The town name that is transliterated as “Bethlehem” in English is translated in Finnish Sign Language with the signs signifying “manger + town” (referring to Luke 2:7). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
In American Sign Language it is translated with the signs for “bread” and “house,” referring to the original meaning of “Bethlehem” as “house of bread.” (Source: RuthAnna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Bethlehem” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
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 )
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 2:5:
Uma: “They answered him like this: ‘In the village of Betlehem in the land of Yudea. We know this because there is a Word of the Lord that was written by a prophet long ago. The Lord says:” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “They said, ‘The town of Betlehem there in Yahudiya, for Nabi Mika has written in the holy-book like this,” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And they answered, ‘He will be born in the town of Bethlehem in the province of Judea. We know this because there is a written saying of God by means of an inspired one long ago who said,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “‘In Betlehem in this province of Judea,’ they said answering. ‘Because this is what God caused-the prophet long-ago -to-write saying,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “They answered, saying, ‘Respects to you, it’s said to be there in Betlehem in the district of Judea. Because that is what is there in what was written by a prophet, which is what was said by God,” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “The ones who were questioned said to Herod: ‘There in the city of Bethlehem of the land of Judah is where he is to be born. Because this is the word written by the spokesman for God who said:” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)
Eugene Nida wrote the following about the translation of the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek terms that are typically translated with “prophet” in English:
“The tendency in many translations is to use ‘to foretell the future’ for ‘prophesy,’ and ‘one who foretells the future’ for ‘prophet.’ This is not always a recommended usage, particularly if such expressions denote certain special native practices of spirit contact and control. It is true, of course, that prophets of the Bible did foretell the future, but this was not always their principal function. One essential significance of the Greek word prophētēs is ‘one who speaks forth,’ principally, of course, as a forth-teller of the Divine will. A translation such as ‘spokesman for God’ may often be employed profitably.” (1947, p. 234f.)
Following is a list of (back-) translations from other languages (click or tap for details):
Ayutla Mixtec: “one who talks as God’s representative”
Isthmus Mixe: “speaker for God” (source for this and two above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Mezquital Otomi / Paasaal: “God’s messenger” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff. and Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
Noongar: Warda Marridjiny or “News Traveling” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Kutu: mtula ndagu or “one who gives the prediction of the past and the future” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
French 1985 translation by Chouraqui: inspiré or “inspired one” (“someone in whom God has breathed [Latin: in + spiro]) (source: Watson 2023, p. 45)
In Ixcatlán Mazatec a term is used that specifically includes women. (Source: Robert Bascom)
“In some instances these spiritual terms result from adaptations reflecting the native life and culture. Among the Northern Grebo people of Liberia, a missionary wanted some adequate term for ‘prophet,’ and she was fully aware that the native word for ‘soothsayer’ or ‘diviner’ was no equivalent for the Biblical prophet who spoke forth for God. Of course, much of what the prophets said referred to the future, and though this was an essential part of much of their ministry, it was by no means all. The right word for the Gbeapo people would have to include something which would not only mean the foretelling of important events but the proclamation of truth as God’s representative among the people. At last the right word came; it was ‘God’s town-crier.’ Every morning and evening the official representative of the chief goes through the village crying out the news, delivering the orders of the chief, and announcing important coming events. ‘God’s town-crier’ would be the official representative of God, announcing to the people God’s doings, His commands, and His pronouncements for their salvation and well-being. For the Northern Grebo people the prophet is no weird person from forgotten times; he is as real as the human, moving message of the plowman Amos, who became God’s town-crier to a calloused people.” (source: Nida 1952, p. 20)
In British Sign Language it is is translated with a sign that depicts a message coming from God to a person (the upright finger) and then being passed on to others. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Prophet” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
On the expectation of the Messiah from Bethlehem, see John 7.41-42. Good News Translation marks Bethlehem as a “town.” See comments on 2.1.
In some languages it will be necessary to answer Herod’s question with a full sentence, as in “He will be born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea.”
Note that the phrase which introduces the reported speech, They told him, is at the beginning of all they said in Revised Standard Version, but has been inserted in the middle of the quote itself in Good News Translation. In English, as in many languages, this is perhaps a matter of style. But in other languages this is completely unnatural, so that the translator can only do something similar to the Revised Standard Version form.
The Greek passive construction for so it is written by the prophet is transformed by Good News Translation into an active construction: “For this is what the prophet wrote.” The same “quotation formula” (it is written) is also found in 4.4, 6, 7, 10; 11.10; 21.13; 26.24, 31.
The causative for can be handled in many ways: “We know this because of what the prophet wrote,” or “This is how we know this thing: the prophet wrote…,” or even in some languages, “The prophet wrote that it would be in the town of Bethlehem in Judah. He said….” Of course, other languages will do something very similar to Good News Bible.
For prophet, see comments on 1.22. In languages where there is already an Old Testament, it is good to indicate in the footnotes that this is a quotation from the book of the prophet Micah, but it will not be necessary to put this information in the text.
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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