The Hebrew, Greek, and Latin that is translated as “soul” in English is translated in Chol with a term that refers to the invisible aspects of human beings (source: Robert Bascom).
The Mandarin Chineselínghún (靈魂 / 灵魂), literally “spirit-soul,” is often used for “soul” (along with xīn [心] or “heart”). This is a term that was adopted from Buddhist sources into early Catholic writings and later also by Protestant translators. (Source: Zetzsche 1996, p. 32, see also Clara Ho-yan Chan in this article )
Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 10:38:
Uma: “The people who are straight in my sight, they will get good life because of their faith. But if there are those who retreat, I will not like them.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “My people are straight people, and their trust in me will cause them to live forever. But if some of them turn-their-back-on/reject me, I will really not be pleased with them.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And as for those followers of mine who have become righteous because of their faith in Me, I will give them life forever. However, if there is any one of them who departs because of fear, I will be very disgusted with him,’ He said.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “My righteous people, their lives are based on their faith, but if someone turns-back/gives-up, I will not be pleased with him.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But that person of mine whom I am regarding as righteous/straight, what dominates his mind/inner-being is, his believing/obeying and trust in me. But if he drops/gives-up, it’s certain that I will no longer be pleased with him.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “The person who has been cleared of his sin will save his soul because he believed in me. But the person who separates from my word is one upon whom I do not look well.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
The Greek, Hebrew, and Latin terms that are translated in English mostly as “righteous” as an adjective or personified noun or “righteousness” (also as “justice”) are most commonly expressed with concept of “straightness,” though this may be expressed in a number of ways. (Click or tap here to see the details)
Following is a list of (back-) translations of various languages:
Paasaal: “white heart” (source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
Nuer: “way of right” (“there is a complex concept of “right” vs. ‘left’ in Nuer where ‘right’ indicates that which is masculine, strong, good, and moral, and ‘left’ denotes what is feminine, weak, and sinful (a strictly masculine viewpoint!) The ‘way of right’ is therefore righteousness, but of course women may also attain this way, for the opposition is more classificatory than descriptive.”) (This and all above from Bratcher / Nida except for Bilua: Carl Gross; Tiv: Rob Koops; Muna: René van den Berg)
Yatzachi Zapotec: “walk straight” (source for this and four previous: John Beekman in Notes on Translation November 1964, p. 1-22)
Aari: The Pauline word for “righteous” is generally rendered by “makes one without sin” in the Aari, sometimes “before God” is added for clarity. (Source: Loren Bliese)
Ekari: maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (the same word that is also used for “truth“; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).
Guhu-Samane: pobi or “right” (also: “right (side),” “(legal) right,” “straightness,” “correction,” “south,” “possession,” “pertinence,” “kingdom,” “fame,” “information,” or “speech” — “According to [Guhu-Samane] thinking there is a common core of meaning among all these glosses. Even from an English point of view the first five can be seen to be closely related, simply because of their similarity in English. However, from that point the nuances of meaning are not so apparent. They relate in some such a fashion as this: As one faces the morning sun, south lies to the right hand (as north lies to the left); then at one’s right hand are his possessions and whatever pertains to him; thus, a rich man’s many possessions and scope of power and influence is his kingdom; so, the rich and other important people encounter fame; and all of this spreads as information and forms most of the framework of the people’s speech.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in Notes on Translation 1964, p. 11ff.)
Translations of the Greek pistis and its various forms that are typically translated as “faith” in English (itself deriving from Latin “fides,” meaning “trust, faith, confidence, reliance, credence”) and “believe” (from Old English belyfan: “to have faith or confidence in a person”) cover a wide range of approaches.
Bratcher and Nida say this (1961, p. 38) (click or tap here to read more):
“Since belief or faith is so essentially an intimate psychological experience, it is not strange that so many terms denoting faith should be highly figurative and represent an almost unlimited range of emotional ‘centers’ and descriptions of relationships, e.g. ‘steadfast his heart’ (Chol), ‘to arrive on the inside’ (Chicahuaxtla Triqui), ‘to conform with the heart’ (Uab Meto), ‘to join the word to the body’ (Uduk), ‘to hear in the insides’ (or ‘to hear within one’s self and not let go’ – Nida 1952) (Laka), ‘to make the mind big for something’ (Sapo), ‘to make the heart straight about’ (Mitla Zapotec), ‘to cause a word to enter the insides’ (Lacandon), ‘to leave one’s heart with’ (Baniwa), ‘to catch in the mind’ (Ngäbere), ‘that which one leans on’ (Vai), ‘to be strong on’ (Shipibo-Conibo), ‘to have no doubts’ (San Blas Kuna), ‘to hear and take into the insides’ (Kare), ‘to accept’ (Pamona).”
Following is a list of (back-) translations from other languages (click or tap here to read more):
Limos Kalinga: manuttuwa. Wiens (2013) explains: “It goes back to the word for ‘truth’ which is ‘tuttuwa.’ When used as a verb this term is commonly used to mean ‘believe’ as well as ‘obey.'”
Ngiemboon: “turn one’s back on someone” (and trusting one won’t be taken advantage of) (source: Stephen Anderson in Holzhausen 1991, p. 42)
Mwera uses the same word for “hope” and “faith”: ngulupai (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Yala: ɔtū che or “place heart” (in John 5:24; 5:45; 6:35; 6:47; 12:36; 14:1); other translations include chɛ̄ or “to agree/accept” and chɛ̄ku or “to agree with/accept with/take side with” (source: Linus Otronyi)
Awabakal: ngurruliko: “to know, to perceive by the ear” (as distinct from knowing by sight or by touch — source: Lake, p. 70) (click or tap here to read more)
“[The missionary translator] Lancelot Threlkeld learned that Awabakal, like many Australian languages, made no distinction between knowing and believing. Of course the distinction only needs to be made where there are rival systems of knowing. The Awabakal language expressed a seamless world. But as the stress on ‘belief’ itself suggests, Christianity has always existed in pluralist settings. Conversion involves deep conviction, not just intellectual assent or understanding. (…) Translating such texts posed a great challenge in Australia. Threlkeld and [his indigenous colleague] Biraban debated the possibilities at length. In the end they opted not to introduce a new term for belief, but to use the Awabakal ngurruliko, meaning ‘to know, to perceive by the ear,’ as distinct from knowing by sight or by touch.”
Language in southern Nigeria: a word based on the idiom “lose feathers.” Randy Groff in Wycliffe Bible Translators 2016, p. 65 explains (click or tap here to read more):
What does losing feathers have to do with faith? [The translator] explained that there is a species of bird in his area that, upon hatching its eggs, loses its feathers. During this molting phase, the mother bird is no longer able to fly away from the nest and look for food for her hungry hatchlings. She has to remain in the nest where she and her babies are completely dependent upon the male bird to bring them food. Without the diligent, dependable work of the male bird, the mother and babies would all die. This scenario was the basis for the word for faith in his language.
Teribe: mär: “pick one thing and one thing only” (source: Andy Keener)
Tiv: na jighjigh: “give trust” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Luba-Katanga: Twi tabilo: “echo” (click or tap here to read more)
“Luba-Katanga word for ‘Faith’ in its New Testament connotation is Twi tabilo. This word means ‘echo,’ and the way in which it came to be adapted to the New Testament meaning gives a very good idea of the way in which the translator goes to work. One day a missionary was on a journey through wild and mountainous country. At midday he called his African porters to halt, and as they lay resting in the shade from the merciless heat of the sun. an African picked up a stone and sent it ricocheting down the mountain-side into the ravine below. After some seconds the hollow silence was broken by a plunging, splashing sound from the depths of the dark river-bed. As the echo died away the African said in a wondering whisper ‘Twi tabilo, listen to it.’ So was a precious word captured for the service of the Gospel in its Luba Christian form. Twi tabilo — ‘faith which is the echo of God’s voice in the depths of human sinful hearts, awakened by God Himself, the answer to his own importunate call.’ The faith that is called into being by the divine initiative, God’s own gift to the responsive heart! (Source: Wilfred Bradnock in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 49ff. )
J.A. van Roy (in The Bible Translator 1972, p. 418ff. ) discusses how a translation of “faith” in a an earlier translation into Venda created difficult perceptions of the concept of faith (click or tap here):
The Venda term u tenda, lutendo. This term corresponds to the terms ho dumela (Southern Sotho), and ku pfumela (Tsonga) that have been used in these translations of the Bible, and means “to assent,” “to agree to a suggestion.” It is important to understand this term in the context of the character of the people who use it.
The way in which the Venda use this term reveals much about the priority of interpersonal relationships among them. They place a much higher priority on responding in the way they think they are expected to respond than on telling the truth. Smooth interpersonal relationships, especially with a dominant individual or group, take precedence over everything else.
It is therefore regarded as bad form to refuse directly when asked for something one does not in fact intend to give. The correct way is to agree, u tenda, and then forget about it or find some excuse for not keeping to the agreement. Thus u tenda does not necessarily convey the information that one means what one says. One can tenda verbally while heartily disagreeing with the statement made or having no intention whatsoever to carry out what one has just promised to do. This is not regarded as dishonesty, but is a matter of politeness.
The term u sokou tenda, “to consent reluctantly,” is often used for expressing the fatalistic attitude of the Venda in the face of misfortune or force which he is unable to resist.
The form lutendo was introduced by missionaries to express “faith.”
According to the rules of derivations and their meanings in the lu-class, it should mean “the habit of readily consenting to everything.” But since it is a coined word which does not have a clearly defined set of meanings in everyday speech, it has acquired in church language a meaning of “steadfastness in the Christian life.” Una lutendo means something like “he is steadfast in the face of persecution.” It is quite clear that the term u tenda has no element of “trust” in it. (…)
In “The Christian Minister” of July 1969 we find the following statement about faith by Albert N. Martin: “We must never forget that one of the great issues which the Reformers brought into focus was that faith was something more than an ‘assensus,’ a mere nodding of the head to the body of truth presented by the church as ‘the faith.’ The Reformers set forth the biblical concept that faith was ‘fiducia.’ They made plain that saving faith involved trust, commitment, a trust and commitment involving the whole man with the truth which was believed and with the Christ who was the focus of that truth. The time has come when we need to spell this out clearly in categorical statements so that people will realize that a mere nodding of assent to the doctrines that they are exposed to is not the essence of saving faith. They need to be brought to the understanding that saving faith involves the commitment of the whole man to the whole Christ, as Prophet, Priest and King as he is set forth in the gospel.”
We quote at length from this article because what Martin says of the current concept of faith in the Church is even to a greater extent true of the Venda Church, and because the terms used for communicating that concept in the Venda Bible cannot be expected to communicate anything more than “a mere nodding of assent”. I have during many years of evangelistic work hardly ever come across a Venda who, when confronted with the gospel, would not say, Ndi khou tenda, “I admit the truth of what you say.” What they really mean when saying this amounts to, “I believe that God exists, and I have no objection to the fact that he exists. I suppose that the rest of what you are talking about is also true.” They would often add, Ndi sa tendi hani-hani? “Just imagine my not believing such an obvious fact!” To the experienced evangelist this is a clear indication that his message is rejected in so far as it has been understood at all! To get a negative answer, one would have to press on for a promise that the “convert” will attend the baptism class and come to church on Sundays, and even then he will most probably just tenda in order to get rid of the evangelist, whether he intends to come or not. Isn’t that what u tenda means? So when an inexperienced and gullible white man ventures out on an evangelistic campaign with great enthusiasm, and with great rejoicing returns with a list of hundreds of names of persons who “believed”, he should not afterwards blame the Venda when only one tenth of those who were supposed to be converts actually turn up for baptismal instruction.
Moreover, it is not surprising at all that one often comes across church members of many years’ standing who do not have any assurance of their salvation or even realise that it is possible to have that assurance. They are vhatendi, “consenters.” They have consented to a new way of life, to abandoning (some of) the old customs. Lutendo means to them at most some steadfastness in that new way of life.
The concept of faith in religion is strange to Africa. It is an essential part of a religion of revelation such as Christianity or Islam, but not of a naturalistic religion such as Venda religion, in which not faith and belief are important, but ritual, and not so much the content of the word as the power of it.
The terms employed in the Venda Bible for this vital Christian concept have done nothing to effect a change in the approach of the Venda to religion.
It is a pity that not only in the Venda translation has this been the case, but in all the other Southern Bantu languages. In the Nguni languages the term ukukholwa, “to believe a fact,” has been used for pisteuo, and ukholo, the deverbative of ukukholwa, for pistis. In some of the older Protestant translations in Zulu, but not in the new translation, the term ithemba, “trust”, has been used.
Some languages, including Santali, have two terms — like English (see above) — to differentiate a noun from a verb form. Biswạs is used for faith, whereas pạtiạu for “believe.” R.M. Macphail (in The Bible Translator 1961, p. 36ff. ) explains this choice: “While there is little difference between the meaning and use of the two in everyday Santali, in which any word may be used as a verb, we felt that in this way we enriched the translation while making a useful distinction, roughly corresponding to that between ‘faith’ and ‘to believe’ in English.”
Likewise, in Noongar, koort-karni or “heart truth” is used for the noun (“faith”) and djinang-karni or “see true” for the verb (“believe”) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
As the scripture says is implied. Some such phrase is necessary, even when this passage is read aloud, to show that it includes a quotation from the Old Testament. The first line of the quotation in Good News Translation comes from Isaiah 26.20, and the rest from Habakkuk 2.3-4, part of which is also quoted in Romans 1.17 and Galatians 3.11. As usual, the writer quotes rather freely from the Septuagint. Often one cannot translate as the scripture says literally, since Scriptures do not “speak.” One can, however, employ an expression such as “as one may read in the Scriptures” or “according to the words of the holy writings.”
Just a little while longer may be expressed as “In a very short time,” “Not long from now,” or even “Soon.”
The keywords, for Hebrews as for Paul, are righteous (see 11.4, 7, 33; 12.11, 23, where this or related Greek words are used) and “faith” (Good News Translationbelieve). The meaning of the text as quoted here must be confused neither with the meaning of the Hebrew and Greek texts of Habakkuk, nor with the meaning which Paul gives to the text. Habakkuk’s message was that in the time of crisis which was coming, anyone who was “righteous,” that is, who did God’s will as expressed in the Law, would survive. For Paul the meaning is very different: those who have the kind of “righteousness,” or “being right with God,” which comes from relying on God through faith in Christ, not from obeying the letter of the Law, will experience what life really is.
The writer of Hebrews emphasizes the future aspect of the text by quoting Habakkuk 2.3, as well as verse 4.
He who is coming will come: the writer emphasizes this clause by adding a definite article. It is literally “the one who is coming.” It may seem odd and repetitious to say this. It may be better, therefore, to render this clause as “the one who is coming will arrive.”
He will not delay may be rendered as “he will not be long in coming.”
The translation of verse 38a is complicated by a textual problem. Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version, and most translations follow the UBS Greek text. Other manuscripts have “the righteous by faith,” sometimes with “in me” added. These texts are influenced by the text of the Septuagint, and possibly by Paul, and are not likely to be correct.
My righteous people is literally “My righteous (one),” grammatically singular, as in most translations except Good News Translation and Bijbel in Gewone Taal. However, any of them later in the sentence shows that the meaning is “anyone who has a right relationship with me,” and Good News Bible brings this out. The writer of Hebrews emphasizes at various points his concern for each one of his readers, but always addresses them as a group; he does not mention individuals by name. Good News Bible means “my righteous nation.” However, the transition from My righteous people (singular) to any of them (plural) and then back to the singular him may be awkward in some languages. If so, it may be best to use plural expressions throughout, since the author is certainly referring to more than one righteous individual.
The emphasis of the expression My righteous people is that these are people who do God’s will. In a sense, therefore, My righteous people implies “My people who do what I want them to do.”
However is literally “but” (Revised Standard Version), and but in the next line is literally “and,” as in Revised Standard Version. The word translated however is less emphatic than “however” in English. The word translated “and” in Revised Standard Version may in some contexts indicate a contrast, like the English but. It is necessary to see where contrasts are indicated or suggested in this passage. The general direction of the argument suggests that there is no contrast between Christ’s coming, and God’s people believing and living; but that there is a contrast between believing and living on the one hand, and turning back on the other hand. So Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “The person who trusts me and remains true to me can stand before me and will live. But the person who loses his courage, I will have nothing to do with him” (similarly Bijbel in Gewone Taal, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente).
It is sometimes necessary to have some complement to a verb such as will believe. The tendency for some translators is to expand will believe to “will believe the Good News.” But the correct interpretation of will believe involves trusting in God, and therefore will believe may be rendered as “will trust me.”
Since and live indicates the result of trusting, it may be possible to render and live as “and so live.”
The Translator’s New Testament note indicates that “faith” is stressed. This is not obvious from the form of the Greek sentence, but it is clear from the wider context (verse 39 and chapter 11). Translator’s New Testament accordingly translates “It is by faith that my righteous one shall live.”
For the writer of Hebrews, though not in Habakkuk, the last part of verse 38 is spoken by God. As a comparison with Revised Standard Version shows, any of them is implied. In English any may be either singular or plural, and the last part of this verse may very well be rendered as “if any turn back, I will not be pleased with them.” Certainly the implication is for more than one person being likely to turn back. The Greek verb for turns is singular, but refers to any one of a group of people, so a plural verb is often clearer in translation.
The metaphor of turns back may be related to thinking of the Christian life as “the Way” (see Acts 9.2); or it may mean “draws back” in fear, “shrinks back” (New English Bible), with a meaning similar to the term for “looking back” in Luke 9.62. The meaning “draw back from involvement in the world” has been suggested but does not seem to fit in with the message of the letter as a whole.
In some languages the idea of “turning back” would not be a natural figure of speech to describe giving up one’s faith. “To turn back” may simply be equivalent to “turning around.” Therefore if any of them turns back may be rendered as “if any refuse to follow me further,” “if any give up trusting in me,” or “if any no longer trust me.”
Good News Translation is right to understand the literal “my soul” (Revised Standard Version) as equivalent to I, but the Greek for I will not be pleased with him is the climax of the quotation. The language is similar to that of Luke 2.14b (peace on earth to those with whom he is pleased!). The thought of God being “pleased” with people is closely linked with the idea of his “choosing” them for particular tasks (see 10.6, 8).
Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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