image

The Greek that is rendered as “image” in English translations is translated in Pökoot with körkeyïn, a word that is also used to translate words like parable and example.

See also parable.

God's anger, wrath of God

The Hebrew and Greek What is translated into English as “the wrath of God” (Good News Translation: “God’s anger”) has to be referred to in Bengali as judgment, punishment or whatever fits the context. In Bengali culture, anger is by definition bad and can never be predicated of God. (Source: David Clark)

In Kikuyu the whole phrase that is translated in English as “storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath” or similar is translated as “you are increasing for yourself God’s wrath.” (Source: Jan Sterk)

In Quetzaltepec Mixe it is translated with a term “that not only expresses anger, but also punishment” (source: Robert Bascom), in Western Bukidnon Manobo as “the coming punishment of God on mankind” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation), in Kankanaey as “God’s fearful/terrible future punishing of people” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation), in Tagbanwa as “the coming anger/hatred of God” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation), and in Tenango Otomi as “the punishment which will come” (source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation).

See also anger.

with a loud voice

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “with a loud voice” in English is translated in Low German idiomatically as luuthals or “loud-throated” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006).

It is also used in Acts 19:28 for krazó (κράζω).

worship

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The Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek terms that are often translated as “worship” (also, “kneel down” or “bow down”) are likewise translated in other languages in certain categories, including those based on physical activity, those which incorporate some element of “speaking” or “declaring,” and those which specify some type of mental activity.

Following is a list of (back-) translations (click or tap for details):

  • Javanese: “prostrate oneself before”
  • Malay: “kneel and bow the head”
  • Kaqchikel: “kneel before”
  • Loma (Liberia): “drop oneself beneath God’s foot”
  • Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “wag the tail before God” (using a verb which with an animal subject means “to wag the tail,” but with a human subject)
  • Tzotzil: “join to”
  • Kpelle: “raise up a blessing to God”
  • Kekchí: “praise as your God”
  • Cashibo-Cacataibo: “say one is important”
  • San Blas Kuna: “think of God with the heart”
  • Rincón Zapotec: “have one’s heart go out to God”
  • Tabasco Chontal: “holy-remember” (source of this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Q’anjob’al: “humble oneself before” (source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. )
  • Alur: rwo: “complete submission, adoration, consecration” (source: F. G. Lasse in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 22ff. )
  • Obolo: itọtọbọ ebum: “express reverence and devotion” (source: Enene Enene)
  • Ngäbere: “cut oneself down before” (“This figure of speech comes from the picture of towering mahoganies in the forest which, under the woodman’s ax, quiver, waver, and then in solemn, thunderous crashing bury their lofty heads in the upstretched arms of the surrounding forest. This is the experience of every true worshiper who sees ‘the Lord, high and lifted up.’ Our own unworthiness brings us low. As the Valientes say, ‘we cut ourselves down before’ His presence. Our heads, which have been carried high in self-confidence, sink lower and lower in worship.)
  • Tzeltal: “end oneself before God.” (“Only by coming to the end of oneself can one truly worship. The animist worships his deities in the hope of receiving corresponding benefits, and some pagans in Christendom think that church attendance is a guarantee of success in this life and good luck in the future. But God has never set a price on worship except the price that we must pay, namely, ‘coming to the end of ourselves.'”) (Source of this and the one above: Nida 1952, p. 163)
  • Folopa: “die under God” (“an idiom that roughly back-translates “dying under God” which means lifting up his name and praising him and to acknowledge by everything one does and thanks that God is superior.”) (Source: Anderson / Moore, p. 202)
  • Chokwe: kuivayila — “rub something on” (“When anyone goes into the presence of a king or other superior, according to native law and custom the inferior gets down on the ground, takes a little earth in the fingers of his right hand, rubs it on his own body, and then claps his hands in homage and the greeting of friendship. It is a token of veneration, of homage, of extreme gratitude for some favor received. It is also a recognition of kingship, lordship, and a prostrating of oneself in its presence. Yet it simply is the applicative form of ‘to rub something on oneself’, this form of the verb giving the value of ‘because of.’ Thus in God’s presence as king and Lord we metaphorically rub dirt on ourselves, thus acknowledging Him for what He really is and what He has done for us.”) (Source: D. B. Long in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 87ff. )

In Luang it is translated with different shades of meaning:

Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.

angel

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The Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic that is translated as “angel” in English versions is translated in many ways:

  • Pintupi-Luritja: ngaṉka ngurrara: “one who belongs in the sky” (source: Ken Hansen quoted in Steven 1984a, p. 116.)
  • Tetela, Kpelle, Balinese, and Mandarin Chinese: “heavenly messenger”
  • Shilluk / Igede: “spirit messenger”
  • Mashco Piro: “messenger of God”
  • Batak Toba: “envoy, messenger”
  • Navajo: “holy servant” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida 1961; Igede: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • Central Mazahua: “God’s worker” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.)
  • Saramaccan: basia u Masa Gaangadu köndë or “messenger from God’s country” (source: Jabini 2015, p. 86)
  • Mairasi: atatnyev nyaa or “sent-one” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “word bringer” (source: James Lauriault in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 32ff. )
  • 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.”)

See also angel (Acts 12:15) and this devotion on YouVersion .

complete verse (Revelation 14:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 14:9:

  • Uma: “After that, the third angel also followed following those two angels, and he called loudly saying: ‘Whoever worship that evil animal and his idol, and whoever receive the sign of that animal on their foreheads or their hands,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then there was also another/a different angel following the two speaking loudly, saying, ‘Whoever worshiped the creature and his statue and was marked on his forehead or on his hand,” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Then a third angel appeared following the first two, and he spoke loudly saying, ‘Anyone who worships the beast and the image of the beast and causes himself to be marked on the forehead or his hand,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “There was also a third angel who followed the two preceding-ones. He also raised his voice saying, ‘If there are those who worship the fearsome animal and the animal-image that is his likeness and whose foreheads or hands have been marked with the mark of the fearsome animal,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “The third angel who followed those two also was calling out what he said. He said, ‘Whoever worships that monster and his image and has caused his forehead or hand to be branded,” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Then a third angel came above. Loudly he said: ‘All who worship the terrible animal and who worship his idol or lets himself be marked on the forehead or on the hand,” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Revelation 14:9 – 14:10

Another angel, a third, followed them: the more natural way to say this is “A third angel followed them” or “… followed the first two,” “Another angel followed the other two angels,” or even “Another angel appeared after the other two angels had left.”

If any one worships: the Greek uses the conditional form; in translation it is easier to imitate Good News Translation and others, and say “Those who worship” (New Revised Standard Version) or “All who worship” (New Jerusalem Bible). For worships see 4.10.

The beast and its image: this is the first beast, the one that came up out of the sea (13.1), and its image, or statue (13.14-15). If in 13.14-15 the word “statue” is used, it should be used here also.

Receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand: if the translation must specify the hand, it should say the right hand (see 13.16).

The wine of God’s wrath: this means “the wine that represents (or, brings) God’s wrath (or, punishment).” See Rev. 14.8 for comments on the translation of wine and wrath. In that verse the same Greek word meaning “fury” is used.

Poured unmixed into the cup of his anger: here God’s anger is represented as “the cup (or, bowl)” that holds the wine of his wrath. For the translation of cup see the comment in 5.8 contrasting “bowl” and “cup.” Although the language is not logical, the figure is a forceful and dramatic way of portraying God’s anger against Babylon and his punishment of those who are corrupted by her. The wine is unmixed, that is, it has no water in it to weaken it (as was most often the case when wine was served). For anger see 6.16-17, where the same term is translated “wrath.” There are a number of Old Testament passages in which a cup of wine is used as a symbol of punishment. In Jer 25.15-29 this figure is fully developed. Other passages where the figure is found are Psa 75.8; Jer 49.12; Oba 16; and Hab 2.16. Since this is a very common symbol in the Bible and is related to wine, which of course is one of the central features of Palestinian culture, translators should keep the figure if at all possible. However, this may present a problem in areas where wine is unknown, or a cup or bowl has never been used with any symbolic meaning. Translators must then decide whether a new figure of speech will be acceptable and understandable to the readers. For further comments see Oba 16 in A Handbook on the Books of Obadiah and Micah. In certain languages one may say, for example, “God will be angry and will punish him severely, just as if he drank bitter wine (or, strong drink) that God had poured at full strength (or, unmixed) into a cup.”

He shall be tormented with fire and sulphur: see 9.17-18; 19.20; 20.10. Sodom was destroyed by fire and sulfur (Gen 19.24; see also Psa 11.6). Here, as there, fire and sulphur means “burning sulfur” (so New American Bible, Revised). Sulfur burns with great heat and produces an unpleasant smell. For the verb “to torment” see “torture” in 9.5. If “torment” means specifically “torture,” a more general verbal phrase may be used, “will suffer,” “will be made to suffer,” “God will cause him to suffer,” or even “God will use … to torment him.”

In the presence of: for comments on this phrase, see 13.12. The punishment of the wicked is made even greater by the fact that they can see the blessed state of the angels and the Lamb.

The holy angels: occasionally in the New Testament the adjective holy is used of angels (see Mark 8.38; Luke 9.26; Acts 10.22). It is a word of dignity and respect, and does not imply that some of God’s angels are not holy. The basic meaning of the word, when applied to objects or people (or, as here, to angels) is that of total dedication to God (see 3.7). Other ways of translating this phrase, then, are “the respected angels (or, heavenly messengers)” or even “God’s angels (or, messengers).”

Revised Standard Version, following the form of the Greek, has one sentence for verses 9-10. Good News Translation tries to simplify the material by having two sentences. But it is possible to divide the angel’s announcement into even more sentences, as follows:

• All those who worship the beast and its statue, and who have the mark of the beast on their foreheads or on their (right) hands, will have to drink the wine of God’s anger. This is the undiluted wine that God himself poured into the cup of his anger. These people will also be made to suffer in burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.

Or:

• … will be severely punished by God. It will be as if they drink undiluted (or, full strength) wine that God himself has poured into the cup that represents his anger. God will cause burning sulfur to torment these people in the sight of his angels and of the Lamb.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .