Zechariah (prophet)

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is transliterated as “Zechariah” is translated in Swiss-German Sign Language with a sign that depicts predicting the future.


“Zechariah” in Swiss-German Sign Language, source: DSGS-Lexikon biblischer Begriffe , © CGG Schweiz

Following is a Russian Orthodox icon of Zechariah from the 18th century (found in the Transfiguration Church, Kizhi Monastery, Karelia, Russia).

 
Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )

Haggai

The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is transliterated as “Haggai” in English is translated in Swiss-German Sign Language with a sign that depicts the prophet pointing to God as his message to the people in Jerusalem.


“Haggai” in Swiss-German Sign Language, source: DSGS-Lexikon biblischer Begriffe , © CGG Schweiz

Following is a Russian Orthodox icon of Haggai from the 18th century (found in the Transfiguration Church, Kizhi Monastery, Karelia, Russia).

 
Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )

Translation commentary on 1 Esdras 7:3

And the holy work prospered: Once again the Greek word for work is plural, but translators will probably not want to use the same phrase for the holy work as in the previous verse (see our model below). The verb prospered indicates that the work was being done successfully.

While the prophets Haggai and Zechariah prophesied: See the comments on 1 Esd 6.1. Here the verb prophesied means that Haggai and Zechariah were encouraging the people by conveying God’s message to them. New English Bible renders this clause as “With the encouragement of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah,” and Good News Bible is similar with “encouraged by the prophets….” These models capture the meaning quite well.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• All this work for God went very well, and as it went on [or, as the people worked] the prophets Haggai and Zechariah gave their support [or, encouragement].

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Esdras. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.