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).
The Greek that is translated as “log” in English is translated in Gbaya with the ideophone (a word that expresses what is perceived by the five senses) kpíŋgíí-te, imitating the sound of a heavy crash. (Source: Philip Noss in The Bible Translator 1985, p. 423ff. )
The Greek that is translated in English as “brother” (in the sense of a fellow believer), is translated with a specifically coined word in Kachin: “There are two terms for brother in Kachin. One is used to refer to a Christian brother. This term combines ‘older and younger brother.’ The other term is used specifically for addressing siblings. When one uses this term, one must specify if the older or younger person is involved. A parallel system exists for ‘sister’ as well. In [these verses], the term for ‘a Christian brother’ is used.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae)
In Martu Wangka it is translated as “relative” (this is also the term that is used for “follower.”) (Source: Carl Gross)
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 7:4:
Uma: “How can we (incl.) say to another: ‘Come, I will take out/remove your (sing.) sleep,’ but there is still also a splinter of wood in our (incl.) eye.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “How can you say to your companion, ‘Friend, come here please, I will take the splinter out of your eye,’ if there is a log in your own eye.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And you say yet to him that you will take out of his eye that which has gotten into it, however a log has gotten into your eye and you pay no attention to it.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Why do you (sing.) say to your (sing.) companion, ‘Please kindly-allow-me (strong request) to wipe-away that eye-discharge of yours (sing.),’ while-simultaneously you (sing.) also have a large bit-of-eye-discharge?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Well, how can you say to your companion, ‘Quick/come, I’ll remove that dust particle in your eye,’ when there’s something jambed right across your own eye?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “So you must not say to your brother: ‘Listen man, wait while I take out the dirt in your eye’ you say. And here you do not even realize that you have a beam in your own eye.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
This verse essentially repeats the content of verse 3. The question may need to be restructured, however. Translators may say “Do you think it is right to say,” “How can you possibly say,” or “By what right can you say.” The sentence may need indirect speech instead of direct, as in “How can you offer to take a speck from your brother’s eye…” or “You shouldn’t ask your brother if you can remove a speck….”
It may be necessary to put the offer to help the brother at the end of the verse, as in “There you are with a whole plank in your eye, and you dare to say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye’ ” or “You have a log in your eye. How can you possibly offer to take the speck out of your brother’s?”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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