The name that is transliterated as “Abraham” in English is translated in virtually all sign languages, including American Sign Language with the sign signifying “hold back arm” (referring to Genesis 22:12).
In Tira it is transliterated as Abaram. The choice of this, rather than the widely-known “Ibrahim,” as used in the Tira translation of the Qu’ran, was to offset it against the Muslim transliteration which originates from Arabic. (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
Click or tap here to see two short video clips about Abraham (source: Bible Lands 2012)
The Greek terms that are translated as “patient” or “patience” are translated in a variety of ways.
Eugene Nida (1952, p. 130) gives some examples:
“Peace is the quality of the soul; patience is the behavior of the soul. The Aymara of Bolivia have described patience well by the phrase ‘a waiting heart.’
“The Ngäbere of Panama describe patience in more vivid terms. They say that it is ‘chasing down your temper.’ The impatient person lets his temper run away with him. Patience requires one to “chase down his temper” and get it under control [see also Mairasi down below].
“The Yucateco describe patience as ‘strength not to fall.’ This seems to include almost more than patience, but it is important to note that this Yucateco translation recognizes that impatience means ‘falling.’ For some of us, who tend to take a certain secret pride in our impatience—describing it as energetic drive—it might be well to recognize that impatience is failure, while patience is strength.
“The San Blas Kuna in Panama use a rather strange phrase to depict patience. They say ‘not caring what happens.’ But this is not meant as condoning foolhardy indifference to life and danger. It reflects a kind of reckless confidence in God, a confidence not bred of desperation but of utter reliance. The patient person is not concerned about what happens; he is willing to wait in confidence.”
In Mairasi, the phrase that is employed is “stop (our) anger” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Suki “slow careful thinking way” is used (source L. and E. Twyman in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 91ff. )
In Kwang an expression is used that directly translates as “carry one’s head.” (Source: Mark Vanderkooi right here)
Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 6:15:
Uma: “Abraham, he faithfully [lit., remained] believed in God, until he got what he had promised him.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Ibrahim did not become tired/fed-up waiting for God’s covenant/promise therefore he received what God had promised to him.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And as for Abraham, he was very faithful to trust God until God fulfilled His promise to him.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Since Abraham waited patiently, what God promised was fulfilled to him.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Abraham really did not get fed up with waiting. He eagerly awaited until what was promised to him arrived.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “When people say that it is true what they are saying, they call upon God to be their witness. When a person has called on God to be his witness, then his friend with whom he is talking cannot say that it is not true in what he said. But God promised a word to Abraham and since no one is greater than God, therefore he used his own name, telling Abraham it is God’s own word that which was said. He said to him: ‘It is true what I say to you, overflowingly I will bless you. I will cause that very much will increase your children,’ he said. But Abraham did not get anxious concerning the word God spoke. Rather he waited, waited until there came the day when it happened according to the word God promised would happen.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
This verse is linked to its context by the words and so (Revised Standard Version “And thus”). They suggest, not merely the manner in which Abraham received the promises, but the means by which he received them. Most translations agree with Good News Translation in taking the sentence to mean “It was because he was patient (or, endured [see verse 12]) that Abraham received what God had promised.” Jerusalem Bible, however, translates “because of that,” implying the opposite: “It was because of God’s promise [see verses 13-14] that Abraham was patient and saw the promise fulfilled.” This is grammatically possible, but verses 12 and 15 have so much in common that it is natural to take verse 12 as a general principle which verse 15 applies to the particular case of Abraham. Abraham’s patience was not just a stage in time (New American Bible “after patient waiting”); it played an essential part in his finally receiving what God had promised.
Abraham was patient may be expressed as “Abraham was willing to wait.” It may in some cases be necessary to say “Abraham kept on trusting God for a long time.”
The Greek term for received is a more common equivalent of the word translated receive in verse 12. As usual, the writer varies his choice of words. A strictly literal rendering of received may be misleading, since it might wrongly suggest that the promise was an object which God handed to Abraham. A better equivalent may be “what God had promised Abraham happened to him.”
What God had promised (literally “the promise”), here as in verse 12, refers not to the act of promising but to the content of what was promised. The reference is either to Isaac’s birth or to his rescue from death (Gen 22). The word translated received therefore refers to a single past event, unlike the same expression in 11.13, 39, which refers to receiving forever what God had promised.
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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