Language-specific Insights

centerpost

The parallelism between “rock” in 1Pet 2:5 (in the English New Revised Standard Version “like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house”) and verse 8 (in the English New Revised Standard Version “a stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall”) had to be maintained in the Kahua translation. As “posts” are used in house building (see cornerstone) the parallelism was kept with terms for “tree” and “centerpost.”

See also cornerstone.

with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind

The phrase that is translated as “with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” in English versions is rendered in Kahua with a term for belly/chest as the seat of the emotions.

The same phrase is translated into Kuy as “with all your heart-liver”to show the totality of one’s being. (Source: David Clark)

Similar to that, in Laka one must love with the liver, in Western Kanjobal with the “abdomen,” and in Marshallese with the throat.

What is translated as “soul” in English is translated as “life” in Yaka, Chuukese, and in Ixcatlán Mazatec, “that which stands inside of one” in Navajo, and “spirit” in Kele.

The Greek that is translated in English as “strength” is translated in Yao as “animation” and in Chuukese as “ability.”

The Greek that is translated in English as “mind” is translated in Kele as “thinking,” in Chuukese as “thought(s),” and in Marathi as “intelligence.”

The whole phrase is translated in Tboli as “cause it to start from the very beginning of your stomach your loving God, for he is your place of holding.”

In Poqomchi’ (as in many other Mayan languages), the term “heart” covers both “heart” and “mind.”

(Sources: Bratcher / Nida, Reiling / Swellengrebel, and Bob Bascom [Ixcatlán Mazatec and Poqomchi’])

See also implanted / in one’s heart and complete verse (Mark 12:30), and see Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling.”

For a detailed look at the relationships between the Deuteronomy 6:5 quote, its Septuagint translation and the quotations in the synoptic gospels, see Adaptable for Translation: Deuteronomy 6.5 in the Synoptic Gospels and Beyond by Robert Bascom.

implanted, in one's heart

For the phrase that is translated as “implanted (word)” or “(word that he plants) in your hearts” in English versions, Kahua uses a term for belly/chest as the seat of the emotions. (Source: David Clark)

In Owa it is translated as “planted in your soul” (=hearts). (Source: Carl Gross)

See also heart, soul, mind.

minding one's own affairs

The phrase that is translated as “mind your own affairs” is translated in Kahua with an idiom: “don’t interfere with your noses.”

flattery

The term that is rendered as “flattery” in English is translated with a Kahua idiom: “We did not bend our heads to please people (i.e., use flattery).”

selfish ambition

The term rendered “selfish ambition” in many English versions is translated as “they want to make themselves come out on top” in Kahua. (Source: David Clark)

In Tzeltal it is translated “raise themselves before God.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)