hardened / stubborn

The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated in English as “hardened” or “stubborn” is translated in the Hausa Common Language Ajami Bible idiomatically as taurin kai or “tough head.”

Other languages spoken in Nigeria translate similarly: Abua uses oḅom ẹmhu or “strong head,” Bura-Pabir kəra ɓəɓal or “hard head,” Gokana agẹ̀ togó or “hard/strong head,” Igede egbeju-ọngịrị or “hard head,” Dera gɨddɨng koi or “strong head,” Reshe ɾiʃitə ɾigbaŋgba or “strong head,” and Chadian Arabic has raas gawi (رَاسْكُو قَوِي) or “hard head.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

Tagalog translates it as “hardened head.” (Source: Peng Kuo-Wei)

See also stubborn / hardness of heart and hardness of heart.

circumcise heart

The Hebrew that is translated as “Circumcise one’s heart” in English is translated in Kutu as “cleanse one’s heart.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

See also circumcise.

stiff-necked

The now commonly-used English idiom “stiff-necked” (meaning haughtily or arrogantly obstinate) was first coined in 1526 in the English New Testament translation of William Tyndale (in the spelling stife necked). (Source: Crystal 2010, p. 284)

For other idioms in English that were coined by Bible translation, see here.

See also stiff-necked / uncircumcised.

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 10:16

Circumcise … the foreskin of your heart: this figure of speech reflects the rite of circumcision, by which a Jewish male became a member of the chosen race, bound to God by the covenant which God had made with Abraham, of which circumcision was the sign (Gen 17.1-14). To “circumcise … the … heart” is to make your disposition and desire obedient to the terms of the covenant, that is, to obey God’s laws (Jer 4.3-4). The meaning is clarified by what follows, and be no longer stubborn (see 9.6, 13).

In very few languages will this figure of speech mean very much; in fact in some languages such figurative language will be vulgar and offensive. Some translations provide a footnote explaining the figure. It is better to abandon the figure altogether and give the meaning in a straightforward manner, as Good News Translation does with “be obedient to the LORD.” See Bible en français courant “be completely consecrated to the LORD your God.” But Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “Put in your heart the sign of the covenant” (similarly BÍBLIA para todos Edição Comum) is not very clear.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .