neighbor

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The Greek that is translated as “neighbor” in English is rendered into Babatana as “different man,” i.e. someone who is not one of your relatives. (Source: David Clark)

In North Alaskan Inupiatun, it is rendered as “a person outside of your building,” in Tzeltal as “your back and side” (implying position of the dwellings), in Indonesian and in Tae’ as “your fellow-man,” in Toraja-Sa’dan it is “your fellow earth-dweller,” in Shona (translation of 1966) as “another person like you,” in Kekchí “younger-brother-older-brother” (a compound which means all one’s neighbors in a community) (sources: Bratcher / Nida and Reiling / Swellengrebel), in Mairasi “your people” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Mezquital Otomi as “fellow being,” in Tzeltal as “companion,” in Isthmus Zapotec as “another,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “all people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in most modern German translations as Mitmensch or “fellow human being” (lit. “with + human being”).

In Matt 19:19, Matt 22:39, Mark 12:31, Mark 12:33, Luke 10:27, Luke 10:29 it is translated into Ixcatlán Mazatec with a term that refers to a person who is socially/physically near. Ixcatlán Mazatec also has a another term for “neighbor” that means “fellow humans-outsiders” which was not chosen for these passages. (Source: Robert Bascom)

In Noongar it is translated as moorta-boordak or “people nearby” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

scripture

The Greek that is translated “scripture” or “scriptures” in English is translated as “God’s word which people wrote” in Guerrero Amuzgo (source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125) and “paper writings” in Copainalá Zoque (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.).

While the term “Bible,” often used as a synonym, does not appear in the Bible itself, there’s an interesting translation of that word in Dehu. Missionaries had translated “Bible” as “Container of the Word” until they realized that this was also used for “penis sheath.” (Source: Clifford 1992, p. 87)

For other translations of scripture see all scripture is inspired by God and examined the scriptures.

love your neighbor as yourself

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “love your neighbor as yourself” is translated in Shilluk, Anuak, and Nuer as “love your neighbors as yourselves.” In those and other languages a plural form has to be used if it is to be applied to more than one person where in English a singular can stand for many (compare everyone, each, whoever, any). (Source: Larson 1998, p. 42)

See also he who / whoever and neighbor.

complete verse (James 2:8)

Following are a number of back-translations of James 2:8:

  • Uma: “Our behavior that is good, relatives, is if we follow the command of our King that we read in the Holy Book that says: ‘We must Love our companion like we love ourselves.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Your doing is good if you truly follow/obey the greatest law of God. This law is hep written in the holy-book, saying, ‘You should love your fellow-man as you love yourself.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “You will do very well if you obey the greatest command of the Lord which you can read in his written word which says, ‘It is necessary that you love your companions; consider him to be just like your own breath.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “There is an important/valued law of God which he caused-to-be-written long ago which says, ‘You (sing.) must love your (sing.) companion like your (sing.) manner-of-loving yourself (sing.).’ If you (pl.) completely follow this law, what you are doing is correct (compliment particle).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Really good is what you are doing if you are following/obeying the important thing which God commanded which is written in that writing which says, ‘You (sing.) are to value your fellowman just like your (sing.) valuing of your (sing.) own self (lit. body).'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “In the Holy Book there is written the law which is more important than other laws. It says: ‘Love your fellowman like you have respect for your own selves.’ If you really do what this law says, then you are doing good.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

law

The Greek that is translated in English as “Law” or “law” is translated in Mairasi as oro nasinggiei or “prohibited things” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Noongar with a capitalized form of the term for “words” (Warrinya) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

In Yucateco the phrase that is used for “law” is “ordered-word” (for “commandment,” it is “spoken-word”) (source: Nida 1947, p. 198) and in Central Tarahumara it is “writing-command.” (wsource: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
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Translation commentary on James 2:8

Verses 8 to 13 explain that the person who favors the rich at the expense of the poor is showing favoritism. This person is a lawbreaker, having failed to love his or her neighbor. Anyone who breaks part of the law breaks the whole and is to be judged by that law.

If you really fulfill the royal law: the particle translated as really in the Revised Standard Version rendering has two meanings. If it is taken as an adversative, it can be rendered as “however” (so New American Bible, New American Standard Bible). If it is taken as an affirmative, it may be rendered as “indeed” (so New International Version), or “really” (so Goodspeed, Good News Translation). Scholars are divided as to which is the proper meaning here. If “however” is adopted, verse 8 is introducing a contrast with what goes before in verses 2-7, and in effect is a continuation of the argument James is making. It seems better, however, to take the particle as “indeed” or “really,” suggesting that the royal law is really fulfilled only when there is no discrimination. In this case it is related to what follows, introducing a contrast with what is said in verse 9.

In spite of some objections, the phrase royal law is best taken to refer to the command to love your neighbor as yourself (Lev 19.18), the command also quoted by Jesus (Matt 22.39) and Paul (Rom 13.8-9; Gal 5.14). However, the meaning of the adjective royal is interpreted in various ways:
(1) It has been argued that, since verses 10-11 refer to parts of the Ten Commandments, and since in Greek the word law does not have a definite article, the law here refers to the Old Testament law as a whole. And it is described as royal because it was given by the King of heaven. This interpretation is unlikely, in that this same law is referred to as “the law of liberty” in verse 12 and described as “the perfect law” in 1.25, suggesting that it is a reference to the gospel and to the teaching of Jesus in particular. We note that, when James wants to refer to parts of the Ten Commandments (verses 9-11), he uses the word law without a qualifier; but when he wishes to refer to the Christian understanding of law, he invariably uses a qualifier, as above.
(2) The adjective royal is sometimes understood as the law given by or from a king, and in this case the king can either be “God” (so R. P. Martin; compare Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “God, the great King”) or “Christ” (so Reicke).
(3) It is also taken to mean “sovereign” (so New English Bible, Revised English Bible) in the sense that the law possesses absolute authority, like that which a king has over his subjects, and that it is unconditionally binding.
(4) It is sometimes interpreted to mean “supreme” (so Goodspeed, New Jerusalem Bible), or “the most important” (Contemporary English Version), suggesting that the command to love ranks as first or most important among others (compare Mark 12.31), just as it is said elsewhere to sum up all other laws (Rom 13.8-9; Gal 5.14).
(5) Picking up the reference to the “kingdom” in verse 5, it seems preferable to understand the phrase as a Kingdom law, that is “the law of the Kingdom,” as Good News Translation has rendered it. This means the law of loving your neighbor is the sovereign rule of the Kingdom of God.

The phrase according to the scripture obviously refers to the Old Testament, and in particular Lev 19.18, the passage quoted.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself is often quoted in the New Testament (eight times) as the summary and the highest principle of the Old Testament Law. In the Old Testament neighbor always means a fellow Jew or countryman, but Jesus expands its usage by including everyone that a person might come into contact with, particularly those in need, even foreigners (Luke 10.25-37) and enemies (Matt 5.44). In the present context it is the poor who are the neighbors in need. In many parts of the world the idea of love is very difficult to translate. Some alternative ways of rendering this term are “care for,” “treat with affection,” or idiomatically, “have a warm [or, sweet] heart [or, liver/stomach] toward.” In this context the ideas of duty or loyalty are foremost, rather than the meaning “like someone very much.” The term neighbor is best translated generally; for example, “other people,” “your own people,” “fellow human beings” and so on.

The clause you do well does not have to be taken in a sarcastic or ironic sense, as the same clause in 2.19 might suggest. It simply says “you are doing the right thing.” In some languages it may be more natural to move this clause to the front as Good News Translation has done (also New Revised Standard Version); thus “You will be doing the right thing if you obey the law of the Kingdom.”

Alternative translation models for this verse may be:
• The most important law in the scriptures that God as our ruler asks us to follow is: “You must love other people as you love yourself.” If you obey this law you will be doing the right thing.
• The most important law … is the one that commands you to love others as much as you love yourselves. If you do this you will be….

Quoted with permission from Loh, I-Jin and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Letter from James. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .