Bura-Pabir: “sacrifice mound” (source: Andy Warrren-Rothlin)
The Ignaciano translators decided to translate the difficult term in that language according to the focus of each New Testament passage in which the word appears (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight
Willis Ott (in Notes on Translation 88/1982, p. 18ff.) explains:
Matt. 5:23,24: “When you take your offering to God, and arriving, you remember…, do not offer your gift yet. First go to your brother…Then it is fitting to return and offer your offering to God.” (The focus is on improving relationships with people before attempting to improve a relationship with God, so the means of offering, the altar, is not focal.)
Matt. 23:18 (19,20): “You also teach erroneously: ‘If someone makes a promise, swearing by the offering-place/table, he is not guilty if he should break the promise. But if he swears by the gift that he put on the offering-place/table, he will be guilty if he breaks the promise.'”
Luke 1:11: “…to the right side of the table where they burn incense.”
Luke 11.51. “…the one they killed in front of the temple (or the temple enclosure).” (The focus is on location, with overtones on: “their crime was all the more heinous for killing him there”.)
Rom. 11:3: “Lord, they have killed all my fellow prophets that spoke for you. They do not want anyone to give offerings to you in worship.” (The focus is on the people’s rejection of religion, with God as the object of worship.)
1Cor. 9:13 (10:18): “Remember that those that attend the temple have rights to eat the foods that people bring as offerings to God. They have rights to the meat that the people offer.” (The focus is on the right of priests to the offered food.)
Heb. 7:13: “This one of whom we are talking is from another clan. No one from that clan was ever a priest.” (The focus in on the legitimacy of this priest’s vocation.)
Jas. 2:21: “Remember our ancestor Abraham, when God tested him by asking him to give him his son by death. Abraham was to the point of stabbing/killing his son, thus proving his obedience.” (The focus is on the sacrifice as a demonstration of faith/obedience.)
Rev. 6:9 (8:3,5; 9:13; 14:18; 16:7): “I saw the souls of them that…They were under the table that holds God’s fire/coals.” (This keeps the concepts of: furniture, receptacle for keeping fire, and location near God.)
Rev. 11:1: “Go to the temple, Measure the building and the inside enclosure (the outside is contrasted in v. 2). Measure the burning place for offered animals. Then count the people who are worshiping there.” (This altar is probably the brazen altar in a temple on earth, since people are worshiping there and since outside this area conquerors are allowed to subjugate for a certain time.)
In the Hebraic English translation of Everett Fox it is translated as slaughter-site and likewise in the German translation by Buber / Rosenzweig as Schlachtstatt.
The Greek that is typically translated in English as “angel of the Lord” is translated by the ItalianLa Sua Parola è Vita translation as angelo or “angel.” Cotrozzi (2019) explains: “Apart from a handful of verses where the context makes clear that fallen angels are in view (e. g. Matt 25:41; 2 Cor 12:17; Rev 9:11) the term ‘angel’ refers to a supernatural, spiritual being sent by God. This is the default sense that this term has in Italian, the meaning people think of when they hear this word in isolation. Since the occurrence in Luke 1:11 corresponds to the default case, there is no reason to state explicitly that the angel in question belongs to the Lord. On the contrary, the phrase ‘angel of the Lord’ may be confusing to readers not accustomed to church jargon.”
Apali: “God’s one with talk from the head” (“basically God’s messenger since head refers to any leader’s talk”) (source: Martha Wade)
Michoacán Nahuatl: “clean helper of God” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
Noongar: Hdjin-djin-kwabba or “spirit good” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Wè Northern (Wɛɛ): Kea ‘a “sooa or “the Lord’s soldier” (also: “God’s soldier” or “his soldier”) (source: Drew Maust)
Iwaidja: “a man sent with a message” (Sam Freney explains the genesis of this term [in this article): “For example, in Darwin last year, as we were working on a new translation of Luke 2:6–12 in Iwaidja, a Northern Territory language, the translators had written ‘angel’ as ‘a man with eagle wings’. Even before getting to the question of whether this was an accurate term (or one that imported some other information in), the word for ‘eagle’ started getting discussed. One of the translators had her teenage granddaughter with her, and this word didn’t mean anything to her at all. She’d never heard of it, as it was an archaic term that younger people didn’t use anymore. They ended up changing the translation of ‘angel’ to something like ‘a man sent with a message’, which is both more accurate and clear.”)
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 1:11:
Noongar: “An angel of God came to Zechariah and he stood on the right hand side of the altar, the right place for burning the incense.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “At that time, an angel of the Lord appeared on the right side of the table for burning incense.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “So-then there appeared to him an angel of God standing there at the right side of where the incense was burned.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then an angel of God appeared to Him, and as for this angel, he was standing there at the right hand side of the altar where the incense was burned.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Whereupon an angel of God appeared to him standing at the right-side of the altar where-they -burned incense.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Suddenly/unexpectedly an angel(loan word, in glossary) of God came to Zacarias and stood to the right of that burning-place of incense.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
ōphthē de autō ‘and there appeared to him.’ The word order of the Greek, when retained in translation, necessitates expletive ‘there.’
ōphthē, passive form of horaō ‘to see,’ is used here and 9.31; 22.43; 24.34, in the meaning ‘to appear,’ of beings who make their appearance in a supernatural manner. The term denotes an objective appearance, not a subjective vision, as is shown by its frequent usage with reference to appearances of the risen Christ (cf. 24.34; Acts 13.31; 1 Cor. 15.5, 6, 7, 8).
aggelos ‘angel,’ of celestial messengers sent by God (chs. 1 and 2; 4.10; 22.43; 24.23), of celestial beings who are with God in heaven (9.26; 12.8, 9; 15.10; 16.22), or of human messengers (7.24, 27; 9.52).
hestōs ek dexiōn tou thusiastēriou tou thumiamatos ‘standing on the right side of the incense-altar,’ in apposition to aggelos kuriou and hence translated as a relative clause by Zürcher Bibel and Menge. The emphasis is not so much on ‘standing erect’ as an indication of the bodily position, as on ‘being there.’ Hence Phillips omits ‘standing’ and makes the rest of the phrase an adverbial expression with ‘appeared.’
dexios ‘right’ as contrasted with left. The right side is the place of honour (cf. Mt. 25.33, Lk. 22.69, Acts 7.55, Rom. 8.34) and stresses here the dignity of the angel.
thusiastērion (also 11.51) ‘altar.’ The following genitive tou thumiamatos is definitive, ‘the incense-offering.’
Translation:
And there appeared to him an angel …, or, ‘on that moment (or, then) an angel showed himself to him (or, came into his view).’ Him, or, ‘Zechariah,’ for a reason similar to that in v. 8, or because the distance from the proper name is too long for pronominal reference, as in Thai.
Angel of the Lord. Two of the common renderings of ‘angel’ are ‘messenger,’ ‘sent-one,’ specified by ‘of God,’ ‘holy,’ or ‘from heaven/heavenly.’ In the present phrase (also in 2.9, and cf. “his angels” in 4.10, and “angel of God” in 12.8f; 15.10) the first mentioned specification is often, the second or the third in some cases, omitted, because ‘of the Lord’ already specifies the character of the messenger. For other occurrences of “angel” see Exegesis.
On the right side of. A literal rendering of this phrase may be unacceptable, because (1) the ‘right side’ has an unfavourable connotation, or (2) the phrase ‘at the right, or left, side/hand’ is customarily used only in speaking of living beings, but never, or only exceptionally, of objects. In case (1) the translator may substitute a functional rendering, e.g. ‘at the place of honour,’ or he may add the function, e.g. ‘at the right side of … and so honoured’ (Isthmus Zapotec, in 1 Pet. 3.22). In case (2) the translator will try to use the indigenous way of indicating a local relationship, e.g. ‘at the southern side of.’ If such a rendering also has a favourable connotation (as ‘southern (lit. upstream) side’ would have in North Bali), he has translational luck; if it is unfavourable (as it would be in South Bali), he may shift the point of orientation, and say that the angel had the altar at his left (Shipibo-Conibo), or, if this would exclude the figurative interpretation, he may use a functional rendering, which in Shipibo-Conibo would lead to, ‘nicely-beside (i.e. at the honourable side of).’
Altar of incense. In Balinese the phrase has been rendered by a derivation of ‘to smoke (fragrant spices),’ i.e. ‘place-for-smoking.’
Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.
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