lion

There are no lions in Bawm country, so the Bawm Chin translation uses “a tiger with a mane” where the Greek term for “lion” is used and in Sranan Tongo the “roaring lion” in 1 Peter 5:8 is a krasi tigri, an “aggressive tiger.”

In the Kahua culture, lions are not known either so the Kahua translation used “fierce animal.”

In 1 Peter 5:8, the Uripiv translation uses “a hungry shark” instead of a roaring lion.

Sources: David Clark for Bawm Chin and Kahua, Japini 2015, p. 33, for Sranan Tongo, and Ross McKerras for Uripiv)

wild animal

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated in English as “wild animal” or similar is translated in Newari as “animal that lives in the jungle.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Job 28:8

The proud beasts have not trodden it: verse 8, like verse 7, has the generic animal in line a and the specific one in line b, which is one of the poetic techniques in parallelism for heightening the poetic effect. Proud beasts translates the Hebrew “sons of pride” and is found in 41.34, which describes Leviathan or the crocodile. Proud beast is a wild or fierce beast or animal. Beast is a more poetic term in English than “animal” and in this context suggests an untamed animal. This line may be rendered “Wild animals do not go along these roads.”

The lion has not passed over it: lion translates the same word used in 4.10 and 10.16. Pope, following Mowinckel, argues for “serpent” here, and New English Bible translates “And no serpent comes that way.” Although Dhorme translates “leopard,” most translations keep lion. Because verse 8 moves from a general animal in line a to the specific one in line b, this line may be rendered “Not even the lion has passed over it.” In some languages lion must be replaced by another wild animal that prowls.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .