The Hebrew that is translated in English as “a piece of wood” or similar is translated in Bura-Pabir as udzim laga or “a certain stick” and in the Hausa Common Language Ajami Bible as wani itace or “a certain tree.” Andy Warren-Rothlin explains the Hausa trannslation: “This is doubtless a right interpretation of this as referring to a particular medicinal plant, not just a random tree, as is suggested by some English translations.”
Language-specific Insights
supply cities
The Hebrew that is translated as “supply cities” or similar in English is translated in Bura-Pabir as diyayeri ar pwi susəma or “villages of putting food.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
our body
The Hebrew that is translated as “(he is) our body” in English is translated in Bura-Pabir with the existing idiom as “(he is) our blood.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
steadfast love
The Hebrew that is translated as “steadfast love,” “lovingkindness” or similar in English is translated in Vidunda as “love of enduring.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
In Bura-Pabir it is translated as hyirkur na a palidzi wa or “love which cannot be-changed” and in the Hausa Common Language Ajami Bible as kaunarsa marar canjawa or “his love without changing.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
In Pijin tinghevi long or “think heavy about” is used. “The Pijin expression ‘think heavy about’ is very much within the domain of committed relationships. The relationship between father and child, husband and wife, God and His people. There is a very strong element of ‘loyalty’ in this expression.” (Source: Bob Carter)
toward the Negeb
The Hebrew that is translated as “toward the Negeb” or similar in English is translated in Bura-Pabir as “toward the south.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
in you . . . shall be blessed
The Hebrew that is translated as “in you (all the families of the earth) shall be blessed” or similar in English is translated in Bura-Pabir as “(all the families of the earth) will bless themselves with your name.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
cherub
Some key biblical terms that were directly transliterated from the Hebrew have ended up with unforeseen meanings in the lexicons of various recipient languages.
Take, for example, the English word “cherub,” from Hebrew “kĕrȗb.” Whereas the original Hebrew term meant something like “angelic being that is represented as part human, part animal” (…), the English word now means something like “a person, especially a child, with an innocent or chubby face.” Semantic shift has been conditioned in English by the Renaissance artistic tradition that portrayed cherubim in the guise of cute little Greek cupids. This development was of course impossible to foresee at the time when the first English translations borrowed this Hebrew word into the English Bible tradition, following the pattern of borrowing set by the Greek and Latin translations of the Old Testament.
In Russian, the semantic shift of this transliteration was somewhat different: the -îm ending of “kĕrūbîm,” originally signifying plurality in Hebrew, has been reanalyzed as merely the final part of the lexical item, so that the term херувим (kheruvim) in Russian is a singular count noun, not a plural one. (A similar degrammaticalization is seen in English writers who render the Hebrew plural kĕrūbîm as “cherubims.”) Apparently, this degrammaticalization of the Hebrew ending is what led the Russian Synodal translator of Genesis 3:24 to mistakenly render the Hebrew as saying that the Lord God placed a kheruvim (accusative masculine singular in Russian) to the east of the garden of Eden, instead of indicating a plural number of such beings. (Source: Vitaly Voinov in The Bible Translator 2012, p. 17ff.)
In Ngäbere the Hebrew that is translated in English as “cherub” is translated as “heavenly guard” (source: J. Loewen 1980, p. 107), in Nyamwezi as v’amalaika v’akelubi or “Cherubim-Angel” to add clarity, in Vidunda as “winged creature” (source for this and before: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext), and in Bura-Pabir as “good spirit with wings” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
In Northern Pashto it is either translated as “heavenly creature” (Afghan Pashto Bible, publ. 2023) or “winged creature” (Holy Bible in Pakistani [Yousafzai] Pashto, publ. 2020) (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
In French Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines “angel” and “spinning sword” (referring to Genesis 3:24):
“Cherub” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )
See also seraph and ark of the covenant.
whoever sheds the blood of a human - by a human shall that person’s blood be shed
The Hebrew that is translated as “whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person’s blood be shed” or similar in English is translated in Bura-Pabir as “If a man spills his brother’s blood by killing him, then a man will kill him.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)