devil

The Greek that is translated in English as “devil” is sometimes translated with indigenous specific names, such as “the avaricious one” in Tetelcingo Nahuatl, “the malicious deity” in Toraja-Sa’dan (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel), or in Yoruba as èṣù. “Èṣù is thought of as bringing evil, but also as giving protection. The birth of a child may be attributed to him, as the names given to some babies show, Èṣùbiyi (Èṣù brought this forth), and Èṣùtoyin (Èṣù is worthy of praise).” (Source: John Hargreaves in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 39ff. )

Other translations include:

  • Muna: Kafeompu’ando seetani or “Master of the evil-spirits” (source: René van den Berg)
  • Mairasi: owe er epar nan or “headman of malevolent spirits” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Central Subanen: Palin or “Perverter” (incl. in 2 Cor. 6:15) (source: Robert Brichoux in OPTAT 1988/2, p. 80ff. )
  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “chief of demons”
  • Ojitlán Chinantec: as “head of the worldlings” (source for the last two: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125).
  • Mandarin Chinese móguǐ (魔鬼), literally “magical ghost.” This is a term that was adopted from Buddhist sources into early Catholic writings and later also by Protestant translators. (Source: Zetzsche 1996, p. 32)
In Lak and Shughni it is translated with terms of feminine gender. Vitaly Voinov tells this story (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight):

“In the Lak language of Dagestan, the names ‘Iblis’ and ‘sheytan’ (referring to Satan and his minions, respectively) in this language were borrowed from the Arabic Islamic tradition, but they entered Lak as feminine nouns, not masculine nouns. This means that they grammatically function like nouns referring to females in Lak; in other words, Laks are likely to think of Iblis as a woman, not a man, because of the obligatory grammatical patterning of Lak noun classes. Thus, when the team explained (in Russian) what the Lak translation of Jesus’ wilderness temptation narrative at the beginning of Matthew 4 said, it sounded something like the following: ‘After this, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by Iblis… .The temptress came to Jesus, and she said to Him…’

“Since this information (that the devil is a female spirit) is part of the very name used for Satan in Lak, nothing can really be done about this in the translation. The Lak translator did not think that the feminine gender of Iblis should cause any serious misunderstandings among readers, so we agreed to leave it in the translation. Prior to this, I had never heard about languages in which the devil is pictured as a woman, but recently I was told by a speaker of the Shughni language that in their language Sheytan is also feminine. This puts an interesting spin on things. The devil is of course a spirit, neither male nor female in a biologically-meaningful sense. But Bible translators are by nature very risk-aversive and, where possible, want to avoid any translation that might feed misleading information to readers. So what can a translator do about this? In many cases, such as the present one, one has to just accept the existing language structure and go on.”

complete verse (2 Timothy 2:26)

Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Timothy 2:26:

  • Uma: “People who oppose we must gently reprimand, just-perhaps/in-hopes-that the Lord will give them opportunity to repent from their opposing, to the point that their hearts become clear [i.e., aware, wise] and they come to know the true teaching, with the result that they are released from the power of the King of Evil-ones who forced them to follow his will/desire.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then their thinking will become good again and they will be free from the holding/rule of the leader of demons, the one who has enticed/baited them to follow what he wants.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “By means of that, their thinking about everything may become straight and then they will be able to escape the power of Satan. For Satan is the one who has captured them so that they might carry out his desire.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because if that’s what happens to them, they will come-to-their-senses and will escape from what is like a snare of Satanas who caught/trapped them in order that they would believe/obey what he wants.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well isn’t it so that if it’s like that, their minds will then become clear. Then (lit. without anything else) they’ll be able to escape-the-clutches of the control of Satanas who had-taken- them -under-his-rule so that they would do his will.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “When the person’s thoughts are opened, then he will separate from the devil in whose hand he is. Because the devil is the one whom he is pleasing.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 2 Timothy 2:26

This verse concludes the sentence that began at verse 24; some translations begin a new sentence here in order to be faithful to the formal and stylistic requirements of the receptor language.

The theme of what could happen to the opponents is continued here. If indeed they repent and come to know the true gospel message, they will perhaps escape from the snare of the devil. These three items, repent, know, and escape, seem to be in sequence, suggesting a process, and all three constitute the purpose of the correcting and disciplining ministry of Timothy (verse 25a). And they may escape may also be expressed as “and in this way they…,” where “this way” points back to their repentance.

Escape translates a verb that appears only here in the New Testament and that means “to become sober” or “to come to one’s senses.” Most modern translations reflect this understanding (in addition to Good News Translation, also New International Version, Translator’s New Testament “they will come to their senses and get away from him,” New American Bible, Revised “they may return to their senses out of the devil’s snare”). In this context the one verb implies both the ideas of coming to one’s senses and of escape as well.

The last part of this verse has presented problems of interpretation that have translation implications as well. New Revised Standard Version presents a literal translation of the Greek as follows: “having been held captive by him to do his will.” The problem is determining the antecedents of “him” in “by him” and “his” in “to do his will.” The matter is complicated somewhat by the Greek text, in which two words are used for the same pronoun, the first word being simply rendered as “him” and the second one as “that one” (hence “that one’s will”). There have been several suggested solutions to this problem, among which are: (1) “having been held captive by the devil (now, or from henceforth) to do God’s will”; (2) “having been held captive by the Lord’s servant, in order to do the Lord’s will”; (3) “having been held captive by the devil in order to do the devil’s will.” This third option is the choice of most translations. Perhaps it is possible to do justice to the second pronoun by taking it as emphatic; for example, “that dreaded devil’s will.” See 1.20 for comments on the devil, or Satan.

One notes finally that, in terms of chronological sequence, the Greek text is in reverse order, since being entrapped obviously comes before being rescued. It may be necessary in some languages to reorder the various parts of this verse, depending of course on the requirements of the language and the expectations of the intended audience. One translation that has done this is Translator’s New Testament:
• The devil may have caught them alive in his snare and made them do whatever he wants. But perhaps God will help them to repent and know the truth, so that they will come to their senses and get away from him.

Another possible reordering of the sentences in verses 25b and 26 is:
• The devil has trapped these people and makes them obey him. But God will cause them to turn away from their evil ways and come to know the truth, so that they may come to their senses and escape from the devil.

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .