2 Timothy 3:16, 17
Part 4/4 of a Warray Translation
2 Timothy 3:16
NJV. All scripture is inspired by God and useful for refuting error, for guiding people’s lives and teaching them to be upright.
Warray. Lura kiŋiñjak antjawayaŋ katjim tjutjukmuk katjumpaymiñ antjakmi mamulpakku, ŋirwattu, pulkku, kulakku, tjakmiwu.
all scripture is inspired by God and profitable = lura kiŋiñjak antjawayaŋ katjim tjutjukmuk katjumpaymiñ
lura = behind
kiŋiñjak = star
antjawayaŋ = from the lungs
katjim = it comes
tjutjukmuk = all scripture
katjumpaymiñ = it opens the eyes
inspired by God comes from Greek theopneustos (θεόπνευστος) lit. breathed by God.
The closest I could get to this was:
Lura kiŋiñtjak antjawayaŋ = from the lungs behind the stars.
This also allows me to have the following alliteration:
Katjim tjutjukmuk katjumpaymiñ = all scripture comes and opens the eyes.
tjutjukmuk has two components:
1. tjutjuk = Initiation Law.
2. -muk = all.
In Warray, -muk can only go at the end of Human nouns.
John 1:1 BSB
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God.
The Warray never developed writing, so their law tjutjuk was passed down by word of mouth alone.
Jonah 1:1 BSB
Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying:
for instruction, conviction, correction and training in righteousness = antjakmi mamulpakku, ŋirwattu, pulkku, kulakku, tjakmiwu
antjakmitjakmiwu = in righteousness
antjakmitjakmiwu is a reduplication of antjakmiwu straight.
I split this word in twain, with antjakmi- at the head and –tjakmiwu at the tail.
Christ does not come to replace what came before. The Christian makes for him a home, and he will bring it back into line.
I did not translate any of the Greek words directly. Instead, I enlisted a number of ceremonial and spiritual terms.
Mamulpak Conception Totem
Told by Mrs Doris White, also known as Litawi.
“My aunt went out hunting for meat. She saw a turtle in the grass. She saw a water snake lying close to the turtle. This was at Litawi Beatrice Hill. She brought the turtle back to camp, to Humpty Doo. Everybody ate the turtle and they all vomited afterwards. My mother vomited and she was sick. This is how I got my conception totem.”
Ŋirwat Name Swapping
Here, an older person will give their name to a child, and the two become ŋirwat to each other. Sometimes they will even call each other ŋirwat ñekkuwu my ŋirwat.
Unfortunately, we do not know the exact relationship that this entailed, or how it interacted with other kinship and section systems.
Pulk White Ochre
This is used in the tjutjuk initiation ceremony for young men.
In addition, it was also associated with marriage:
Kakelŋaymiyin pulkyaŋ. = She is married from white ochre.
Other tribes in the Darwin area use little balls of white ochre for sexual magic, so this may be a reference thereto.
Kulak Shade Laying Ceremony
The Warray laid out their dead on grass tables, which they then covered in paperbark. After the flesh had rotted away, they wrapped the bones in grass, and eventually laid them in a banyon tree.
Sometime after the death, usually a year, they hold the kulak shade laying ceremony. Its purpose is to lay the soul to rest.
KJV. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
Warray. Lura kiŋiñjak antjawayaŋ katjim tjutjukmuk katjumpaymiñ antjakmi mamulpakku, ŋirwattu, pulkku, kulakku, tjakmiwu.
2 Timothy 3:17
NJV. This is how someone who is dedicated to God becomes fully equipped and ready for any good work.
Warray. Katji kantjiñ antjulukwiru pwoklik, lora kakaŋi, puna kawuy.
if someone does these things in God = katji kantjiñ antjulukwiru pwoklik
katji = these things
kantjiñ = if someone does these things
antjulukwiru = the deepest
pwoklik = in the path
kantjiñ has two components:
1. kan- = if he/if thou
2. tjiñ = do.
Thus, kantjiñ can mean both if he/she does Or if you do.
However, the second part undermines this ambiguity.
antjulukwiru deepest has two parts:
1. antjulukku = deep.
2. -wiru = very.
Warray does not have dedicated way of saying “deeper” or “deepest”. (In any case, this feature is very Euroversal, but that is a discussion for another time.)
X is not deeper than Y.
X is deep. Y is very deep.
he is ready for good work = lora kakaŋi, puna kawuy
lora = dust
kakaŋi = he will take
puna = black soil
kawuy = he will give
Lilies were the main source of vegetable food from the black soil floodplains that formed the largest part of the Warray territory. They ate
Red lily nelumbo nucifera tjiŋan.
The Warray recognised 4 varieties of White lily nymphaea violacea: mapul, pampulaŋu, tukwekwekku, kumututu.
Kiñini refers to the young form of a tumwekwekku.
All lily stems are called kankok.
Luke 12:27 BSB
[Jesus said:] “Consider how the lilies grow: They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these.
KJV. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
Warray. Katji kantjiñ antjulukwiru pwoklik, lora kakaŋi, puna kawuy.