The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “grain” (or: “corn”) is translated in Kui as “(unthreshed) rice.” Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) explains: “Padddy [unthreshed rice] is the main crop of the country and rice the staple diet of the people, besides which [grain] is unknown and there is no word for it, and it seemed to us that paddy and rice in the mind of the Kui people stood for all that corn meant to the Jews.” “Paddy” is also the translation in Pa’o Karen (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. ).
Other translations include: “wheat” (Teutila Cuicatec), “corn” (Lalana Chinantec), “things to eat” (Morelos Nahuatl), “grass corn” (wheat) (Chichimeca-Jonaz) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), or ntimumma lujia / “seeds for food” (Lokạạ — “since Lokạạ does not have specific terms for maize and rice that can be described as grains”) (source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 4:28:
Uma: “From the land itself its fruit appears. First the leaves and stalk appear, after that the-head-forms, until it fruits [lit., has-contents].” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “For the seed sprouts by itself and bears fruit. First the shoots (tuglus) then the head (forms) (betteng) and then the ear-comes-out (bukbus).” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For the earth is the means by which his plants sprout. The plant sprouts, then the leaf comes out, then the fruit comes out, and then it ripens.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Because the plants just grow anyway. They sprout, then the grain-heads-develop and then the kernels-come-out (stages in growth of rice).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “For as for soil/ground, that’s what causes whatever plant to sprout and bear fruit. Of course it will grow and then bear fruit with long heads full of grain.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
chorton (6.39) ‘grass,’ ‘hay’: also refers to stalks of grain in their early grass-like stages (cf. Translator’s New Testament “green shoot”).
stachun (cf. 2.23) ‘head’ or ‘ear’ (of grain).
plērēs (8.19) ‘full’: here in the sense of ‘full grown,’ ‘mature,’ ‘ripe.’
sitos (only here in Mark) ‘wheat’ or ‘grain.’
Translation:
In some languages the relationship of the earth to the production of vegetation is quite easily expressed, e.g. ‘the earth is the mother of the seed’ (Tzeltal), but in others one cannot say that the ‘earth’ (which may mean only ‘the dirt’) produces plants of itself. In such instances one can say ‘plants come from the ground’ or ‘plants grow out of the earth’ (Kekchi).
The first three stages of growth are variously described in different languages, e.g. ‘first the leaf, then the seed-container and then the grain’ (Southern Subanen), and ‘first the grass, then the green wheat, and then the ripe wheat’ (Mitla Zapotec).
Ear must be altered in many languages, e.g. ‘eyes of the grain’ (Shilluk), referring to the tender grain in formation, and ‘heads of the grain,’ denoting the ripened grain.
In this context it is not necessary to try to specify the details of the growth of wheat, especially in areas where such plants are not known. One can just as appropriately use Indian corn (Kekchi, Highland Totonac, Copainalá Zoque).
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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