Actually, no, I wasn't trying to show quite that. The notion of translating an idea into something concrete suggests that the age-old mind-body dichotomy has intruded into the picture. Set aside any notion translation for now. For our purposes here, try to see a human being a whole.

Consider it again from the ecological context. Empathy evolved in animal communities. In the long run, it was likely a process of co-evolution where showing empathy and receiving empathy evolved together in the communities. That is, it probably wasn't the case that nature evolved inner feelings of empathy such that people walked around with strong feelings of empathy trapped inside them with no way to express them or benefit from them. More likely the physiological processes, including the feelings, along with empathetic language, gestures, hugs, etc. as well as the capacity to receive empathy from others and benefit from it all evolved in tandem. Nature evolves bodies and communities of bodies.

Hence, when we empathize, we don't "translate" an inner feeling into an outer concrete. Rather a person (consider them as a whole body for this) simultaneously feels, talks to, and hugs another person. There is no translation from one form to another. When it is time for the body to empathize, it puts all elements into play at once. All are required (in the typical case) for empathy. They all go hand-in-hand. They are all at the same level.

It is the person that empathizes. It is the person that receives empathy. The interaction and the feelings are all equal parts of empathy. Note that empathy never becomes concrete here. It hasn't solidified into any one thing you can point to and say, "That right there is empathy." Empathy is a particular pattern of life.