16Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring; it does not say, “And to offsprings,” as of many, but it says, “And to your offspring,” that is, to one person, who is Christ.
The name that is transliterated as “Abraham” in English is translated in virtually all sign languages, including American Sign Language with the sign signifying “hold back arm” (referring to Genesis 22:12).
In Tira it is transliterated as Abaram. The choice of this, rather than the widely-known “Ibrahim,” as used in the Tira translation of the Qu’ran, was to offset it against the Muslim transliteration which originates from Arabic. (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
Click or tap here to see two short video clips about Abraham (source: Bible Lands 2012)
Following are a number of back-translations of Galatians 3:16:
Uma: “So also with God’s promises, relatives. God made his promises to Abraham and to his descendant. (Notice well these words earlier. It is not written like this: God made a promise "with Abraham’s descendants" who were many. What is written is like this: God made his promise with "Abraham’s descendant," like it was just one, for the one who is intended/aimed-at with these words, is Abraham’s one descendant, that is Kristus.)” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “So-then God, he made covenants with/promises to Ibrahim and his descendant. The holy-book does not say, ‘to plural his descendant,’ which means that they are many. But the holy-book says to just one of his descendants and this is Almasi.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And it’s the same way also because there is that which God has promised to Abraham and to the descendant of Abraham which would be born much later. He did not say that He had a promise to the descendants of Abraham because He was not talking about many; but rather He said to Abraham, ‘To your descendant.’ The reason He said this was it was only one person there among the descendants of Abraham that He was talking about, and that is Christ.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “So also with what God promised to Abraham and to his one descendant. One I say, because the word descendant(s) that God caused-to-be-written, it doesn’t refer to (lit. want to say) the many Jews who were Abraham’s descendants but rather his one descendant who is Cristo.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Well now, that which God promised to Abraham in the past, that coming from him all people would be shown-grace/mercy, its fulfillment was through only one of Abraham’s descendants. For it did not mean that it would be fulfilled through many of his descendants, but rather just one was being-referred-to, Cristo only.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “God promised a word to Abraham and his descendant. But it doesn’t say in what is written ‘his descendants’ as though it spoke of many. Rather it speaks of one person only, that is, Christ.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
The Greek Christos (Χρηστός) is typically transliterated when it appears together with Iésous (Ἰησοῦς) (Jesus). In English the transliteration is the Anglicized “Christ,” whereas in many other languages it is based on the Greek or Latin as “Kristus,” “Cristo,” or similar.
When used as a descriptive term in the New Testament — as it’s typically done in the gospels (with the possible exceptions of for instance John 1:17 and 17:3) — Christos is seen as the Greek translation of the Hebrew mashiaḥ (המשיח) (“anointed”). Accordingly, a transliteration of mashiaḥ is used, either as “Messiah” or based on the Greek or Latin as a form of “Messias.”
This transliteration is also used in the two instances where the Greek term Μεσσίας (Messias) is used in John 1:41 and 4:25.
In some languages and some translations, the term “Messiah” is supplemented with an explanation. Such as in the GermanGute Nachricht with “the Messiah, the promised savior” (Wir haben den Messias gefunden, den versprochenen Retter) or in Muna with “Messiah, the Saving King” (Mesias, Omputo Fosalamatino) (source: René van den Berg).
In predominantly Muslim areas or for Bible translations for a Muslim target group, Christos is usually transliterated from the Arabic al-Masih (ٱلْمَسِيحِ) — “Messiah.” In most cases, this practice corresponds with languages that also use a form of the Arabic Isa (عيسى) for Jesus (see Jesus). There are some exceptions, though, including modern translations in Arabic which use Yasua (يَسُوعَ) (coming from the Aramaic Yēšūa’) alongside a transliteration of al-Masih, Hausa which uses Yesu but Almahisu, and some Fula languages (Adamawa Fulfulde, Nigerian Fulfulde, and Central-Eastern Niger Fulfulde) which also use a form of Iésous (Yeesu) but Almasiihu (or Almasiifu) for Christos.
In Indonesian, while most Bible translations had already used Yesus Kristus rather than Isa al Masih, three public holidays used to be described using the term Isa Al Masih. From 2024 the government will use Yesus Kristus in those holiday names instead (see this article in Christianity Today ).
Other solutions that are used by a number of languages include these:
Dobel: “The important one that God had appointed to come” (source: Jock Hughes)
Noongar: Keny Mammarap or “The One Man” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Mairasi: “King of not dying for life all mashed out infinitely” (for “mashed out,” see salvation; source: Lloyd Peckham)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “One chosen by God to rule mankind” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Bacama: Ma Pwa a Ngɨltən: “The one God has chosen” (source: David Frank in this blog post )
Binumarien: Anutuna: originally a term that was used for a man that was blessed by elders for a task by the laying on of hands (source: Desmond Oatridges, Holzhausen 1991, p. 49f.)
Noongar: Keny Boolanga-Yira Waangki-Koorliny: “One God is Sending” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uab Meto: Neno Anan: “Son of heaven” P. Middelkoop explains: “The idea of heavenly power bestowed on a Timorese king is rendered in the title Neno Anan. It is based on the historical fact that chiefs in general came from overseas and they who come thence are believed to have come down from heaven, from the land beyond the sea, that means the sphere of God and the ghosts of the dead. The symbolical act of anointing has been made subservient to the revelation of an eternal truth and when the term Neno Anan is used as a translation thereof, it also is made subservient to a new revelation of God in Jesus Christ. The very fact that Jesus came from heaven makes this translation hit the mark.” (Source: P. Middelkoop in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 183ff. )
In Finnish Sign Language both “Christ” and “Messiah” are translated with sign signifying “king.” (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
“Christ / Messiah” in Finnish Sign Language (source )
Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient GreekSeptuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew mashiah was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments (click or tap here to read more):
“Another important word in the New Testament that comes from the Septuagint is christos, ‘Christ.’ Christ is not part of the name of the man from Nazareth, as if ‘the Christs’ were written above the door of his family home. Rather, ‘Christ’ is an explicitly messianic title used by the writers of the New Testament who have learned this word from the Septuagint’s translation of the Hebrew mashiach, ‘anointed,’ which itself is often rendered in English as ‘Messiah.’ To be sure, one detects a messianic intent on the part of the Septuagint translator in some places. Amos 4:13 may have been one of these. In the Hebrew Bible, God ‘reveals his thoughts to mortals,’ but the Septuagint has ‘announcing his anointed to humans.’ A fine distinction must be made, however, between theology that was intended by the Septuagint translators and that developed by later Christian writers. In Amos 4:13 it is merely possible we have a messianic reading, but it is unquestionably the case that the New Testament writers exploit the Septuagint’s use of christos, in Amos and elsewhere, to messianic ends.”
The transitional adverb now, which begins this verse, must not be understood in a temporal sense. It is equivalent in some languages to “but note that.”
Verse 16 is judged by some as a parenthetical elaboration of verse 15, since verse 15 can be connected in a natural manner with verse 17. What connects verse 16 with verse 15 is the word “promises,” which now supplants the word “covenant.” Since God’s covenant with Abraham consisted of promises, this substitution is appropriate (see Eph 2.12).
Promises is plural in the Greek, the reference apparently being to the repeated occasions on which the promise was made to Abraham, and the various forms in which it was expressed (Gen 12.2 ff.; 13.14 ff.; 15.1,5,18; 17.2 ff.). Elsewhere Paul uses the singular form (for example in verses 17, 18, 22, 29; Rom 4.13,14,16,20), and it seems that to him there is no marked difference of meaning between the singular and the plural. It is in this light that some translators (for example Phillips) render “promises” in the singular. It is even possible to avoid the problem of number altogether by converting the noun into a verb: “God promised….” Or one may introduce something of the plural meaning by translating “God promised on various occasions,” or “… repeatedly.”
It is important in this first sentence of verse 16 to employ a form which will clearly identify only one of Abraham’s descendants. This is necessary if Paul’s interpretation of the scripture passage is to be meaningful. Therefore, one may have to translate “God repeatedly promised to Abraham blessing to him and to one of his descendants.” In some languages it would be impossible to say “promised to Abraham and to one of his descendants,” since the promise was made specifically to Abraham and the blessing simply applied to one of his descendants. The promise itself was not made specifically to one of the descendants since the descendant had not been born at the time that the promise was made.
The scripture does not use is literally “(it) does not say” (the subject is missing in the Greek). It is even possible to understand “God” as the subject. Most translators and commentators, however, understand “scripture” as the implicit subject of the sentence (see Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Phillips).
The real exegetical problem in this verse is in Paul’s use of “descendant” and “descendants” (literally, “seed” and “seeds”). Although he was certainly aware that the Hebrew and Greek forms of the word “seed” are singular in form but collective in meaning, yet he goes on to distinguish between the singular and the plural in order to prove his point, namely, that the promises of God were given to Abraham and one descendant, not many; and that one descendant is Christ. Some scholars have found rabbinical parallels to Paul’s exegetical method in this verse, and other interpreters have used ingenious ways to justify Paul’s reasoning here. Fortunately, the translator does not have to hold to a particular position regarding these verses in order to translate them accurately.
In some languages it may be necessary to render the second sentence of this verse as “The scripture does not have the words ‘and to your descendants’ (that is, talking about many people).” Likewise, the following sentence may have to begin “but the scripture has the words ‘and to your descendant.’ ” However, in some other languages there is a problem in the expression “and to your descendant,” since this might imply that Abraham had only one descendant. For that reason it may be necessary to say “and to one of your descendants.” Accordingly, the final explanation in this verse may be rendered as “these words refer to only one person, and that person is Christ.”
Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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