literally “is justified”; however, all modern translations understand the word in this context to have the same meaning that the Good News Translation gives it (see also Acts 13.38).

From the power of sin is literally “from sin.” Paul’s thesis is that death releases man from all responsibilities and obligations, and by the phrase “from sin” he makes one application of this general principle. In this light Paul apparently means that when a man dies, sin no longer exercises control over his life. To assume, with the Jerusalem Bible, that this means “he has finished with sin” because he has lost his “sinful body” is to assume that for Paul the body is something innately sinful, a thought that would be totally contradictory to his Jewish background. On the other hand, Paul does not seem to be arguing that “a dead man is no longer answerable for his sin” (New English Bible); this does not fit in with the overall logic of Paul’s argument within this context. Paul’s intent is to point out that when the believer dies with Christ, sin no longer exercises control over his life.

He is set free from the power of sin may be rendered as “sin no longer controls him” or “sin no longer commands him.” One may express both the freedom and the control by saying: “he is now free, and sin does not control him.” In all such passages which speak of a universal experience, it may be necessary to use a plural and to make the time general—for example, “for whenever people die they are set free and sin cannot control them.”

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 .