Language-specific Insights

double-minded

The Hebrew that is rendered in English translations as “double-minded” or “vain thoughts” is translated into Yao (ChiYao) as ŵandu ŵa unakunaku: “people of double-double.”

See also double-minded.

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.

gnash teeth, grind teeth

The Greek that is translated into English as “gnashed their teeth” or “ground their teeth” is translated in Pwo Karen as “their eyes were green/blue with anger” (source: David Clark), in Yao as “they had itchy teeth” (“meaning they very anxious to destroy him”) (source: Nida / Reyburn, p. 56), in Estado de México Otomi as “gnashed their teeth at him to show anger” (to specify their emotion) (source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2ff.), in Coatlán Mixe as “ground their teeth in anger like wild hogs,” and in Rincón Zapotec as “showed their teeth (like a dog) because of their anger” (source for this and before: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.).

In Coatlán Mixe it is translated as “ground their teeth (in anger) like wild hogs,” in Rincón Zapotec as “showed their teeth (like a dog)” (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), and in Gullah as suck dey teet or “suck their teeth.” (Source: David Frank)

In the the widely-used Mandarin Chinese Union Version it is translated with an existing Chinese proverb: yǎoyá qièchǐ (咬牙切齿 / 咬牙切齒) or “gnash teeth, grind teeth.” (Source: Zetzsche)

See also gnashing of teeth and contempt / scorn / ridicule / abuse.

foolish people

The Greek that is translated as “(you) foolish people” or “(you) foolish ones” is (back-) translated in a number of ways:

  • Ekari: “thought not (having) people”
  • Kituba, Sinhala, Marathi, Javanese: “people without sense/understanding/intelligence”
  • San Blas Kuna: “people having a dark liver” (“incapable of intelligent, thoughtful behavior”) (See Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling.”)
  • Batak Toba: “those short-of-mind” (“mostly referring to stupidity or ignorance in general”)
  • Zarma: a word indicating a person who refuses to use the intelligence he has
  • Chichewa, Yao: expressions implying intractability and willful opposition to common interests or commonly accepted ideas (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Mairasi: “(you are) beeswax” (source: Enggavoter 2004)

See also insane / fool.

came to himself, came to his senses

The Greek that is translated as “he came to himself” or “he came to his senses” is (back-) translated in a number of ways:

  • Sranan Tongo: “he came to get himself”
  • Tzeltal: “his heart arrived”
  • Thai (translation of 1967): “he sensed himself” (implying realization that he had done wrong)
  • Kekchí: “it fell into his heart”
  • Tagalog: “his self came back”
  • Yaka, Chuukese, Pohnpeian: “he came to wisdom (or: became wise)”
  • Kituba: “he understood himself”
  • Uab Meto: “his heart came to life again”
  • Kaqchikel: “he came out of his stupor”
  • Lomwe, Yao: “he was turned, or, aroused (as from sleep), in his heart”
  • Javanese: “he became-aware of his own condition”
  • Kele: “he thought again about his affair” (source for all above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Mairasi: “his own liver’s sky split” (In Mairasi, the liver is the seat of emotions) (source: Enggavoter 2004)

fine leather

The Hebrew that is translated as “fine leather” or “badger/porpoise skin” in English is translated in Kutu as ng’hwembe ya mhala or “skins of bushbuck” (for bushbuck, see here ). (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In Yao, it is translated as “soft leather of a big sea animal.” (Source: UBS, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

The English Jewish Orthodox ArtScroll Tanakh translation (publ. 2011) transliterates it as tachash-hide. (Source: Zetzsche)

See also fine leather.