# Man does not live by bread alone



## Encolpius

Hello, how do you say that phrase (from Bible) in your language. Thanks. 

*Hungarian*: Nem csak kenyérrel él az ember.


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## anahiseri

In Spanish it is exactly the same as in English:
"no solo de pan vive el hombre"


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## grassy

Nie samym chlebem człowiek żyje.

So the word order is just like in Hungarian.


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## Määränpää

In this phrase, Finnish Bibles have used gender-neutral "human" (_ihminen_) at least since the 18th century. I couldn't find older Bibles online.

1776: Ei ihminen elä ainoasti leivästä
1938: Ei ihminen elä ainoastaan leivästä
1992: Ei ihminen elä ainoastaan leivästä

The word order is reversed, the first word is the negation. (The idea of negation is highlighted. It's the equivalent of beginning with "Contrary to what you may think..." Jesus is replying to Satan like a smartass )

In ordinary situations, people may use the normal word order: _Ihminen ei elä ainoastaan leivästä
_
Very often, people replace _ainoastaan_ ("only") with _yksin _("alone").  I actually thought it was the official Biblical version, but it isn't. Maybe people use _yksin_ because it sounds more old-fashioned and poetic, or maybe because it's quicker to say, or maybe because it's closer to the English translation.


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## Määränpää

Hmm... My previous post applies to the New Testament, I missed the same phrase in the Old Testament:

1776: ettei ihminen elä ainoastansa leivästä
1933: että ihminen ei elä ainoastaan leivästä
1992: ettei ihminen elä ainoastaan leivästä

että/ett- = that (conjunction)


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## TheCrociato91

In Italian the future tense, i.e. "Non di solo pane _vivrà _l'uomo" is more often used compared to the present tense: "Non di solo pane _vive _l'uomo".


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

I wonder if, in Chinese and Japanese translations of the Bible, it mightn't read "..by rice alone", the translation varying according to the staple food of the readership?
*or "corn/maize alone" for Amerindians, etc.?


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## Olaszinhok

Määränpää said:


> elä



Does _elä _mean "lives" like the Hungarian _él_? If so, Hungarian and Finnish would share the same stem of the verb "to live".


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## AndrasBP

*Lithuanian*: Žmogus ne viena duona gyvena. (Lit. Man not alone by-bread lives.)



grassy said:


> Nie samym chlebem człowiek żyje.
> 
> So the word order is just like in Hungarian.


Not quite.
él az ember = człowiek żyje


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## AndrasBP

Olaszinhok said:


> Does _elä _mean "lives" like the Hungarian _él_? If so, Hungarian and Finnish would share the same root of the verb "to live".


 Hungarian and Finnish are distant relatives but we do share this root.


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## Circunflejo

*LATIN*: _Non in panem solo vivet homo._



ain'ttranslationfun? said:


> I wonder if, in Chinese and Japanese translations of the Bible, it mightn't read "..by rice alone", the translation varying according to the staple food of the readership?



No idea but if someone understands Chinese and wants to look for it, here's a link to the Chinese version of the bible offered by the web of the Vatican:http://www.vatican.va/chinese/bibbia/nuovo-testamento/Vangelo-Matteo_zh-t.pdf (the sentence should be at 4:4).


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## Määränpää

Olaszinhok said:


> Does _elä _mean "lives" like the Hungarian _él_? If so, Hungarian and Finnish would share the same stem of the verb "to live".


Yep, apparently it's possible to say "A _*live*_ fish swims under water" in both languages using only words that have the same stems


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## bibax

In Czech usually: *Nejen chlebem živ je člověk.* (present tense)

However the original verse in the Bible is in the future tense (like in Latin: *vīvet*):

*Nejen chlebem bude člověk živ.* = Man shall not live by bread alone.


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## apmoy70

Ιn Greek we use the Evangelical verse as it is:
*«Οὐκ ἐπ' ἄρτῳ μόνο ζήσεται ἄνθρωπος»* (Matth. 4:4) [uk eˈpartɔ ˈmɔnɔ ˈzisete ˈanθrɔpɔs] (MoGr pronunciation).
The v. «ζήσεται» is Middle voice, 3rd p. Future Indicative = _shall live_
«Οὐκ...ζήσεται» = _shall not live_


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## Olaszinhok

Määränpää said:


> Yep, apparently it's possible to say "A _*live*_ fish swims under water" in both languages using only words that have the same stems



Thank you, it would be interesting to see that sentence about the fish in both languages. In Hungarian, it should be something like this: 'Eleven hal úszik *a* víz alatt".  My Hungarian is really poor and rusty, so please correct it. Since Finnish hasn't got any articles (as far as I know), *a* should be missing in the Finnist version, if I am not mistaken.


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## anahiseri

ain'ttranslationfun? said:


> I wonder if, in Chinese and Japanese translations of the Bible, it mightn't read "..by rice alone", the translation varying according to the staple food of the readership?
> *or "corn/maize alone" for Amerindians, etc.?


this reminds me of a funny anecdote. In Panama, I was talking to a man from the Kuna Yala tribe, he explained about a priest who had come to their village some time ago and taught them about the bible, beginning by Genesis. The people asked him what an apple was, and the priest answered it was similar to a coconut.


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## Ghabi

ain'ttranslationfun? said:


> "..by rice alone"


The Chinese Protestant version has the generic "by food alone", while the Catholic one has bing3 餅, which can be translated as "pastry/cake/cracker" etc depending on the context.

The phrase "five bing3 two fish" is kind of proverbial in Cantonese (mostly used humorously), even for people who have never read the Bible.


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## elroy

Arabic:

ليس بالخبر وحده يحيا الإنسان
_laysa bil-xubzi waħdahu yaħya~l-'insān(u)_


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## amikama

The original verse is of course in Hebrew:
לא על הלחם לבדו יחיה האדם
(Deuteronomy 8:3)


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## apmoy70

amikama said:


> The original verse is of course in Hebrew:
> לא על הלחם לבדו יחיה האדם
> (Deuteronomy 8:3)


It is indeed a Deuteronomical verse originally, but Jesus, according to Matthew, quotes mostly the LXX translation:
*«οὐκ ἐπ᾿ ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ζήσεται ὁ ἄνθρωπος»* (Deuteronomy LXX 8:3)


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## Rainbow Boulevard

German: „Der Mensch lebt nicht vom Brot allein“ (The human being does not live from bread alone)


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## Awwal12

Russian: не хлебом единым жив человек (lit. "not by-bread by-one alive man"). A bit Russified piece of Church Slavonic, as with most Biblical quotes in Russian; it may be noted that "единый" here doesn't mean "unified" but simply replaces the normal Russian "один" ("one", with nouns also "only X").


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## elroy

amikama said:


> The original verse is of course in Hebrew:
> לא על הלחם לבדו יחיה האדם
> (Deuteronomy 8:3)


Do you know why there’s a hyphen in על-הלחם?


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## ThomasK

Rainbow Boulevard said:


> German: „Der Mensch lebt nicht vom Brot allein“ (The human being does not live from bread alone)


Dutch: _de mens leeft niet van brood alleen,_ just the same as in German, even in the newest NBV21 translation...


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## amikama

elroy said:


> Do you know why there’s a hyphen in על-הלחם?


The Biblical hyphen (מקף) has functions different from those of the modern hyphen. See here.


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## Marsianitoh

Basque : Gizakia ez da ogiz bakarrik bizi. More or less: The human being not does by bread only live.


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## Yendred

I see French wasn't mentioned yet:
_L'Homme ne vit pas seulement de pain._

Other translations can use the future:
_L'Homme ne vivra pas seulement de pain._
Or modify the place of the adverb:
_L'Homme ne vit/vivra pas de pain seulement._

Note the capital letter on "_Homme_" which here means _humanity_ as a whole.


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## Welsh_Sion

*“Nid ar fara yn unig y bydd dyn fyw"*
Not on Soft Mutation bread only will man live

- traditional Welsh

*“Nid ar fara yn unig y bydd rhywun fyw"*

- more modern Welsh, referring to 'anyone' as opposed to 'man'. (Like @Yendred suggests for French, you could give a capital D to '*Dyn*' to indicate 'humankind', but perhaps the translator thought that '*Dyn*' still over-emphasised those of a male gender. As a by-the-by, '*dyn' *in the Welsh Middle Period, 12-15th centuries, also meant 'woman'. As the old linguistic and legal joke has it, 'man embraces woman'.)


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## Penyafort

In Catalan, similarly to French, some versions use the present, some may use the future. Older versions tend to be C+V+S while newer versions are rather S+V+C.

*L'home no viu només de pa.* 
[The man not lives only of bread.]

*No només de pa viurà l'home. *
[Not only of bread will-live the man.]


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