forgive, forgiveness

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The concept of “forgiveness” is expressed in varied ways through translations. Following is a list of (back-) translations from some languages:

  • Tswa, North Alaskan Inupiatun, Panao Huánuco Quechua: “forget about”
  • Navajo: “give back” (based on the idea that sin produces an indebtedness, which only the one who has been sinned against can restore)
  • Huichol, Shipibo-Conibo, Eastern Highland Otomi, Uduk, Tepo Krumen: “erase,” “wipe out,” “blot out”
  • Highland Totonac, Huautla Mazatec: “lose,” “make lacking”
  • Tzeltal: “lose another’s sin out of one’s heart”
  • Lahu, Burmese: “be released,” “be freed”
  • Ayacucho Quechua: “level off”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “cast away”
  • Chol: “pass by”
  • Wayuu: “make pass”
  • Kpelle: “turn one’s back on”
  • Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “cover over” (a figure of speech which is also employed in Hebrew, but which in many languages is not acceptable, because it implies “hiding” or “concealment”)
  • Tabasco Chontal, Huichol: “take away sins”
  • Toraja-Sa’dan, Javanese: “do away with sins”
  • San Blas Kuna: “erase the evil heart” (this and all above: Bratcher / Nida, except Tepo Krumen: Peter Thalmann in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 25f.)
  • Eggon: “withdraw the hand”
  • Mískito: “take a man’s fault out of your heart” (source of this and the one above: Kilgour, p. 80)
  • Western Parbate Kham: “unstring someone” (“hold a grudge” — “have someone strung up in your heart”) (source: Watters, p. 171)
  • Hawai’i Creole English: “let someone go” (source: Jost Zetzsche)
  • Cebuano: “go beyond” (based on saylo)
  • Iloko: “none” or “no more” (based on awan) (source for this and above: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
  • Tzotzil: ch’aybilxa: “it has been lost” (source: Aeilts, p. 118)
  • Suki: biaek eisaemauwa: “make heart soft” (Source L. and E. Twyman in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 91ff. )
  • Warao: “not being concerned with him clean your obonja.” Obonja is a term that “includes the concepts of consciousness, will, attitude, attention and a few other miscellaneous notions” (source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. See other occurrences of Obojona in the Warao New Testament.)
  • Martu Wangka: “throw out badness” (source: Carl Gross)
  • Mairasi: “dismantle wrongs” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Nyulnyul: “have good heart” (source
  • Koonzime: “remove the bad deed-counters” (“The Koonzime lay out the deeds symbolically — usually strips of banana leaf — and rehearse their grievances with the person addressed.”) (Source: Keith and Mary Beavon in Notes on Translation 3/1996, p. 16)
  • Ngbaka: ele: “forgive and forget” (Margaret Hill [in Holzhausen & Ridere 2010, p. 8f.] recalls that originally there were two different words used in Ngbaka, one for God (ɛlɛ) and one for people (mbɔkɔ — excuse something) since it was felt that people might well forgive but, unlike God, can’t forget. See also this lectionary in The Christian Century .
  • Amahuaca: “erase” / “smooth over” (“It was an expression the people used for smoothing over dirt when marks or drawings had been made in it. It meant wiping off dust in which marks had been made, or wiping off writing on the blackboard. To wipe off the slate, to erase, to take completely away — it has a very wide meaning and applies very well to God’s wiping away sins, removing them from the record, taking them away.”) (Source: Robert Russel, quoted in Walls / Bennett 1959, p. 193)

See also this devotion on YouVersion .

Translation commentary on Numbers 30:12

But if her husband makes them null and void on the day that he hears them is literally “And if to make void her husband makes them void on the day he hears [them].” The Hebrew verb for “make void” (hefer) is the same one used in verse 8 (see the comments there). Here it is repeated for emphasis, first as an infinitive absolute and then as a finite verb. NET Bible expresses this emphatic verbal construction as “clearly nullifies,” and Revised English Bible has “clearly repudiates.” Alter translates this whole complex clause as “But if her husband indeed annulled [past tense] them at the time he heard.” Alter, Levine, and NET Bible take this verse as another continued reference to the widow or divorced woman. However, the problem with this interpretation is that the Hebrew type of verb here for “makes … void” (yafer, which is an imperfect verb form) can hardly refer to the past, and it is combined with the clause on the day that he hears them. Good News Translation‘s present tense verb “forbids” is more plausible. Other translations with present tense verbs here are Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New Living Translation, Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie, La Bible de Jérusalem Nouvelle, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Bijbel in Gewone Taal, De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling, Willibrordvertaling, and Luther.

Then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning her pledge of herself, shall not stand: If her husband nullifies any vow or oath of his wife, it will no longer be valid. She is not obligated to fulfil it. For vows and pledge, see verse 2; for shall not stand, see verse 4. This whole clause may be rendered “then none of the vows or pledges she made will be valid.”

Her husband has made them void: The type of Hebrew verb here (hefer, which is a perfect verb form) highlights that the annulment of the vows is now an accomplished fact.

And the LORD will forgive her: See verse 5.

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .